Black Coffee on wearing a brace: I feel so free

Three months after revealing to fans that he was wearing a brace as part of rehabilitation for his disabled arm, Black Coffee has revealed how the decision to be more open about it has left him feeling more free.

The musician was involved in a taxi accident when he was 14-years-old that left one of his arms disabled. Despite being left disabled in one arm, Black Coffee was determined to make it as DJ. 

Speaking to Bridget Masinga on Kaya FM this week, Black Coffee said that he had chosen not to talk about his hand, prior to posting a picture on Instagram of him wearing a brace in August, because he didn't want to be known as the DJ with a disability.

"It was a very important moment for me, to post that picture. When I started my career, I had to sit down and think how do I want to be known...I could have been that new DJ with a disability if I started out with the story...I completely shut that door."

He said that the road to opening up about his hand was a difficult one but brought a feeling of relief and freedom.

"It's been a long journey now on myself to deal with it quietly and finding strength. The people around me know that I wear a brace but it's never been in public. The more I do it, I feel so free. Especially overseas I would, because no one knows who Black Coffee is and no one really cares. But locally people start staring and I had to get over that," he said.

He said that he made a choice to no longer hide it because he felt more comfortable about his disability and wanted to show there was nothing wrong with embracing it.

The musician had taken to social media in August to reveal how he had been teased as a child for wearing the brace.

"When I was young after the car accident I used to wear one and being a kid it was hard as kids can be mean so I decided to stop wearing it especially in public. It has taken me so much time to appear like this in public because of my own insecurities but I decided to post this picture not just because for years people had their own versions of my story, I did this for myself," he wrote.