It’s tempting to dismiss Black Coffee as just another black diamond, a BEE beat magnet out to exploit the ravenous upwardly mobile urban house party market, given his quick ascent to popularity. This DJ and producer, however, defies convention, as seen by his South African Music Award-winning record “Home Brewed.” Black Coffee prefers authentic Afropolitan house: home-brewed but fresh and future-focused, avoiding Afro-house clichés and stage-managed highs in favor of restrained elegance. Expect harmony and beauty that is almost sculptural. One could not argue with a clamor and ululating emanating from South Africa’s eastern provinces, KwaZulu Natal and the Eastern Cape, announcing the recognition of a cultural phenomenon… and their role in the development of this cultural phenomenon…

one could not argue were that clamour and ululating to be in respect of one.. that is the soul, spirit, talent and vision of Nkosinathi Innocent Maphumulo, one better known as “Black Coffee”. Black Coffee was born in Durban in KwaZulu Natal and grew up in the Eastern Cape in Mthatha, before moving back to Durban to study music at Natal Tech where he majored in Jazz. His reason for studying music was because he felt that as a producer, he had to deepen his overall musical knowledge, develop his listening skills and advance his knowledge of music theory. Leaving tech prior to completion of his studies, Black Coffee with two friends Thandukwazi “Demor” Sikhosana and Mnqobi “Shota” Mdabe worked as backup vocalists for the renowned Madala Kunene. Deciding then to form an urban soul trio “Shana” the three moved to Johannesburg to make their way. Keeping “Simply Hot And Naturally African”

 

 

the definition of the word “Shana”) As part of an ongoing project, the three explored their separate views while collaborating along the way. In 2003, Black Coffee was picked as one of two South Africans to attend the Red Bull Music Academy, which launched him into the South African DJ scene – a choice he says he has never regretted. His big break came when his song “Happiness” was included on the album “DJs At Work.” The creation and formation of Soulistic Music, Black Coffee’s completely owned 360° corporate structure, his team’s home base and the jumping-off point for himself, and as time has proven for many others, occurred in 2005, the same year as the release of Black Coffee’s powerful debut album “Black Coffee.