If a job’s worth doing – so they say – it’s worth doing well. For South African mixmaster Nathi Maphumulo, better known as DJ Black Coffee, that means putting in the hours. Sixty of them, to be precise. That’s the feat he pulled off in September last year, when his marathon set at Soweto’s Maponya Mall earned him a place in the history books. He’s in town this weekend, entertaining the post-Stevie Wonder crowd at Skylite’s floor-filling MustHaveSoul night. And while we doubt the festivities will run on into the following week, you can still expect a stellar set of soul infused beats.
How did you come up with the idea for last year’s record-breaking 60 hour set?
The whole event was put on to launch the Black Coffee Foundation, which I set up to help support people living with disabilities. I wanted to do a big launch, and I thought it’d be a great way to raise awareness. There was a lot of hype around it, as to whether I was going to be able to pull it off or not. Somehow I managed it and I think it really worked.
Encounter any problems along the way?
Nah, it was cool. I was tired, obviously. I had 20 minutes rest every four hours, but I still got tired. But I didn’t feel sick, I didn’t feel strange, just tired.
Surely you must’ve made a couple of mistakes towards the end of the show?
No way. Managed to keep it together until the end. I actually tried driving home afterwards. But, uh… I couldn’t really manage it. So someone drove me home but I only slept from about 4am to 10am. I tried staying in bed but I couldn’t. I’m going back to the same venue in September to do another show for a DVD recording. Only 12 hours this time, though.
Where does your DJ name come from?
That? It was just a name a friend gave me, growing up. It wasn’t really meant to be a DJ name at all. But when I started getting serious about my work, I realised I had to get a name and it was the only one I was really feeling.
You’ve been building a family recently – how has fatherhood changed the way you approach your work?
It’s taken a big toll. I’m gonna slow down soon, it’s definitely time to slow down. I think it’s only fair on my family now that I do tours twice a year.
Still coming to Abu Dhabi though, right?
Yeah, yeah of course! I’m really excited about coming out to Abu Dhabi. I’ve not really got any experience playing in that part of the world. No idea what to expect. I’ve had some connecting flights in Abu Dhabi, but obviously you can’t take much from that.
Any other weird shows apart from the marathon set?
Not really, I’m quite fortunate to work with the sort of people that I do. I go to places where I belong, musically. So I’m always with the right crowd, with the sort of people who get the kind of music that I create. You get the odd strange request every now and then, but on the whole I’ve been pretty lucky.
If you could play a private party for any famous people, who would you pick?
I’m not sure… but it would have to be someone who’s really into music. Not just their own sound, you know. Someone who appreciates different types of music and understands what it means to be an artist. Someone open-minded.
DJ Black Coffee will be appearing at MustHaveSoul at Skylite, Yas Hotel on Friday, March 18. Entry is free. For more information about the man himself and the Black Coffee Foundation, visit www.djblackcoffee.org.
