CUPIDSZN: THE RISE OF A NEW MAVIN STAR

CupidSZN, born Stevenson Anyinachiso Njoku, is steadily carving out his own space in Nigeria’s evolving Afrobeats scene. With a distinct sound, a growing community, and an impressive catalogue, he’s quickly becoming one of the new generation’s names to watch. On November 13, 2025, CupidSZN was officially welcomed into the Mavin family, marking a major turning point in his career. His formal introduction came with MYTH-ERA, a five-track debut EP that offered a glimpse into his world and sound, spawning the standout record “Palava.” But CupidSZN’s story didn’t begin with Mavin. Before his official announcement, he had already built a strong community and catalogue, including “Ifeoma” with Ozedikus and BoiGizmo, which has surpassed 30 million Spotify streams. He isn’t simply an artist being introduced to an audience, he’s an artist who already had an audience waiting for his next chapter.

Creative Direction: Dammy Prince
Photography. Aaron Ehimare
Assistant Photography: PIERRE
Styling: 3lvcksun
Assistant Styling: KOOK
Studio: Mavin Creative Hub
BTS Videography: Verse
Production: Dammy Prince
Post Production: cosamote.
Wording / Interview: Dammy Prince
Tailor / Brand: Brass NG & OB70

At exactly 2:04 PM, CupidSZN pulls up to the Mavin Creative Hub, accompanied by his manager and best friend, Syx. For an artist whose journey is only beginning, there’s already a story worth telling.

PK: How would you describe your sound to someone hearing you for the first time?
Cupid: If you put water in a cup it becomes cup and I feel that’s how music should be able to felt in different ways and feelings, so I would like to describe my sound as ‘FLUID.’ because it gives
people different emotions when they listen to it.

PK: What emotion do you naturally write from the most?
Cupid: Love. It’s the greatest thing in the world!

PK: Which artist has influenced your songwriting the most?
Cupid: Juice WRLD. I listen to him a lot, he’s my goat, he’s the reason I’m an artist today and without him, I don’t think I would’ve taken this profession seriously. He showed me that omo e
like say na this p i wan do o. So I feel Juice WRLD really inspired me, not just writing alone, his melodies, I tried to infuse that in my Afrobeats as much as I can.

PK: What’s a misconception people have about your music?
Cupid: Okay I don’t think people listen enough but they say the type of music I make is “bad”

PK: What’s one song in your catalog that means something completely different to you now? & why?
Cupid: That would be ‘Hashtag’ w/ 255 because the person I wrote the song for at the time, I was in love but right now we done.

PK: Are you in a relationship right now?
Cupid: *Laughs* Why?

PK: What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken creatively?
Cupid: The biggest risk I’ve taken as a person was me moving to Lagos. But creatively I don’t think I’ve taken any risks, but just putting out a song is a risk because you don’t know what the
audience want, you just putting it out and hoping people connect with it and love it as much as you make it.
So, everytime I put out a song, it’s a risk. That’s how I see it.

PK: What’s a lyric you’ve written that still gives you goosebumps?
Cupid: Famous. The line where I said “(Oya na), Gbuwalam siren. Tuwama my gee, I go drop nuclear explosives.”
So, ‘Gbuwalam siren’ means ‘Blow trumpet’ (Igbo language), siren of course is the loud warning device. ‘Tuwama my gee’ is “when the trumpet sounds, everyone will run” that was what I meant with those lines but I feel like most people slept on that.

PK: Have you ever had writer’s block? How did you overcome it?
Cupid: Oh yes I do have writer’s block a lot of times and when I do have writer’s block, I like to stay away from it for sometime because it could just be you’re overwhelmed and need a break. So whenever I get writer’s block I just leave it for sometime and revisit it with a fresh mindset.

PK: Which comes first for you: the melody or the lyrics?
Cupid: Melody

PK: Do you write from personal experiences or most times freestyle ?
Cupid: I freestyle, and I also write from personal experience. But I like to oppose the idea that artists only write from personal experiences. It’s like people who write stories. For example, you
can’t say everything Shakespeare wrote was based on his personal experience. That’s why we have a brain, to think, imagine, and create. As an artist, I write beyond my own experiences. I can create scenarios and write about them because other people might have felt that way too. It’s just like writing movies. You can write a script based on your own experience, or you can create something entirely from your imagination. That’s how I approach my music. I definitely write from personal experiences, but I can also create from imagination. Sometimes it could be my friend’s experience, a gist I heard, or something I observed. So, it’s not always about what I’ve personally experienced. Sometimes, it’s simply about using my brain to create something that people can relate to.

PK: What’s your ideal studio session like?
Cupid: Just me, the producer, and probably one or two of my friends who I’m very comfortable with, because I don’t like having too many people in the studio. I also like to start from scratch. I like creating the beat from scratch with the producer because that way, I feel like I have more control over how the beat eventually turns out. Then, I take the melodies from there. I also like the lights off, with the studio feeling cozy and chill.

PK: Who’s the first person you play your music to?
Cupid: My family, my manager, and my best friend. (points at Syx)

PK: Have you ever changed an entire song after hearing it back?
Cupid: Yes, I have. An unreleased song, in fact, I’ve changed it twice already. I changed it, listened to it, then changed it again. Even while I was recording it, I already had a feeling that something wasn’t right because I recorded it when I was tired. That’s another reason why I don’t like to rush things. I did it anyway, but it wasn’t as great as I wanted it to be, so I had to scrap everything and do it again. I still didn’t like it, but the third version was Mazza…!!!

PK: What’s one studio session you’ll never forget?
Cupid: The one I had with Jazzy, the first I recorded ‘Super’ and other songs that you guys haven’t heard. I will never forget that day.

PK: What moment made you realize music could become your career?
Cupid: I feel like with music, that’s the only time I’ve felt a sense of purpose. Before music, I wanted to do other things. I wanted to play football, I was in an academy and all that, but with music, I just felt like I was called to do this. That was my main push, and nobody could tell me anything, not even my parents. I realized it when I saw a Juice WRLD video. Then, when I recorded for the first time on BandLab and heard myself after recording on my phone, I was like, ‘Okay, I think I want to do this.’

PK: What’s been your proudest achievement so far?

Cupid: That would be the positive feedbacks I get from people and what my music has been able to make people feel, that alone is a great achievement for me and I’m really proud of it.

PK: Have you ever felt like giving up?
Cupid: No.

PK: If you could collaborate with any artist in the world tomorrow, who would it be? (Please don’t say Juice WRLD.)
Cupid: Everybody, but obviously, you can’t collaborate with everyone. If I had to pick one person, I’d love to collaborate with Wizkid.

PK: What do you do when you’re not making music?
Cupid: I just be at my house playing PS5 or sleeping

PK: What’s a hobby most people don’t know you have?
Cupid: Gaming. Undisputed on PS5, I could play that forever

PK: Who knows the real CupidSZN better than anyone else?
Cupid: Aside from me? My family, and definitely my best friend. (Shout-out to Syx… again!)

PK: What’s one fear you’ve had to overcome?
Cupid: I don’t think I’ve overcome it yet.

PK: Stage fright?
Cupid: I don’t think I can ever get used to stage fright. Even after doing this for ten years, I might still get that nerve-racking feeling right before I get on stage. But the thing is, whenever I get on stage, it goes away.

PK: Have you ever apologized through a song?
Cupid: No. But I have expressed myself on how I feel to somebody through a song.

PK: What’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever done?
Cupid: Probably a surprise date at a restaurant with a girl.

PK: Can heartbreak make someone a better artist?

Cupid: Yes. I feel like I make my best songs when I’m heartbroken, not even when I’m in love. Heartbreak makes you remember the times you were in love, and then you sing the best love songs. People think when you sing about heartbreak, it means you’re sad, but you could probably just be reminiscing about how good the relationship was and singing about it. Sometimes, when you’re in a relationship, you might not realize how good you have it until you lose it.

PK: Is there a line you won’t cross for love?
Cupid: I don’t know yet. I can’t answer that because I’m a lover boy.

PK: Do you believe in soulmates?
Cupid: Yes I do. I feel everyone has their person, there’s somebody for everybody.

PK: What excites you most about the current Nigerian music scene?
Cupid: The amount of people discovering Afrobeats is very encouraging for us coming up. Seeing the sound being exported and heard by international audiences gives us the motivation
to keep going and hope that we can get to that level too. The amount of talent coming out is also really encouraging. So, I’m really happy about what the OGs have done, as well as the
work the new generation is about to do and what we’re already doing.

PK: Which rising artist deserves more recognition?
Cupid: If I had to name a rising artist who deserves more recognition than he’s already getting, I’d say ME.

PK: What’s one thing you’d change about the music industry?
Cupid: For us to keep the quality and art, never to substitute. We keep it at peak and standard. Because at the end of the day we looking for something that can stand the test of time rather
than vitality. And also, the government should look into the talents in Nigeria, especially in the entertainment sector, because that’s all we have. That’s the only way we’ve been able to export ourselves as Africans, as Nigerians, through entertainment or sports. Since that’s the only thing we have, we should cherish it and create infrastructure to be able to push more. Afrobeats should be bigger than what it already is if the right people in the right places could do the right thing and put us in the right places.

PK: How important is social media to an artist’s success today?
Cupid: Sadly, it’s very important, even though we don’t like it. Like now, we have to be content creators as much as we are artists. Before, we didn’t have social media, so artists were mysterious. Now, you can’t afford to be mysterious because out of sight is out of mind. If they’re not seeing you constantly, you leave their mind. Right now, it’s a battle for who’s seen rather than who’s heard, because they need to see you to hear you right now, because of how much people are on their phones. So, social media plays a huge role in the success of an artist, sadly.

PK: What’s one message from a fan you’ll never forget?
Cupid: A fan said she played my song for her mom, and she’d never seen her mom that happy before. That made my day because someone is talking about how my song made her mom feel whenever she’s feeling down.

PK: What’s the craziest fan interaction you’ve ever had?
Cupid: Can I say it on here? (1 hour later…)
So, a fan walked up to me and handed me a paper with her hotel number so I could come get her.

PK: What chapter of your story are you in right now?
Cupid: I’m in the building phase. Just building myself, my fans, my audience, my brand as a whole. Building myself as a person, as Stevenson, rather than Cupid.

PK: What’s one thing you hope never changes about you?
Cupid: I hope I don’t lose myself. I hope I continue to remain humble and open-minded, but still very aware of what I want as a person. I hope that never changes with fame. People say with
fame comes a lot, and I’ve always prayed that I still have those morals that have been instilled in me by my parents, even after everything.

PK: What’s one promise you’ve made to yourself as an artist?
Cupid: That without my story, I don’t think the game would be complete, I always said that to myself. Like being one of the icons that would never be forgotten in the game.

PK: Five years from now, what does success look like to you
Cupid: So long as people are able to feel and enjoy my music. Ever since you asked me anything that has to do with success with my music, I just want people to feel. In five years’ time, as long as I can still make people feel something, that’s success to me. Obviously, we want the stadiums, money, we want everything too, but it’s deeper than that.

PK: If someone watches this interview years from now, what do you hope they take away from it?
Cupid: I hope they see a kid who was building an empire and hopefully, by then, they get to see all the hurdles and obstacles I had to go through and also feel like they can do it too. I know alot of people would probably see themselves in my situation. I just want them to know that, ‘omo guy, you go still get am clear.’ Like, just keep pushing, regardless. Whatever you’re building right now, just know it’s not for now. Anything you get easily, just know it can be taken easily. Things you work hard for won’t be able to go away that easily, so just keep building, and when it comes, it stays for a long time and a good time.

PK: You mentioned Syx earlier, are the others on you team?
Cupid: Syx is just my best friend, but I do have an amazing team, my A&R, Jazzy, Rima, and everyone who guides me whenever I feel down. I have an amazing team to go back to, a team that feels like family and not just business. It’s also family, and it’s something that, as an artist we pray for. I’m so glad that I have that. My team is the best team in the world!