Fifi Cooper is giddy. When we meet, it’s been a while since she’s released her second album, "Take Me Back". It is her first album since she acrimoniously parted ways with Ambitiouz Entertainment and her first under Mo Cooper Records.
“I feel great,” she said, “I feel like I never left. And with my new record label, there’s a lot that I deal with as the head. It’s not just about recording in studio. But being back on stage and the love that I get from my fans has been the reason I kept pushing.
"I’m a patient person and I know challenges are necessary for you to grow as an artist. I feel like I am back (and) better than before.”
It’s clear that Cooper is in a place where she has control over everything. She sports grey box braids and round-rimmed shades and she looks like the Motswako Boss Lady that she first introduced herself to the nation as.
She underwent a few changes in her image and especially in her music when she joined Ambitiouz. And the company made her into an award-winning star, so everyone was shocked when she and A-Reece left and there were allegations of financial mistreatment.
That break-up resulted in a court case where Cooper was allegedly banned from performing the songs she’d recorded under Ambitiouz. Then the EFF’s Julius Malema got involved and artist and company settled the case.
Cooper talks about this time in her life a lot.
On a ditty, Freedom, she raps about people turning their backs on her, anxiously waiting for an FNB notification SMS and how things changed when “J Malema” stepped in.
“I love the fact that my music is inspired by my everyday challenges and whatever I go through daily,” she said. “I wrote exactly what I was feeling at the time.
“When we trended on Twitter about the court case, he just looked for my number and called me. He said he was willing to help me. I was very happy.
“I know that in every situation, God will come through for me.”