I first saw Nkosinathi Maphumulo aka Black Coffee perform at Amaros Night Club in Pretoria, South Africa during the late 2000s. Dressed in a casual T-shirt, no one would have guessed he was destined for global glory. Beneath strobe lights, bathed in throbbing house music, clashing voices and perspiration, he could have been just like any other struggling deejay on the make. But he seemed impervious to the spectral faces, shapes and vapours swirling across the ceiling, walls and floors. In the middle of the Pretoria club, Black Coffee manned his throne in a scene where everything hangs in the balance between absolute elation and dissolution.
Black Coffee isn’t very demonstrative behind the decks. He maintains a cool demeanour – but the entire dance floor is going nuts. At the 64th Grammy Awards, he lifted a golden statue for Best Dance/Electronic Album for his sixth studio album Subconsciously (2021). Black Coffee makes laid back house music; his touch is cool, restrained and unmistakeable.
