MsDSF-Men still don’t see women as equal counterparts, they still see them as weak. And the minute you are a strong woman you are tagged as having an attitude

Women are changing the narrative and reshaping the stereotype, not just to be accommodated but to take the lead. Dorcas Shola Fapson has emerged to prove to the world that mastery and beauty can thrive off each other, and that the say ‘it’s a man world’, is only valid for young women who are afraid to step into the limelight and best men in their comfort zone. The actor, presenter, and notably a DJ, discusses with us in this interview the essence of living one’s reality. She establishes that embodying your life’s purpose requires being creative and energetic, like acting; sometimes you must improve the dialogue. Indeed, Ms DSF is a model for the girl-child to look up to in her fulfilling purpose; she shows that beauty should be where it begins and not where it ends. She shared her life with us, and we heard the echoes of fulfilment that trails it. From performing at the 02 arena, to starring on one of the biggest movies out of Nollywood in 2022, and establishing herself as an entrepreneur, it is evident that DSF thrives off passion and her love for all she does, and this is just the beginning.

 

What is the story behind the Miss DSF brand?

 

Let’s keep it short and sweet. The story behind the DSF brand is a girl with a passion. I was raised in the U.K, I first came to Nigeria at age 13. Got shipped to Nigeria. I wast told I was going on holiday for two weeks and then I ended up going to school in Ibadan for a year and I never came back to Nigeria after that because I absolutely hated it. And then I got into acting and I fell into Nollywood. I always say I fell into Nollywood because I never planned to come back to Nigeria because of my initial experience. It wasn’t a great experience. But then when I came back the second time and got into acting, I fell in love with Nigeria ever since and the rest is history because it has literally become a home for me. Obviously, I’m Nigerian, but I was born and raised in the UK, so I’m back and forth between the UK and Nigeria. So yeah, that’s pretty much the story in a nutshell. A very, very small nutshell.

 

What is your definition of being successful in the entertainment world?

That’s a good question. My definition of being successful in the entertainment world is being happy and enjoying what you do genuinely, not doing something that you have to do to pass time, but something that you would do for free and still have the greatest satisfaction. Like if I could do something for the rest of my life and I wasn’t getting paid for it, it would be acting and deejaying because I genuinely love my job. So yeah, doing whatever makes you happy and enjoying it would definitely be my definition of success.

 

What has been the highlight of your career so far?

 

Oh, okay. This is because it happened this year. I played at the O2 Arena in London and it was absolutely amazing. Um, so I think that’s, that’s definitely been a huge highlight for me, DJ Wise. As an actor, being on Netflix. Like I’ve had like a few films and series on Netflix. I think that has been a real highlight for me, and just being able to like let my friends and family watch me across the world in America and UK and Nigeria and connect with my fans. That’s definitely been the highlight of my career.

 

You’re beautiful, intelligent, classy, with a great career as a woman in the industry, what are the stereotypes you’ve had to deal with?

 

Question of life. Where do I start? There’s so many stereotypes. Well, one is being a successful woman without having a man supporting you is a huge stereotype, especially in the Nigerian entertainment industry. It’s almost impossible to be a woman, be beautiful, be hardworking, and to make your own money without having somebody aiding you. In other words, it’s impossible to be a successful Nigerian woman without being into ‘runs’, which is absolutely ridiculous. There are so many women that are doing so well for themselves, myself included, making their own money, paying their own bills, booking their own flights without having any rich man fund their life. So I think that’s a huge, huge stereotype we have in the Nigerian entertainment industry and it’s really irritating because you work so hard, you work twice as hard as your male counterparts because you have to prove yourself constantly in a male dominated industry. To work twice as hard and still be like blackballed because you’re pretty, have a foreign accent or just different to the norm is a very irritating stereotype for me anyway.

 

The entertainment industry is majorly occupied by men. Why do you think we have a gender gap in the industry?

I just kind of answered that. But yeah, you know, again. Why do you think we have a gender gap in the industry?

Let me put it this way. I feel like men still don’t see women as equal counterparts. They still see them as weak. And as you know, the minute you are a strong woman you are tagged as having an attitude, but if a man shows that he’s strong, it’s like, yeah, he’s an alpha male, he’s great and blah blah blah. I still feel like as women, we still have to really prove ourselves. We have to work twice as hard as our male counterparts just to prove that we can get the same equal pay or we can get to do the same job just as well, which is frustrating. Yeah. But there’s a lot of women that are really paving the way and really like fighting through to prove themselves. An example is working twice as hard to make my mark in the DJ world just because there are limited female Deejays compared to the males. We must continually prove that we deserve to be there and can do the job equally as good as males. Um, yeah. I think we just need to believe in and support more women.

 

Tell us more about Nollywood with the movie Man of God. What are your greatest challenges? Biggest surprises and achievements from the movie.

Man of God was very out of my comfort zone. I played a character, Rekia. I feel like we can definitely relate to. I relate to Rekia because, like, she’s a fun party girl and she likes to enjoy what she does and everything. In this case, she was like a Nigerian version of me. But yeah, it was out of my comfort zone because there was a lot of razzness. It was just kind of odd, but it was really fun to become her and put her on screen and to see it come out. I’ve had a lot of great feedback. A lot of people reached out internationally just giving me great feedback on that role, so it was very, very, very uplifting for me. It was an amazing experience working with the entire cast and crew. Yeah, it was great for me.

 

What’s your biggest surprise?

The biggest surprise? I think my biggest surprise from the movie was how much people really loved Rekia. Like people, a lot of people really, really love Rekia. Like people would hear me speak and go, oh my God, you have a British accent. Like how did you put on that pidgin? And I’d be like, oh yeah, on set, like I literally ask somebody to say something, then I’ll repeat it. Like I’ll literally be like, oh, can you say, I don’t know, like whatever the line is. I’m like, oh then I’ll just mimic how she would say it. If that makes sense.

 

How do you want people to view the DSF brand?

 

I want people to view the DSF brand as someone who is unapologetically herself, always. Like I don’t wanna be anybody but myself. I feel like I am misunderstood a lot, but it’s just me being me. Um, I make mistakes. I’m not perfect. I’ve never claimed to be perfect. I never claimed to be a celebrity. I’ve never claimed to be anything, but just me. My career is just something I love to do and I happen to get attention from it. Like it’s not like I plan to be famous or popular or I wanted clouts or anything like that. I literally just do what I’m passionate about and that attracts people that love me and others who don’t too. I don’t use opinions to pay my bills. I’m always going to be me and yeah, it is what it is. I just want people to know that I’m always authentically me. I don’t sugarcoat anything when it comes to me.

 

What do you think is the hardest thing to find in today’s world?

 

I think the hardest thing to find, especially in this generation, is authenticity. Like people are always trying to put on something for clouts or trying to be what they’re not like just trying to either impress people or, um, just live up to social media and stuff like that. So I feel like authenticity is very scarce in this generation.

 

Any word on the forthcoming elections and how youth should participate?

 

Wow. Yes. I have a lot to say about our government and how our country’s being run but I don’t think we have enough time for me to get into that. However, I will say is that we need to group together and put more young people, more of our voices in power. So we need more people speaking up, more people like us speaking up for us. We don’t need all these older generations, you know, dictators and everything.

 

We need people for us that want to improve our Nigeria. Cause I think it is us that are gonna be living in Nigeria, our children and generations to come. So it starts with us. We need to just put more people like us in power and support people like us. Humans like Mr Macaroni, Falz, and a few others care. We need more people like them who aren’t afraid to speak up. Go out and get your voter card. 2023 is tomorrow. Register, research on candidates and vote. Don’t just go by what you see online. Do you actual research. Like don’t go by hearsay or I heard this and I heard that. Do your own research and understand what the parties represent for yourself and make your decision wisely. Don’t be influenced by “this one that has given 1K or this one has given me a bag of rice or this one has given me something”. Garri will finish, rice will finish. Let’s be wise please.

 

Tell us your pet peeve in a guy, the most beautiful relationship you have and what’s next and what should we expect?

 

My biggest pet peeve in a guy is bad hygiene. Like I cannot stand when a guy is handsome and he has bad breath or body odor or just something is not something in, you know, like something, the math is not mathing. Like you look good, but then hmm-hmm, that’s a no, that’s an instant deal breakup. It’s a no for me, sir. The most beautiful relationship I’ve had. Well do you mean family? Because I am a child of God, I don’t believe in you know, premarital stuff. Um, yeah, I’m gonna keep my relationship private, but I’m happy. Just know that I’m very, very happy. Yeah. I’m happy.

 

Any advice for aspiring entertainers?

 

It is 2022. There are so many resources for you on Youtube, Twitter, Snapchat, and other social media. Use it to your advantage. If you are a singer, sing, upload your video, tag singers, do covers of songs. If you’re an actor, do a monologue, put it on social media, tag directors, follow them. Just be very active and use the platforms you have. Don’t wait for someone to knock on your door before you know you can act. There are so many resources, your friends, your network. Don’t wait. Be focused, work smart and not hard.