PROGRAM DATE: 2019-10-24 PROGRAM NAME: WOMANITY – WOMEN IN UNITY GUEST NAME: FIFI COOPER – MULTI-AWARD WINNING RAPPER, SONGSTRESS AND INDEPENDENT PRODUCER OF MO COOPER RECORDS SPEAKER TRANSCRIPTION DR. MALKA Hello, I’m Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka, welcome to ‘Womanity – Women in Unity’. The show that celebrates prominent and ordinary African Women’s milestone achievements in their struggles for liberation, self-emancipation, human rights, democracy, racism, socio-economic class division and gender based violence. DR. MALKA Joining us today in our Johannesburg studio is multi-award winning rapper, songstress and independent producer of Mo Cooper Records; Ms. Fifi Cooper. Welcome! FIFI Thank you so much for the invite! COOPER DR. MALKA It’s a pleasure to have you on the show. FIFI Yeah I’m happy to be here. COOPER DR. MALKA To start with, going back in time, your musical journey started earlier on in choirs, in both… FIFI …yes… COOPER DR. MALKA …primary and high school…. FIFI …high school. You know growing up, when I was a little girl my dad used COOPER to play base guitar before he passed away, so, that’s how I kind of like started singing and that’s when I realised that actually I do have a voice and people really loved, you know, me singing. So, I was singing in primary school, high school, until this one day I just realised that you know I want to try something out of my comfort zone and that’s when you know I wrote my first rap song and since that day I never looked back. DR. MALKA So you were doing almost duos with dad; accompaniment? FIFI Yes, yes, yes. It was really great because I still have those memories and I COOPER think I learned a lot in terms of like music and different sounds and the difference generally in…on piano, guitar and all that because he used to play a lot, you know, of instruments. So ja, I really enjoyed that as well. DR. MALKA So growing up with that musical background you then have gone on to be a recipient of several Metro FM Awards… FIFI …ja…. COOPER DR. MALKA Best Female Album, Best Newcomer, Best Collaboration. Casting your mind back, can you take us to that point where all of that hard work and effort into building you into you, came about and paid off? FIFI Ja and trust me it wasn’t easy but I feel like I really believed in myself and COOPER the craft and I generally believed that I’m one of those people who will pave the way for, you know, a lot of female rappers and I never looked back, you know, all those things just reminds me of, you know, all the free shows that I did back in the days and I still didn’t have a problem with that, you know, all those things you know, paying studio time, because now I got to a point where I now have my own studio but like going back there, you know, all these things that I’m achieving today really makes me proud of myself. DR. MALKA Fantastic achievements. FIFI Thank you.
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COOPER DR. MALKA Can you tell us a few of let’s say the key milestones in your journey so far; what stood out? FIFI It’s a lot. Definitely my first award and definitely the day I reached a COOPER million views on YouTube, like, those little things for me….. DR. MALKA …well they’re not little…. FIFI …yeah, well they…yeah they’re not, trust me they’re not, it’s very hard to COOPER get there but I do appreciate because I still want to grow even more and, you know, having my own record label now, to me that’s an achievement because trust me, at some point in my life when I was still young it was one of my dreams to have my own label and achieving that, you know, makes me happy. DR. MALKA Perfect and I’d like to talk a little bit more about your own label and that independence in a moment, but, thinking here when you say you’ve got a million viewers on YouTube for a particular video clip; it really reminds me of how things have changed. FIFI Yes. COOPER DR. MALKA So, there’s so much more towards…. FIFI ...yes…. COOPER DR. MALKA …the industry than for instance going platinum… FIFI …ja…. COOPER DR. MALKA ….you’ve got all of these other components…. FIFI …yes…. COOPER DR. MALKA ...which contribute to success. FIFI True and that’s beautiful like, it’s amazing, like I feel like right now even COOPER like with women I’m very comfortable now, you know, I feel like people are starting to receive us more, people are starting to listen to us more and I kind of feel like we do have a voice you know. Right now it’s very, you know, it’s very different from the past, you know, when I was starting off I was not really sure. I had to…even now I still have to work twice as hard to prove myself but it’s a lot easier because people are willing to pay attention, you know, so for me that’s like pretty cool, yeah. DR. MALKA Very cool. Thinking about music and the way that it works, it’s always inspiring, I mean we listen to music all the time, it’s such a consumable. What would you say influences your song writing? FIFI Most of the time I write about my life, you know. I can’t rap about things COOPER that I can’t afford, I would rather mention that I wish I had one, two, three but mostly it’s about speaking to my fans, you know, there was a point in my life where I was you know fighting with my previous record label and my fans you know didn’t know my side of the story and music is a way for me to communicate with my fans. So people that has been following me, they know when they listen to a song what’s happening and you know it’s about every little thing that happens in my life, my journey, a lot of people didn’t know that I have a son until I wrote him a song. I wrote my mom a song. It’s generally about how I feel in the moment when I’m in studio and ja, that’s what inspires my music and of course a lot of you know talented artists around the world, especially in Africa. DR. MALKA Who, for example, would you say… FIFI I just recently found out about an artist from Zim, he goes by the name of COOPER Takula; very talented, and obviously Davido with Kid, Tiwa Savage, those
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are my people but obviously in the country I do still have my favourites, especially when it comes to the R&B side; I love R&B with all my heart, Tubs is like my favourite and Amanda Black and Shava. So, ja, I listen to a lot of you know music and ja, it inspires me to always try different sounds and grow. DR. MALKA Your focus is on rap…. FIFI …yes…. COOPER DR. MALKA …what led you to the genre? FIFI Where I come from in Mafikeng I grew up a lot around a lot of rappers and COOPER we called it this rap, Motswako, that’s where you know I saw Double HP, you know, Casper Nyovest, Duke Singanga, Morafe coming out of you know our hood and making it big in the City of Gold, to me that inspired me. So growing up and seeing that, I wanted to be, you know, to represent, to be one of the only females that represents where we come from because I saw that as a gap you know it’s only guys and there’s no-one representing this Motswako from you know the females and my first song literally, everyone was like “this is for you girl”. So ja, that’s what happened. DR. MALKA That’s quite a break and as you said, you know, looking at the difference, apart from people coming out of your hometown, being men, but the rap genre tends to be male dominated. FIFI Yes, it is, it is very, very and I love the fact that you know I’m starting to COOPER see a lot of female rappers now in the country, that makes me happy because you know I think the more we see a lot of female rappers, the more those young ones will be inspired to also you know come out and say yoh, I’m out here. DR. MALKA Well it becomes this role modelling effect because…. FIFI ...yes, yes… COOPER DR. MALKA …you’ve done it… FIFI …yes… COOPER DR. MALKA …so they know it can be done… FIFI …exactly…. COOPER DR. MALKA …and this is a person that I can relate to. FIFI Of course. COOPER DR. MALKA You spoke about becoming independent, having your own record label, which is Mo Cooper Records…. FIFI …yes…. COOPER DR. MALKA …tell us a bit more about the endeavour and why you started it? FIFI I was signed for two years, 2015 and 2016 so after two years I realised that COOPER I’m actually not growing. I was not happy with a lot of things, with the label and the management and I was not making enough money, you know, so that was the big question and I started learning about you know intellectual property. I started you know learning, going to ……finding information about like percentages and how things are done and once I started knowing I realised that, you know, these people were not fair and I’m ready now to start my own company and because I love learning, I want to know, you know, I just don’t want to be behind the mic and rap and sing, I would like to also be unlocked and know the business side of my industry. So ja….
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DR. MALKA So you’ve got this whole, let’s say the value chain ecosystem…. FIFI …ja…. COOPER DR. MALKA …from being the star to doing all of the background and the support that’s necessary and something which, you know, familiarity from learning with IP etc., is that as a singer, as a songwriter, that if you don’t own the label, you don’t own your music. So you are giving your IP away. FIFI Ja, you know because some deals are actually not cool at all and you find COOPER someone you know coming …. and you just meet the wrong people and because clearly if they’re not about to teach you and you know make you know from the jump what’s going on, then I mean, that’s not fair. DR. MALKA And besides you being a new label, are you looking at having other artists…. FIFI ...of course… COOPER DR. MALKA …come into it? FIFI There’s a lot of things that I’m you know planning. This record label was COOPER just one of them, so there’s just a lot of other things that I want to do and I do want to sign artists, producers, musicians, dancers, poets, like everything, anyone to do with this industry entertainment. One day once I feel like my company is financially stable to open doors for other people then trust me, I’m there. DR. MALKA Knowing what you know now, have you got any words of wisdom for aspiring, upcoming new musicians? FIFI My biggest thing is originality is key; believe in yourself but the most COOPER important thing believe in your craft, know your worth, find yourself and that’s how you will be original. DR. MALKA What would you say are some of the strengths in the South African music industry for women in particular? FIFI I think now, like I said earlier, you know, I feel like we are getting to a COOPER point where we have that 50/50 now and in terms of like gigs, I never would have thought that I would work with a big brand like Converse want me to be an ambassador, we’ve always known those things you know to be for the guys. So I feel like the strength now and what you know makes me happy is the fact that we are being given a chance and we are able now to be comfortable to do whatever we want, which is beautiful because we can reach those heights. DR. MALKA And again… FIFI …higher and higher…. COOPER DR. MALKA …higher than higher and again it’s about expanding that portfolio of interest, so from brand ambassadors, it’s not just about singing and being behind the mic. FIFI Yes. COOPER DR. MALKA You are listening to ‘Womanity – Women in Unity’ on Channel Africa, the African Perspective and today we’re talking to multi-award winning rapper, songstress and independent producer of Mo Cooper Records; Ms Fifi Cooper. We would love to hear your comments on Twitter:@WomanityTalk. AD BREAK DR. MALKA Today we’re talking to multi-award winning rapper, songstress and independent producer of Mo Cooper Records; Ms Fifi Cooper. DR. MALKA In August this year you released two music projects; can you tell us more about them? FIFI I actually released a soundtrack of a movie called Lerato, the movie is COOPER called Losing Lerato, because it had just dropped in cinema’s. It’s a South
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African movie so it was important for me, you know, to do it because I’ve never done a soundtrack for a movie before. DR. MALKA So you did the whole movie? FIFI No, no, no, it’s just the soundtrack… COOPER DR. MALKA …the one track… FIFI …ja, the movie’s called Losing Lerato, I did a track called Lerato. So ja, COOPER and I dropped my EP called New School EP, that’s where my songs are at at the moment, it’s all digital platforms, all digital stores and ja, I’m dropping another one, another EP this month end because it’s my birthday month…. DR. MALKA …congratulations…. FIFI …yes, so I’m dropping another EP called Motswako Piano EP. So yes COOPER that’s beautiful. Lerato music video is also out on You Tube now so people can check it out and ja. DR. MALKA And can you give us a bit of a sound bite? FIFI Oooh there’s a whole lot. Dee what’s your favourite one? Ah, there’s a lot. COOPER Okay my personal favourite at the moment I think is the one that I did with Big Zulu, he’s one of the big artists and another group called Bafana ………….., they just won, so it goes like [sings]. DR. MALKA Thank you very much. FIFI So that’s the hook, it’s my personal favourite, ja. COOPER DR. MALKA And why is it your favourite? FIFI I think because it talks about someone leaving their home, going to Jo’burg COOPER to look for work and not coming back. So obviously someone you left at home will be curious, will want to know what’s going on, why you’re not coming back, why you’re not calling, you know, what’s happening in Jo’burg, ja. So I relate a lot because at some point…at one point of my life I was in that position where my mom was …… up every day, not knowing if I’m okay, if I’m safe and if I really need to stay here or go back home. DR. MALKA And it’s such a tension on a family life… FIFI Yes, it is, it is…. COOPER DR. MALKA …of pulling that cord apart and starting a new world. FIFI Ja, so at the end of the day it’s about proving everyone right all the time COOPER that you know what, I’ve got this. I’ve got this. DR. MALKA And you certainly have. FIFI Right. COOPER DR. MALKA Now for the last two years I’ve noticed that you tend to release work in August…. FIFI …yes…. COOPER DR. MALKA …and with it being Women’s Month, I look at this as almost a pattern that kind of signals the importance of the empowerment of you, the empowerment of women. FIFI Ja, I mean when I dropped my album last year, we had just lost Umama COOPER Winnie and for me it really touched me and I really wanted to dedicate that month and you know that album to strong women like her, you know, women who has fought for our freedom and August, I don’t know, like I also do like workshops, meet up with girls, I donate pads to you know some charities and for me that makes me happy you know and I just love August because then I get to do whatever I want with all my girls.
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DR. MALKA Tell us more about some of those workshops. FIFI Basically most of the time now we were doing them in the North West COOPER basically just to talk to upcoming you know females in you know their challenges because most of the time you find that it’s studio or someone expecting something back you know them. So, it’s just literally just talking and like them being able to open up about these challenges where we also like have a Whattsapp group where they can you know talk about some of their issues. So, it’s just about spending time because for me, they look up to me, they love me and you know me spending an hour or two hours with them really makes their day and it gives hope to them, which I absolutely love. DR. MALKA And when we look at those types of things, when you’ve got someone who, if you’re coming from that environment, they can really relate to you and they see… FIFI ...yes… COOPER DR. MALKA …you’ve made it, you’ve done it; this could be a dream for me too. FIFI And I mean I still go through those challenges today and for them to hear COOPER that it will keep happening, you know, the most important thing is how to get out of that challenge; how to take a positive out of a negative, you know, ja. DR. MALKA Speaking about challenges for women, you know there’s been a wave of international movements like Me Too, Time’s up and we’ve had our own protests in recent weeks from Shut Down Sandton, Am I Next; what do you think about these campaigns? FIFI They are very important and you know I love the fact that you know social COOPER media has given a lot of women a platform to speak out; to have a voice, because you find that there are a lot of women who have, you know, went to police stations and opened cases but nothing ever happened and you know to have this Am I Next campaign, everyone is able to talk, you know, everyone is able to have a voice and you know it’s beautiful. I love the fact that social media is giving us that platform now where we can say whatever we want and we can make people know our struggles and like what we go through on a daily basis. DR. MALKA I agree that as a platform it’s opened things up for women to express themselves, for women to have that voice and creating massive awareness…. FIFI …yes… COOPER DR. MALKA …the challenge I have though is that whilst we’ve got all of this awareness, how do we start creating the action? FIFI Exactly, that’s where the problem comes in now because we know; what’s COOPER the way forward. DR. MALKA Questions that I think go beyond our space today to answer. FIFI I’d like to answer that. COOPER DR. MALKA Go for it. FIFI Maybe I’d like sort of to take this challenge and maybe answer this because COOPER we don’t know; I don’t know how we’re going to take action because now we know we have a problem, so…. DR. MALKA What do you think? FIFI I don’t know, I honestly do not know because I mean there’s still a lot of COOPER things that are on hold, you know, there’s a lot of cases that are still on hold and there’s a lot happening every day. So it’s like where do we start, where do we go?
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DR. MALKA When I look at some of the, let’s say what performers have done in the past when there’s been an issue, whether it’s something like 9/11 in America or a key event that’s taken place like that, that people tend to weave that into their lyrics, the narrative and given the power that music has…. FIFI …yes…. COOPER DR. MALKA ...so although social media is great but things tend to be short-lived… FIFI …true, yeah… COOPER DR. MALKA …whereas if you’ve got a soundtrack out; it’s out. People listen to it, you’ve got longevity, so I always wondered if, you know, people were going to start taking up the issue and putting it to song perhaps. FIFI Ja, there are quite a few songs like that. I think Thapsi’s iLula, the song COOPER that she dropped really related to some of the issues, you know, I remember we did an interview not so long ago and it was you know also she was having this question of like where do we go, what do we do, but mostly it was about you know how also society has made it a thing that you know it’s okay for guys to hit women if you are in a relationship; which is absolutely not true, which is not okay for me and she was like raising those issues where, you know, how do we deal with this and for me I feel like there’s just a lot man and I actually like the fact that you brought this up because a song has a lot of power, you know, there could be a lot said in one song. So, I’ll take this challenge to my studio. DR. MALKA So we’ll watch this space. FIFI [laughs] Of course. COOPER DR. MALKA Gender equality is obviously important, particularly for women, but in some of the things that you’ve mentioned now, it does touch sensitive points. From culture, religion, tradition; in your opinion, how do you think we can overcome these types of social norms to make the world a better place for women? FIFI We just need to speak up. We just need to come together. I feel like COOPER women, it’s very rare to find women uniting. Speaking from my field, especially in hip-hop, because society has made it a thing that it should be a competition just because it’s hip-hop. It’s very hard to put female rappers in one song, you know, because mostly about oh how you look, how you should sound if you’re a female rapper, how you should…so some of those things are the reason why, you know, it’s difficult for us to come together because I feel like if we come together it would be a whole lot easier. If we unite it would be a whole lot easier because trust me, every single one of us is silently asking these questions, you know, but if we were together we’d probably find a solution and know what to do. DR. MALKA So forming these almost a co-op in hip-hop, but uniting more women together, sharing the concerns because you’re right, the reality is that most likely everybody’s experienced the same issues and they always say two brains is better than one… FIFI …than one… COOPER DR. MALKA …so, putting minds together to look at overcoming them. FIFI Ja. COOPER DR. MALKA Moving away from music as an industry, as an environment and thinking a bit more broader; in your opinion, what areas do you think we need to build on the most for women in the future? FIFI What are the areas we need….I don’t know hey, I haven’t actually like
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COOPER thought that deep. I don’t even like think that deep hey, in my life, I’m such a…I don’t know what I do with my life but I feel like women, like all of us together, we are great, that’s one thing I know and I love meeting up with women like I said and like talking to them, finding out how they feel, what they’ve been through, where they want to go, their struggles and just you know finding out you know some of the other issues that we have, you know, that I haven’t been through, you know, ja. DR. MALKA Today we’re talking to Ms Fifi Cooper from Mo Records; she is a multi-award winning rapper and songstress. We would love to hear your comments on Twitter:@WomanityTalk. AD BREAK DR. MALKA Fifi, we’re now going towards the end of the programme and one of the questions that I ask all my guests who’ve been on the show and made tremendous achievements in their respective careers, is about the factors that they consider have contributed to their success. So, some people will speak about a particular person or hard work or some other kind of moral ethic; what would you say have been some of the key drivers to success in your life? FIFI I think the first thing would be how I was raised; my family, my COOPER background, my friends and my role models. Growing up, looking up to Lebo Mathosa, Brenda Fassie, you know Mamma Winnie, ja, and I think what also drives me is being passionate like every time I step on stage I want to do it like it’s for the first time or for the last time, you know, every time I do a show I want to give it my all and ja, I think those things they, yoh, ja, very important to me and also my son obviously. He’s like, ja, the one. I love him so much. DR. MALKA Hearing you talk about the passion and looking at things as the first time for everything, it reminds me of Jeff Bezos and Amazon’s mantra where they constantly say “every day is day one”. FIFI Ja, yes and that’s true, ja, every day you start like you are starting from COOPER scratch…. DR. MALKA …you keep that hunger going…. FIFI …like that hunger must still be there. Of course. COOPER DR. MALKA What would you say have been some of the pivotal moments in your life as you were growing up? FIFI Growing up hey, growing up was tricky for me because growing up COOPER actually my life was just three things; school, dance, home, you know and…. DR. MALKA …simple times… FIFI …ja, like that’s it, like I didn’t bother myself, I didn’t you know go out a lot COOPER with friends unless it’s a performance but ja, my family has done a lot for me and I remember when I lost my dad, you know, it took me quite a while to, you know, gain my confidence and like go back out there and rock, but ja, I picked myself up because I was raised by a strong mother who inspired me a lot also because she made sure that life goes on and her kids will survive, no matter what. So ja, childhood was that for me. DR. MALKA Looking at you know going from your childhood as you said, it was a very straightforward existence; school, dance, home; to make that leap to adulthood of it’s completely, completely different. FIFI Yes. COOPER DR. MALKA Is life… FIFI …it’s crazy…. COOPER
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DR. MALKA …what you were expecting? FIFI It’s crazy but I remember like my mom told me that hey, it’s not going to COOPER be easy once you start being, you know, independent. Going to school, because I came to…I did media here in Jo’burg so that’s when I started you know having to cook for myself, I can’t eat my mamma food no more, it ain’t cool. It was very difficult but I adjust to situations and like I said it’s how I was raised, you know, I know what I want to do, I know that nothing is going to be easy and I just have to keep moving. But, you know, paying bills and all of that was just a lot for me, ja, but I love it. I love growing up, I love challenges and ja, I love new environments you know. DR. MALKA And another big change for you, you mentioned your son is the light of your life…. FIFI …ja…. COOPER DR. MALKA …how did motherhood change you? FIFI Yoh, it changed me a lot, like I feel like that’s the reason why sometimes COOPER when I feel down I know that I’ve got to wake up and hustle. It’s not only about me now, it has given me more strength to work harder, to want to achieve more, you know, so I love that, I love that, you know I love that drive. So motherhood has really made me, you know, this hustler today that I am. DR. MALKA Keeping on with the driving force, we’ve spoken about Fifi the past, we’ve spoken about Fifi the present; where’s Fifi the future going? FIFI Fifi the future, like I said earlier, I have so many plans that some of them, I COOPER just, ja last year I wanted to open a restaurant but now I’m going to chef school so that’s still on hold, once I have my certificate then that’s part of the plan and Mo Cooper Records, the future; definitely want to sign more artists and definitely still going to drop more albums and for now I’m focusing on these two EP’s Motswako Piano and New School Hip-Hop EP. Music videos will be dropping soon. Features as well, I’m on Big Zulu’s album, it’s out as well. Oh my God I feel like this year I’ve been working so much and yes my show is playing every Sunday on SABC1, Break The Beat, at six pm, so ja, check that out, we’re on season two and hopefully we’ll be doing season three soon. So there’s a whole lot for the future and ja, I cannot wait for my fans to experience this growth and ja, to experience the future with me. DR. MALKA Those are great things to be looking forwards to and certainly keeping you exceptionally busy, that’s for sure. FIFI Ja, yes, thank you. COOPER DR. MALKA Now lastly, as we close our conversation today, could you share a few words of inspiration or wisdom that you’d like to pass onto young ladies listening to us on the continent? FIFI I think, like I said earlier, originality but now I would say know your worth COOPER you know, a lot of people they do things because they don’t know their worth, there are things that you don’t really have to do because then you know your worth, you know what you deserve, you know what you bring to the table, so you shouldn’t be afraid to eat alone. So, I think that’s what I would say to, you know, all those young ladies out there, to believe in yourself, to know that they have that talent for a reason and God has a purpose for each and every one of us. DR. MALKA Thank you very much. FIFI Thank you so much. COOPER
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DR. MALKA We appreciate your time and for sharing some of your life story and life journey with us today. FIFI Yes, no thank you for the invite, I appreciate it so much. COOPER PROGRAMME END
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