Staying awake with Black Coffee

Success often changes people, making them arrogant and proud.

Yet there are those who remain humble and true to themselves amid enormous fame and success.

One such artist is South African deejay, Nkosinathi Innocent Maphumulo, better known as Black Coffee.

The accomplished musical maestro performed at The Scrapyard in Newcastle on Friday night.

This begs the question of why the world-renowned artist would choose Newcastle as a location to perform.

“Newcastle is a place I have been to before. The people here are fun, they love the music and I love to play for crowds that enjoy the music I offer,” explained Black Coffee.

With the release and success of his recent album, Africa Rising, which brought home the coveted Album of the Year award at the South African Music Awards, Black Coffee has not been lazing around enjoying the success. Instead he has been working hard on a new album, which he hopes to release in September this year.

Furthermore, the magician on the decks has received global recognition for his work, as he headlines major house and electronic festivals such as Ultra Music Festival, yet still stays true to the style of music which has often been described as unique to him.

“When you play at these big events, you try out new things. People are there for the love of music and you get different responses from the people, so I have been trying out new things, but my style represents me and I love my style,” he explained.

The artist, who has a degree in jazz music, said while he loved the appeal of house music, he still listened to jazz when he was driving.

“All types of music has its own soul, and this speaks to different people; this is the beauty of music and people can be defined by it.”

When asked about his most memorable moment on stage, it was suprisingly not a moment he enjoyed playing internationally, but rather two local events, which saw him thrill crowds as they partied into the night.

The events in question, were when he released and played Africa Rising at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban last year, and when he played a 60-hour set for his hometown, Soweto in 2010.

This feat was amazing, and deejays around the world applauded him for it, yet what most people don’t realise, is that Black Coffee did this one-handed. Yes, one-handed.

“My left arm is paralysed, but I never let that stop me! If you want to do something, believe in yourself, research whatever you want to do, find out who is the best, become unique, and go out and grab the opportunities life offers,” advised the inspirational deejay.