Many people thought Fifi Cooper’s fall out with Ambitiouz Records could spell the end of her high-flying career as the first lady of Motswako, but they were wrong. Today, she dropped a new single “Zwagala” and has come back stronger than ever. Here’s what she had to say about her journey:
By Ayanda Sitole
My new album is about reinventing myself and becoming the Fifi Cooper that everyone knew before I joined Ambitiouz Records. During my time at the record label people thought I was a trap queen, but my new song Zwagala is 100% my own style. My new album, Take Me Back, is a fusion of different genres. There’s a bit of trap, gospel and traditional music. I am Motswana and many people don’t know that I did traditional dancing and singing before I became a rapper. My first love is singing, I never knew that I would end up being a rapper, but I realised that there was a gap for a female rapper who raps in Motswako I wanted to show people that it can be done.
My fall out with Ambitiouz Records was really sad for me. They helped boost my career, which is something I appreciate, but I had to take a stand and show them that I am not an ATM. There was a lot of confusion around my contract with them, they were taking money from my gigs and album sales but there was money owed to me that they were not paying. I had to make a difficult decision to leave because I am a mother and I have to look after my son, so if I wasn’t making money through Ambitiouz Records, than I had to find another way to make an income.
My new album is dropping in August because it’s Women’s Month, in loving memory of Mama Winnie Mandela. She has inspired me to fight for my freedom. When President of the EFF Julius Malema contacted me and said he wanted to help me financially with my court case against Ambitiouz Records, I was stunned. They helped me financially because the record label was using senior advocates and I could not afford the legal battle. Today I am free. We settled our matter out of court and I can perform all my music without having to pay them.
I started my own record label called Mo Cooper Records, and Take Me Back is the first album under my record label. I’ve also signed my first artist, a young Motswako rapper called Ezelap who is from Mafikeng. In Take Me Back I have a collaboration with Zola, who is someone I’ve always wanted to work with as well as a collaboration with rapper Nomuzi aka Moozlie. Putting together this album wasn’t difficult, I enjoyed the whole process. I finally felt like I was living the life that I’ve always wanted to live and that’s why it sounds so amazing.
You can download Fifi Cooper’s new song here.
