Black Coffee’s Grammy win an inspiring sign for African children

We’ve always been well aware of his overwhelming talent. Now the world has recognised Black Coffee by awarding him his first Grammy award.

In Sunday’s ceremony in Las Vegas in the category Best Dance/Electronic Album, the South African DJ and producer won a Grammy for his album Subconsciously.

He follows in the footsteps of Ladysmith Black Mambazo (1998, 2005, 2012, 2014 and 2018), the Soweto Gospel Choir (2007 and 2008) and flautist, producer and composer Wouter Kellerman (2014) as other South Africans to win a Grammy.

Unfortunately Kellerman, nominated for a third time this year, did not win in the New Age Album category for his collaboration project Pangaea, but the entire awards ceremony had a distinct South African flavour to it as TV host and comedian Trevor Noah hosted it – just one week after last week’s controversial Oscars.

Last week’s Oscars saw actor Will Smith slap host Chris Rock, so much attention was on Noah as to how he would approach the topic.

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Noah cheekily said: “We’re gonna be listening to some music. We’re gonna be dancing, we’re gonna be singing. We’re gonna be keeping people’s names out of our mouths, and we’re gonna be giving out awards.”

Black Coffee’s message after his victory was even better.

He said: “African kids who are watching, they may think they don’t stand a chance to get on a global stage like this.

“I want to just say to them it is possible. The award is not just for me, and it’s not just about music alone, this is about anything they want to do. This Grammy is a symbol of that, that it’s possible to get here.”

Black Coffee, born as Nkosinathi Innocent Sizwe Maphumulo in Umlazi, KwaZulu-Natal 46 years ago, is a testament that dreams can come true.

Long may his success continue, and hopefully his words and the Grammy will inspire many young artists to reach for the stars.