Durban - To the rest of the world he is a superstar DJ, but Black Coffee’s little sister prefers to reminisce about her famous brother as the young man with a talent for milking cows.
On Monday night Lungi Maphumulo was among a gathering of music heavyweights and political figures who came out to celebrate Black Coffee’s latest achievement.
The DJ and music producer's real name Nkosinathi Maphumulo, was named Best International Act: Africa at the Black Entertainment Television awards last month.
Lungi told guests at the celebratory dinner in Ballito that she was delighted at his success on the world stage, but mused that for her he would always be her big brother, the fundi when it came to milking cows at 4am in uMthatha, in the Eastern Cape, where they lived as youngsters. She said his success had put pressure on his siblings to excel in all they did.
Also among Monday night’s guests were ministers of Arts and Culture and Home Affairs, Nathi Mthethwa and Malusi Gigaba.
Gigaba said Black Coffee’s achievement honoured not only the entertainer, but the country as a whole. It also showed how far the DJ had come as an artist.
Gigaba, 44, who is the former president of the ANC Youth League, said: “As young people we understand the struggles of black artists.”
He said the struggles of artists were inseparable from those of the people.
DJ Fresh applauded Black Coffee’s hard work, while DJ Christos (Christos Katsaitis) said the star had always had big dreams.
Black Coffee said being honoured felt surreal. He appealed for support for veteran artists during difficult times.