‘House of Cuppy 2’ is too little, and the songs are too late

Last year, DJ Cuppy became an entity within the Nigerian music industry. The young daughter of an oil tycoon becoming a disc jockey will always be a juicy topic. Riding on that wave, she embarked on immense promotion, which has made her become a star. She also released a mixtape, ‘House of Cuppy’.

Playing sets at some of the most prestigious events has bestowed valuable visibility on her brand. She played a set at the MAMAs 2014, and also went to work at the inauguration ceremony of President Buhari.

On the back of such a grand feat, she has released a new mixtape, ‘House of Cuppy 2’, a sequel to her 2014 EP.

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HOC2 picks up from where HOC left off. The intention of the maker is simple: Grab hit songs from Nigeria. Infuse, mix, and mash them with contemporary House beats, and create a remix. Do that to a number of songs, create an Extended Play, and release it. Easy and nice.

HOC2 as a conceptual compilation is adorable. The House genre is really underappreciated in Nigeria, even though it is often used in fusions with Afrobeat to create pop music. Cuppy’s quest to remake those songs with her signature genre is admirable…almost revolutionary.

But that’s where the good part ends. In the concept.

The application of that concept still leaves more to be desired. HOC2 contains 5 songs, with three non-musical additions in the form of an intro, outro, and a skit which feeds Cuppy’s ego. Funke Akindele must have made good money for her efforts on 40% of the EP.

Cuppy’s choice of songs on her EP comes across as whimsical. Remixing hit songs with House is a tall order, but when the hit songs are a year old, and have faded away from public playlists and memory, then the results would never be stratospheric.

The engineering Cuppy throws into all the tracks are superb, although, ‘Crazy’ surprisingly, has timing issues. The House-infused version of the duet lacks taste. It blares through your speakers as an intro to something better, in some people it keeps them waiting for more. Others with little patience simply hold down the ‘next’ button.

‘All eyes on me’ sits atop this work as the best of the material. Cuppy’s talent and efforts match and surely would make the playlists with a perfect arrangement of synths, beats, and instrumentation. Lacing the vocals over the instrumentals rolls off as dripping honey on bun. In many ways you would think, this song has met its destiny.

There will be a House of Cuppy 3’, and many will hope the songs are picked from the hit songs of the moment. Dusting and recycling old music will never ingratiate music listeners. Neither will it help to push the House genre.

‘House of Cuppy 2’ will not move mountains. For all its hype and publicity, the content is less than revolutionary. The creator, Cuppy, is still a work in progress, with an internship at Jay Z’s ROC Nation, aimed at bestowing her with greater powers. This EP is a personal success for her, as she can boast of two House compilations.

But for the fans and targeted consumers, the effort is too little, and the songs, too late.