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This article was first published in the November 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Nkosinathi Maphumulo -- aka Black Coffee -- remembers the day fellow South African Nelson Mandela was released from prison. But for Maphumulo the memory is not a happy one: on February 11, 1990, crowd violence erupted in his town, Mthatha, and he dislocated his shoulder so badly that doctors considered amputation. Then 14 years old, he worried whether his dream career as a DJ would never happen. "The whole nation was excited but that for me was a terrible time," says the DJ/producer, now 39.
However, Maphumulo, who would sketch Technics SL-1200 turntables as a child, persevered. He ditched his physio, taught himself music- production software Cakewalk and, finally, got his dream turntables at the age of 22. But doubts about his mainly immobile arm remained. "I'd think to myself, 'How am I going to go through a crate of records, take a record out with one hand, play it and put it back in the paper thing?" he recalls. Modern technology came to his aid: Maphumulo now uses a custom rig that includes bespoke Pioneer 350-CDJs with USB sticks, to mix with one hand. (He tends to place the hand of his damaged left arm in his pocket.) "Memory stick, memory stick dock, button, button," he explains. "It's much easier than it was previously."
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Maphumulo's music as Black Coffee balances soulful live instrumentation with Logic-created house rhythms. He recently finished his new album, the first for influential dance label Ultra, due spring 2016. Maphumulo has also created GongBox, a retail app for South African music. Tracks cost 9.99 ZAR (50p). "You can't find South African music anywhere online," he says. "I couldn't even find my debut album there."
Persuading a nascent internet nation to buy MP3s -- not to mention taking on Apple, Spotify and the pirates -- may appear quite the challenge, but you wouldn't bet against Maphumulo. As Mandela himself put it: "It always seems impossible until it's done."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
