Black Coffee
Nkosinathi Innocent Maphumulo, known as Black Coffee, is a South African Zulu DJ from Umlazi, KwaZulu-Natal, whose work spans house, Afro house, Afro tech and deep house. He began his career in 1994 and studied Jazz at Technikon Natal, having also worked as a backup singer for Madala Kunene. After a 1990 car accident left him without use of his left arm because of a brachial plexus injury, he continued to develop as an artist. He later formed the Afro-pop trio SHANA with Shota and Demor, and was among only two South African participants at the 2003 Red Bull Music Academy.
Happiness, on the DJs at Work compilation, became his first major break. He founded Soulistic Music in 2005 and built a platform that signed artists including Culoe De Song, Tumelo and Zakes Bantwini. Black Coffee is described as having pioneered Afro house before it entered the global mainstream, connecting African roots with an Afropolitan sensibility. He became the first African artist to win the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album, for Subconsciously.
Since Hï Ibiza opened in 2017, he has held its flagship Saturday-night residency and continues into its eighth season in 2026, the only artist remaining from the venue's opening-year lineup. He also performs at [UNVRS] in Ibiza.