Background and career
Nkosinathi Innocent Maphumulo (born 11 March 1976), better known by his stage name Black Coffee, is a South African DJ, record producer, and songwriter. His accolades include eight South African Music Awards, four DJ Awards, two Metro FM Awards and a Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album. He began his career in 1994, and gained recognition for his participation in the 2004 Red Bull Music Academy a decade later. Maphumulo established the record label Soulistic Music to release his debut self-titled album Black Coffee (2005), which incorporated elements of R&B and jazz. He has since released nine studio albums.
Nkosinathi Innocent Maphumulo was born on 11 March 1976 in eThekwini, South Africa. He later moved to Umtata, the town 29 km away from the home of Nelson Mandela Qunu village, staying at the Ngangelizwe township. On the 11 February 1990, while celebrating the release of Nelson Mandela, a car, with headlights off, rammed through the crowd, hitting people in front of Maphumulo, the force of which hit him and left him with a brachial plexus injury resulting in him losing the use of his left arm. He majored in Jazz Studies at Technikon Natal, now known as the Durban University of Technology, before working as a backup singer for Madala Kunene together with then schoolmates: Mnqobi Mdabe (Shota) and Thandukwazi Sikhosana (Demor). Maphumulo, Shota and Demor later formed an Afro-pop trio called SHANA (Simply Hot and Naturally African) which was signed to Melt 2000, then headed by Robert Trunz. He was chosen as one of two South African participants in the Red Bull Music Academy in 2003, jump-starting him into the South African dance music scene. His first big break was when his song 'Happiness' was featured on the 'DJs at Work' album.
In 2005, Maphumulo launched his career with a remix of Hugh Masekela's 1972 hit Stimela. Later that year he released his self-titled debut album, and created his record company Soulistic Music. The album sampled songs of notable South African artists like Thandiswa Mazwai, Hugh Masekela and featured Busi Mhlongo, among others. He was well received in the country and was quickly lauded as a "rising star." His album, 'Black Coffee', was created using very basic music-making software. Maphumulo himself stated, "I don't know how to explain the production stages of my album because all I did was put down the basic ideas that I had. I didn't use any MIDI controllers; everything was played with a computer mouse".
By Mid-2007, Black Coffee had become recognized in the South African DJ scene with tribal, vocal-laced beats. In the same year he released his second studio album titled Have Another One, which featured "Wathula Nje," a remix of Victor Ntoni's 2004 jazz ballad "Thetha". "Wathula Nje" was later released in Europe together with "Even Though" featuring Bantu Soul through the European label Realtone Records on vinyl and on digital. The twelve-track album featured the likes of Siphokazi, Busi Mhlongo, and Kwaito sensation L'vovo. It also debuted a then 17-year-old high school producer from Eshowe Kwa Zulu Natal, Culoe De Song, who became the second artist to be signed under Soulistic Music. Maphumulo discovered and collaborated with Culoe De Song on an afro-electronic dub titled 100 Zulu warriors. During this period Black Coffee performed at the Red Bull Music Academy Lounge at the Sonar Festival in Barcelona, alongside recognized DJs such as Little Louie Vega, Alix Alvarez, Frank Roger, Charles Webster, DJ Spinna and Osunlade.
In 2009, Maphumulo released his third album, Home Brewed, featuring Ringo Madlingozi, Zonke, Hugh Masekela, Zakes Bantwini and others. Between 2009 and 2010, new releases from Culoe de Song, Tumelo and Zakes Bantwini achieved gold and platinum sales. In 2010, he tried to make it to Guinness Book of World Records when he performed for 60 hours non-stop at Maponya Mall, Soweto. He also won two awards in the categories of Best Urban Dance Album and Best Male Artist at the 2010 South African Music Awards. In 2011, Africa Rising was launched at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. It included a live band and 24-piece orchestra in front of an audience of about 8,000 people and was filmed for the Africa Rising DVD. That year saw four other releases including Culoe de Song's "Elevation", Sai & Ribatones "Here and Now," Boddhi Satva's "Invocation" and the label's "Soulistic Music Cuts."
In 2012, the "Africa Rising" DVD and triple-CD sold double platinum in a space of a month. Maphumulo featured different artists on the album, such as Bucie and soulful musician Toshi Tikolo on the song "Buya." In 2013, he performed internationally at locations such as Southport Weekender, Panorama Bar, Circoloco, Boiler Room. He also participated in music conferences like ADE and RBMA in Johannesburg. That same year, he was involved in notable collaborations with musical group Mi Casa and house duo Black Motion. He also became one of the key speakers on his friend Vusi Thembekwayo's tour. In South Africa, he was featured in November 2013 in the Destiny Man edition of Destiny.
