'How I Survived Multiple Surgeries' - Dencia Tells Her Survival Story

In an interview with Entertainment Express Magazine, Dencia, the sexy singer/ Beri Beri crooner opened up about her survival story and the many surgeries she had gone through. She survived an open-heart surgery, got a lump removed from her breast yet, she picked up herself, broke into mainstream American showbiz circle and stepped out in triumph. In discussing this she said;

"If my parents didn’t have any money, I wouldn’t be alive today"

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“It actually got worse when I was 13, and at 17,” she recalls her low moments without flinching. “Every year I went through surgeries, I started having complications. And when they had to remove some growth in my throat, I couldn’t talk for three months. And the funny thing is that in spite of all these, I went to school like a normal kid, wrote my exams and all. I made my GCE, when I was 15, and proceeded for my advance level when I was 17. So I did go to school like any other kid.” 

Undeterred, the talented fashion designer found herself on a different turf in American but once again, her survival instincts reared-up. Dencia’s skills as a fashionista have earned her credits as a costumier to big names such as 50 Cents, Rihanna and Nikky Minaj among others. The singer who has roots in Calabar is set to conquer new heights since making her debut on the music scene with two singles entitled Beri Beri and Super Girl. In her first major feature interview, she shares her pains and triumphs with Sunday Express. Excerpts. 

Having decided to return to do music in Nigeria, what is the target for you now?I am putting my acts together right now, making plans for my new video. So right now, I am just working. I am rehearsing for a show right now, I have done a few shows here and there since I came, and I’m just pushing. 

What is your relationship with other Nigerian artistes, how have they received you? It has been pretty cool, nothing out of the ordinary. Before getting in to the industry, I had a few friends in the industry. I spoke to a couple of people, and the people I knew then had not become the big star they are now. I have known them for like five years now. It is just about mixing with people. I have met all the top artistes, especially the guys. It has been great. With the girls, I have not really met any of them, I met Muna once in a studio, and that was it.

Let us talk about you, your style of music.I started with pop music. You know the happy kind of music, the fun side.  And I choose to do that because there has been a lot of sadness in the world. You know, the story of my life was not the happy one, and it was a sad story and I had to do happy music. But at some point I am going to tell my story, so the whole world will know what has happened and what is happening to other people.  I think that is how my single is going to be. 

Tell us about your tough experiences you were talking about?I was very sick, very sick. I was born and raised in Africa, most people don’t know that, in Cameroun, at my maternal grand parents place and it was pretty cool, it was an experience. If my parents didn’t have any money, I wouldn’t be alive today, because we needed money to go to the hospital, undergo surgeries. Friends started helping us out, and it was an experience and it went on like that until I was 18, when I moved to America. I wish to tell my story, because there are a lot of kids out, that are going to listen to me, people who went through my trouble, who think they can’t survive. I want to let them know, they can survive, if they can pass through that stage, and then it will be over. 

How serious was it, and what type of ailment was it?It was very bad, it was like an Asthma, which was very bad, I had an open-heart surgery. I have had lumps taken out of my breast. I have had too many surgeries, and it even affected my nose that is why I resulted to plastic surgeries, every year I was undergoing surgeries. But I am still strong because, I come from a very spiritual home. We believe in God and when those things happen, no financial resources, no money to take me to the hospital, but I stayed strong. 

What time of your life did it start?It actually got worse when I was 13, and at 17. Every year I went through surgeries, I started having complications. And when they had to remove some growth in my throat, I couldn’t talk for three months. And the funny thing is that in spite of all these, I went to school like a normal kid, wrote my exams and all. I made my GCE, when I was 15, and proceeded for my advance level when I was 17. So I did go to school like any other kid. 

How were you able to stick with the school curriculum?The internet was not very popular at that time, but I studied through the internet a lot, I was also doing some weekend classes. 

What fond memory do you have growing up?I grew up with my grand parents, and they had a lot of kids they were taking care of, it was a full house, it was fun. I wake up in the morning, pray, we go to school together.   My grand mother traveled abroad, and I had to be the one to cook, it was fun, I miss it. 

Do you still have any fear, concerning your health?I do, sometimes I fear, sometimes I feel I am going to be okay, it has been on and off. But it has been different, but I think I am out growing them, but I still have a lot of complications. 

You are going to be doing a lot of dancing and rigorous things now, how are you going to cope?Well, I get tired sometimes, but when I sleep and wake up on the morning, I feel fine. I also take a lot of medications. 

Growing up in Yaoundé, did music play any role?If I had not gone into music, I could have been a journalist. After a lot of surgeries, I had a problem with my voice. I joined a group when I was fourteen; we called our selves Street Four. I was the only fourteen years old in the group, the other girls were like 20. We did a lot of show, performed a lot. We were like the only girl group, when it came to English songs, we did a lot of performances on University shows, in MTV shows, and we were doing well. But we  got to a point when we had to move on, and three years later we had to split, then later, I went in to acting, did some movies, Nigerian-Cameroun movies, stuffs like that. Then I fell very sick. The story of my life is crazy, but I thank God. 

Did you get to the point where, you lost hope?I never lost hope. I have never been the kind of person to give up on anything. I just think that is one of my strengths. My grand father was a very strong man, he was very strong. He died when I was eight years old, but when I think about him, all I see is the strong man that he was. He was sick for a long time, before he died. The words he told me, I can never forget those words. Never give up. He worked as a military judge, he talked to me a lot. I was very close to him; I was his first grand child. But I didn’t know he was my grand dad, I thought he was my real father; I told you it was complicated. He always told me to be very brave, not to ever give up. It doesn’t matter, what I am going through, I should never give up. I remember my first illness, when I was five, he held my hands and told me, I will be fine, and I was fine. So after that, I always knew I will be fine, no matter what. Even after he died. 

You seem to talk a lot about your grandparents, what about your real parents?My dad didn’t raise me, my mum is somewhere now in Africa I think. She was a professional athlete, she played volley ball, and she played for Cameroun. I spent my whole life with my grandparents, and I know that they are my parents. It was until when I was sixteen that I knew that they were my grandparents, and not my parents. But I call them Mum and Dad, I don’t call them my grand parents. 

How is your relationship with your parents?I know my mum, but I don’t know my dad, I have never heard about my dad before, I don’t even know his name.Are you not trying to connect with them?It is not even something that I am worried about, I don’t have that time to go after him, what has happened has happened, I don’t have time to start going back to the past for. 

What part of Nigeria do you come from?It is Calabar. One would expect that after your sojourn in America, you would return to Cameroun to start a full career, why Nigeria?In Africa in general, Nigeria is like the head quarters of the entertainment industry. Yea, which country would you think it is? I am African; I will never say any country. Nigeria is the giant in the industry, especially in West Africa. Other countries don’t have MTV Base, no Channel O, and all these things. And I, being an artiste, although it will be more expensive, it will be easier to reach out to the world, from Nigeria, because people are already listening to it. It is expensive to be an artiste, I don’t have the money to go to France and go and give Trace my music, I am not going to take that risk and stay in one place, like Cameron, spend my money. If I go to Cameroun, in three days I can finish all the media houses in three days, radio, TV. So like I said, through Nigeria, your music actually goes to the world. It is not like I am trying to take advantage or anything like that, you just have to know what you are doing. I am not coming here to fight any artiste; I am just coming to do my own music. 

What took you to America?School and life took me to America. My grand mother moved out from Cameroun, she moved to France, with my sister (it is complicated) – she is my Grand mum’s daughter, but we were like sisters. She moved to America, I just finished my advanced level, and I was the only girl left back home, so they were like, you can’t stay and all of that, I was like I want to stay, because I liked Africa. So at some point, I had to travel, I had to leave. So I traveled, and I had a green card. I had it before I traveled because we use to travel once in a while. Then I had to go to school, I had to go to college. My family wanted me to go to college, but I just wanted that high class life, somehow I think that helped me at some point. I met everybody that I needed to meet; I worked with some of the top-notch in the industry. I did some designs for models; I worked with many big people. So I learnt a lot. In the industry, I learnt a lot and that is helping me with what I am doing now. Everything that we used, I like the co-pilot to work, it was produced by AG Production, but I was like the assistant director. I wrote the script for the video, I did the costumes for the videos; I do these things myself, because I want things to be perfect. I have people, like Assistant Managers and stuffs like that. Like now, I am in Nigeria, I am doing a song, I don’t need to send the song to the mixing masters, I don’t know for sure, if they will have the ear for what I like. I know bars, I know when it is complete. So I learnt from the best, I made connections that I knew could help me. 

One would expect that when people have worked with big people in the industry, there are very quick to drop names. Why are you different?I don’t do that, my resume speaks for itself. The people I have worked with should call my names. I have worked with the likes of 50 cent, some of the videos you have seen, Jeremiah, Chris Brown, Ludacris,  Williams, Beyounce, Gaga, I designed for Nicki Minaj, Christiana Milan, Lil Mama, Jamie Fox..I can go on and on. I worked with these people and we are friends. We exchange contacts, call each other once in a while. I have met everybody. I have met all these people and they just loved the fact that I am African. African Americans love we Africans, and they loved the fact that I always talked about my roots, like when you ask me where I am from, I am from Africa. So I was always proud of where I am from, I always talked about it, and they liked me for keeping it real. 

How were you able to break in to that fold?When I moved to LA, and it is a kind of place where you can buy any clothes, and wear, anything you want and then, Dencia was not everybody, she was who she wanted to be. I was different, my hair was different, my style was different, my looks were different, same with my accent, because when I spoke, people were like oh my God, that was nice. I had a different look, I wore curly hair, most girls wore straight long hair, I had my own style, and that attracted a lot of people. 

Who was your first contact in Hollywood?I went to a party, Peter Nygard, he had this after party and when I went there with my own style, as a proud African girl, it was very different, I was turning heads. People were like where did you get your shoes, where did you get your this, where did you get your that, and everybody there happened to be an actresses, model, reality TV star, everybody happened to be somebody, they started giving me their contacts. They were like, can you make these for me, and there was a girl that was running a modeling agency, she was there, and she was like, you have a great look, I like your work, I want to work with you. I did not go into modeling anyway, I was not doing modeling gig, and I was just into my music and acting. So a few months later, I already started going to parties, me and my friend and then I met this girl Jane at a Snoop Dogg’s party and I won’t say, I grew from that, I dated an NBA player for a while, we dated for like two years. 

Tell us about your romance with the NBA star?I am not going to say, sorry, but he his French, that is all I have to say. And that was how I became somehow popular, people were always commending about my collections and all. So I went to Snoop Dogg’s concert after party, and I met this girl, and she was like, you are the African everybody has been talking about, and she was excited, that was how we exchanged contacts, and from there people started booking me for videos as a model, and to be in charge of their costumes. So it was just one thing after another, one thing after another. I was part of Friends With Benefit, before it came up a movie, it was a show, I was part of the show. Then I started working with Neyo, Gaga, and Rihanna. I met Rihanna at the Grammys in 2010, she was like oh my God, I like what you are wearing, and she is so cool, and I was invited on her set. That was how I met Neyo too. These people love me because I did something good. Christiana Milan, saw me, and was like Oh my God, those shoes, I really had crazy shoes, my makes those shoes, Christiana Milan came by my house, we hung out, it was fun, we spoke, we got to know each other, since then we have been friends, if I need anything, I call her, she made me meet other people. 

How did you learn how to do all these outfits?I learnt how to do them when I was growing up. I was very stylish. Clothes, shoes, anything fashionable I make them. I spent a lot of time in the house, so the only thing to get my mind off some sad things happening around me was to get busy with my hands.  They will buy me something, like a jacket, I will start cutting it to look different, and that was how I started making clothes and shoes. 

So what happened to your academic dreams in LA?I studied Fashion in school, I did Fashion because I wanted to learn, I did it for just a year, because I wanted to have a certificate in Fashion. That was at FIBM, one of the biggest fashion schools in America. It was just a one year course and it was cool. You know you don’t need a degree for Fashion, just be good at it. Most celebrities don’t wear stuffs from big names anymore, like the Loius Vuitton shoes I buy them, and I turn them in to something else. 

So how profitable was the business?Yes, I did, I mean, if I was broke, all I needed to do, was come up with a costume made product, and I will make money. And the cheapest I sold my shoes, was like $500 and at some point I had an online store, I made some good money that help me, I drove a nice car, lived in a nice house. 

You made your name there, and have good friends who are stars, why didn’t you make your music there?I believe in starting somewhere, especially my roots. Like I told you, my grand father taught me music, I got it from him. It grew from there. Look at Rihanna, she did not start music from America. I am going to work with American artistes when I go back, I am already working on a song, and when I want to do it, I want to do it with a huge artiste, and launch it in America, that is my next project. So when I am done with Africa, I am going back to America to continue. I am trying to sign a contract with a management company in America, we are still pushing it. I am not just trying to be an African artiste; I am trying to go international. 

Tell us about your singlesThe song is just a fun song, after writing it, I hit Tiwa Savaga, and it was a good song. I mean I did not believe that my first song will be that accepted, I love it, I did a video, people liked it.How has been the reception in general? 

A lot of people have not heard it, but the people that heard it loved it, I am still very brand new in the industry, so for what I am now, I think I am doing well. 

How long have you been in Nigeria?I come and go. The first time I came, I was here for a month, which was October last year. 

Do you get a feeling that some people are already seeing you as a threat?I don’t get the feeling, it is happening (Laughs), and the funny thing is that, these are people that I respect, these are people that I admire, I talk about them, with so much respect. But then when I hear, how they talk about me, it makes me wonder. We are not even doing the same thing, we are doing different things. 

Who are the Nigerian Artistes you would want to work with?I don’t know, honestly I don’t know. Skales. Wizkid. I hope to have a beat from Don Jazzy. Flavour. I also want to work with up and coming Artistes, underdogs, fresh people. 

There was this controversy about you in raunchy video, tell us what really happenedIt is Sausage video, I think. That video was shoot two years ago, it was more of a comedy thing but unfortunately, I had worked on other videos of the same company, which is different from my own company, we did some hardcore, some R&B and other thing, and when it came out, it just came out like that. I eventually dragged them to court. I took the action because what I signed up for was completely different from what they put out there, and what they portrayed me as. You cannot use my image, in a certain way I did not sign for and get away with it. And at the end of the day, people did not see it as anything, we all eat sausage, it was not unusual, I was wearing my clothes, not like I was wearing a bikini, I wasn’t trying to make it look sexual. It was just sausage. I am sure if they open these people’s cupboard, a lot of skeleton will fall, but it is very unfortunate that people who didn’t know me judged me from what they saw. 

Do all these negativities get to you?No, it doesn’t. I have better things to worry about, it is like, and people talk shit about Beyonce, talk shit about Rihanna, even Madonna, and other artistes that are taking over the world, so who am I that they won’t talk about. It is what it is, when they get to know me, they might like me as a person, until then let them talk. If you have noticed, I have never done an interview before, I have never, so those people can never know who I am, until they hear me talk, all they know is what the media says about me. So when people get to know, they will like you. They will only know you if you talk, I don’t do that so I will never blame anybody for saying things about me. People who are doing great work like charities are still being gossiped about. 

What do you think about Nigerian men?I don’t know their men; all men are the same all over. Men are men, it does not matter if he is from Nigeria or any other place. I have never been in a relationship from any Nigerian men. I have friends. 

How have you been handling overtures from Nigerian Men?I really don’t have contact with anybody yet. Nobody has walked up to me. I am always working.You mean you have no social life?I don’t really go out. I don’t party, people smoke a lot, and the cigarette gets to my eyes. The days I go to club, I won’t sit for more than an hour. 

What do you have to say to Nigerian guys reading this and will like to know if Dancia is available?I am single, but I am not searching. I am just working. 

You are single, how do you cope with being alone?I am never a lone, when I say I am single, people ask this same question. I don’t have to have sex to survive. Sex has noting to do with feelings or emotion. That is the problem with people, sex is a choice. I don’t want a relationship now, I have been in a relationship for a few years. Now I want to work, I want to have a relationship with God, and I don’t want to do anything that will not justify my relationship with God, and I think sex is one of those things. 

How natural are you?I am a very natural person, very natural. 

Do you believe in cosmetics?Yeah, I do, if you wear them correctly, then it will be perfect. Many people think I am fake. I mean, look at my breast, they are shaking like everywoman’s breast, I don’t know anything about silicon breast, I don’t know about it. I can’t stop people from saying what they have to say. Of course I had spaces in my teeth, and I had to do a little, something, something, and that is what everybody does. Everybody goes to the dentist to get a new tooth, but people will say all types of things about you, it does not matter to me.

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