Securing an interview with Nkosinathi Innocent Maphumulo, better known as Black Coffee, is a laborious exercise. Once obtained, the 15-minute allotted rendezvous means no time for the usual journalistic foreplay.
There seems to be an unspoken rule that once an artist reaches a certain level of fame they need to be inaccessible to maintain their status. International artists manage their mystique by sneaking unobtrusively into places and making themselves visible only at the perfectly curated moment.
And this is how Black Coffee does it: popping up at a private villa party in Ibiza, Spain, as quietly as an African James Bond. There are no hordes of adoring fans and no intrusive paparazzi to fawn over him. Just 30 ordinary South Africans who entered a competition sponsored by Hunter's and won an all-expenses-paid trip to meet Black Coffee and dance with the shiny people in Europe's party capital.
Black Coffee hosts the group as graciously as if he were receiving visitors at his home, although we are in the same villa overlooking the Mediterranean where fashion icon and singer Rihanna stayed just weeks before the Mzansi invasion.The Durban-born DJ who grew up in the Eastern Cape is to SA music what Trevor Noah is to SA comedy. Both have broken international boundaries that others in their fields can only dream of.
Having performed at massive international festivals such as Coachella in California and Sónar in Spain, and currently in his second residency in Ibiza, Black Coffee is one of South Africa's biggest entertainment exports and a global force to be reckoned with.
He is also gracious about sharing his time.
"I miss doing press," he says. "I saw my face on the news the other day. There was an item about a protest in Polokwane and someone held up a picture of my face. I couldn't help but laugh. There I was on the news during a protest - my face made the news!"
It's the day before Father's Day and he interrupts the interview to take a call from his son. The sigh he gives is an indication of dissatisfaction at being a largely absent dad to his four children."I don't think that part will ever be complete," he says. "It's something that I can never be satisfied with. The only thing that we can do as a family is try to find a way to make it work. It will never be easy."
Having a successful career in entertainment often means having to make sacrifices in one's personal life. In June alone, Black Coffee performed in eight European countries, not counting this residency at Hï Ibiza (the club formerly known as Space) in Ibiza, where the streets are lined with posters of his face.
Despite all the attention and his extreme workload, the composer of the smash-hit Superman still has plenty of goals on his list.
"There's a lot that I still want to do. Internationally I haven't even begun to scratch the surface. That's one of the reasons why I'm here in Ibiza, to start exploring different ground. First it was more about shows and gigs, but now I can start collaborating with other people and play on a bigger scale."The artists he'd like to work with are Rihanna and Beyoncé, not a far-fetched ambition given that he is already working with the mega-famous David Guetta, a French DJ, songwriter, record producer and remixer.
Black Coffee is not in the least concerned that exposure to and collaboration with influential artists on the world stage will change his own original, distinctive sound.
"My sound was never a formula with a secret sauce, like the chefs would say. It's who I am. I didn't mould it. I just started working and what happened was the outcome. It's something I can't shake off. I don't have to think about it, I just make music and it sounds the way it does."
He thinks the world is finally starting to appreciate the sounds many South African DJs have been trying to introduce. He is adamant that the new wave is not just about him, even though he is indisputably the It Guy representing South Africa on the dance music scene. He says there is room on the international stage for other South African acts.
He has no wish to dominate the dance music world on his own. "I'm not the only one," he says.
Black Coffee speaks softly. He is articulate without being excitable and does not smile much. An image search on Google shows that he seldom reveals his pearly whites, creating the perception that he is unapproachable or shy. It's true that he avoids eye contact but as he talks - sitting at a piano on which he gently plays a few notes while staring out at the Ibiza sunset - he seems tranquil and at ease, thoughtful rather than detached.
Does he have fun doing what he does?"Yes, it is fun," he says. "What makes it fun for me is that I'm doing what I love. Most people can't really say that. That's the factor that drives me to wake up every day."
Music is his mission, he makes clear, and love and happiness are the driving forces behind it. He does not wish to attach his name to any social or political cause, as several other artists have, but he would like the world to be a happier place.
"I think before money or status what we want as individuals is happiness. I feel like if I can create music that makes people feel happy then I've achieved more than a politician has. We are divided by so many different things, but one thing that we all want is to feel amazing about life and forget about our problems. These are the issues that I'm interested in."
Days later, when he steps into the DJ booth at Hï Ibiza, he is welcomed by thousands of revellers pointing cellphone cameras at him and chanting: "We love you, Black Coffee!"
They look happy.
• Leonie Wagner was a guest of Hunter's
WHERE IT ALL STARTED
After completing his schooling in Mthatha, Black Coffee moved back to Durban, where he studied music at Natal Technikon, majoring in jazz.
He began recording in 1995 and has since released five albums and a live-performance DVD.
He established his own record label, Soulistic Music, in 2005...