Cupid Interview Transcription
DJ Booth: What’s goin’ on, y’all? It’s your boy ‘Z,’ doin’ it real big, and joining me inside the DJ Booth is a man I might hire for my wedding. Someone who can serenade your wife, and get your grandmother on the dance floor; a singer who believes it’s time for a change. My man Cupid, how are you?
Cupid: What’s goin’ on, boss?
DJ Booth: “What’s goin’ on” – is the question I’m gonna be asking you. Brand new album, “A Time For Change,” dropped yesterday – what needs to be changed? The music industry? The world?
Cupid: The power of the microphone – like, us as musicians, man, we have so much power with that microphone. We can make people cry, make people laugh and I just think we need to start usin’ the music to just draw the energy towards the positive– you know, everybody has struggles. Everybody goes through things – ‘cause I have myself, and my album is more or less focusing on the positive side of everything that’s goin’ on today, like as far as the “Cupid Shuffle.” Kinda draws the grandparents and the kids together – something that’s real fun. Time for a change in a positive direction, man.
DJ Booth: I couldn’t agree more. Let’s focus on “Cupid Shuffle” for a second. In the history of dance songs, including the Macarena, the Electric Slide, and my personal favorite, the Humpty Dance, where do you think the Cupid Shuffle ranks?
Cupid: Aw, man, I think it’s probably right under the Electric Slide because it’s still early, but I think that we’re gonna give ‘em the run for their money at the end of the day. It’s not as – I won’t say corny – as the Macarena. I go to thug clubs, and I see the thugs doin’ it. So, when you got a song like this has no demographic, I think that’s kinda what makes the Cupid Shuffle different from all the rest of the line dances, is that – I went to an Indian party for one of my friends – she live in Houston she’s of Indian descent – and they all were doin’ it. So when you see stuff like that that’s when you know that there’s no demographic to this thing.
DJ Booth: When you first created it, did you have an idea that it would be so widespread?
Cupid: No, not at all, man. You know, coast to coast people have different opinions, and it was real hard for me to accept the fact that maybe, in this culture or that culture it would be accepted, man. You know, people grasped on to it– I have been doin’ independently for so long, to finally be able to catch a break was just a blessing and a half. And then, when I seeing on Youtube, and I see people dressed up like Elmo doin’ it – you know, that says a lot, man. That’s when you start sayin’, “Man, this thing is for real.”
DJ Booth: Definitely. Just recently, the Cupid Shuffle broke the Guinness world record for the world’s longest line dance. Now, it took Barry Bonds 31 years to break Hank Aaron’s home run record – how long do you think your record stands?
Cupid: Oh, it’ll be a while, man, because we had a lot of momentum comin’ in – Steve Harvey spearheaded it for me. And there was this tour goin’ on, and you know Atlantic would let me go on bigger dates, but we got on the radio still, and just tellin’ people, “Hey, we gonna try to break the Guinness Book of World Records.” ‘Cause, the previous record was held in Hong Kong. I mean, when I saw the crowd, I was like, “This is crazy! 17 thousand!” It was almost like shattering the record, ‘cause, you know, 17 thousand people. And just to see ‘em all doin’ it, it’s like a dust storm out there, ‘cause there was dust everywhere, and people just jammin’, and hot – it was fun.
DJ Booth: Yeah, it’s crazy. Going from independent to major, and having an album come out, and this sensation all so quickly, are you overwhelmed?
Cupid: It takes a lot to excite me, man, ‘cause I’ve been through a lot. I’m excited, like now, it’s just kickin’ in, like, “This thing is really about to happen.” But it’s another level of work, and now I’m workin’ on makin’ sure that people realize that I’m a singer, not just a one-hit cat. But as far as everything that’s goin’ on, it can be overwhelming at times. I take about ten minutes out of the day to really just sit back and be like, “This is really gonna happen.”
DJ Booth: It seems as though there’s a fine line that separates the difference between the current sound of R&B and likewise of hip hop. I know you don’t like to label your music, but flatter me here: what is your focus as a musician?
Cupid: I’m an R&B singer, and my focus really is to just use my music as a tool to direct people in a positive direction – that’s really my focus. I can sit down here and tell you all the bad things that happenin’, all the times that people turn my CD down or use it as a coaster on their bar stand or something. I kinda feel like I’m obligated to be the person to spearhead the movement of the positive thing goin’ on right now. My focus is just to let people know that I’m really here – like, I don’t believe in the lip singing thing. I believe in comin’ out there and giving the consumer what they pay for. I just want the real authenticity of the music to be brought back to the forefront.
DJ Booth: I read a quote in your bio – it says you don’t want to be the next Chris Brown, you’re not interested in being the next Omarion or the next Usher, but on the song, “The Let Out,” your vocal melody is actually the exact same as Usher’s from “Nice and Slow.”
Cupid: Yeah, yeah.
DJ Booth: Care to explain?
Cupid: Yeah – the way the song was written, by T-Pain – you know, we just threw that in there. That’s kind of one of the most classy lines of all time, but when I say, not wanna be like Usher – Usher is Usher. I mean, there will never be another Usher. Chris Brown is Chris Brown. I don’t wanna be the carbon copy of anybody, I just wanna come out and be myself, and let my identity stand out just as much as theirs. ‘Cause that’s what I mean when I’m sayin’ I don’t wanna be them. Music-wise, I’m a fan. I got Usher, all his albums. I have Chris Brown. I just don’t wanna come into the game and people like, “Oh God, he tryin’ to be so-and-so.”
DJ Booth: You just want to carve out your own niche in this fine industry.
Cupid: Exactly, man.
DJ Booth: With the stage name Cupid, it would only make sense that you are a ladies’ man. Is there any argument there?
Cupid: Naw, man, naw – you know how it is: I love all ladies, all y’all.
DJ Booth: After this album has been released, September eleventh, how many figurative arrows do you think will be shot out at the hearts of former girlfriends, sweethearts, and lovers of yours?
Cupid: Man, that’s been the craziest part of my life. I’m a nice guy, and I think all of my previous relationship ended on, a technicality, you know what I’m sayin’? But, man, I moved on, and I’m just tryin’ to enjoy the ride, enjoy the music. There are a lot of beautiful women in the world – hopefully, somebody’ll go ahead and snatch up my heart and run with it.
DJ Booth: When you encounter a female, your fame and your voice can help you probably achieve just about anything, but for someone like me who isn’t famous and can’t sing a lick, what would you say is my best bet?
Cupid: Honesty, dude. Just be real. Like, you’d be surprised – if you got a girlfriend, and you go up a girl and be like, “I have a girlfriend, but I think you’re cute,” you’d be surprised. You know, not that I’m telling you to do that. [laughter]
DJ Booth: No, that’s a good idea.
Cupid: Like, just saying, “Look boo, I think you’re cute, how you doin’, woo woo woo,” girls appreciate that, man, ‘cause everybody kinda got a story. Women ain’t tryin’ to hear that – they want you to be honest with them, and when you honest with them, you good.
DJ Booth: Problem is, my last two relationships ended because I was a little too honest, so I think I might have to find that fine line between being too honest and just honest enough.
Cupid: [laughter] Yeah, sometimes you can be too honest.
DJ Booth: Next spring, you plan to launch a shoe line called “New Movements.” What will the New Movement look like, and how much is it gonna cost me to join?
Cupid: It’s gonna be cheap, man. You’re not gonna have the price sky rockin’ it, but the new shoe line is gonna be comin’ out, it’s gonna be called “New Movements.” And it’s basically real hip hop, sporty-type tennis shoes that you can wear casually as well.
DJ Booth: Very nice. Any other clothing coming after that?
Cupid: Yeah, man. I mean, we’re working on a lot of different things – you know, the shoe line goes well we’ll move on to the next step of everything. But I’m tryin to do everything. I just recorded a song on the Nancy Drew soundtrack called “All I Need.” After doing that I started realizing how much fun there is to have in the game so, I’m in it full-speed-ahead, man.
DJ Booth: All right, September eleventh, “A Time For Change,” in stores and available for purchase. Give everybody two reasons why they need to go out and buy ten copies as soon as it drops.
Cupid: Well, first it’s a positive movement. Second, there’s no parental advisory sticker. Third, there’s a lot of dance music on there. Fourth, if you’re an R&B lover, you really like R&B, you need to grab that. And fifth, it’s time for a change. New Cupid I’m trying to do my thing. Y’all gotta support that, man – it is a good thing.
DJ Booth: I asked for two, you gave me five, it works just fine. Give everybody a website or a Myspace page so they can find out more about this Cupid movement.
Cupid: It’s cupid-music.com, or you can go to myspace.com/theonlycupid – either one of those.
DJ Booth: Great. Well listen, I wish you nothing but the best of luck and I appreciate your time.
Cupid: Man, thank you so much. Z, it’s all good, all love, man. Everybody out there, thanks so much.
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