DJ Black Coffee on low self-esteem: It was self-sabotaging

Black Coffee has opened up about the crippling effects of self-doubt, claiming it even led to him not wanting to get out of bed and missing flights because he didn't feel he deserves the life he's living.

The star told 947's DJ Fresh this week that earlier on in his career he would sometimes wonder why he was the one with his name up in lights.

He said that his feelings of not being worthy led to him sabotaging himself.

"I asked myself 'Why me? Why am I here?' It used to hit me and I would find myself not wanting to wake up, missing flights. It was self-sabotaging. (You feel like) it is such an unreal dream, it is going to end. Let me end it. I will feel better if I end it myself. Let me have something to blame, and it is me."

He said that it took a long time for him to acknowledge that he had earned his life because of his hard work.

The star also opened up about the paralysing effect of self-doubt in 2017 when, in an interview on Metro FM, he explained how he was asked to record a song for Jay Z.

"Swizz (Beatz) reached out and said Jay is looking for one song before he concludes his album. It freaked me out. I am in Milan, I couldn't sleep. He literally called me: 'I spoke to Jay. Jay wants a song.' I couldn't sleep. Then I didn't work. I couldn't. How do you produce a song for Jay Z? He kept saying: 'Yo, man. I'm waiting.' I think I failed him but subconsciously I think I wanted to. I wasn't ready."

Speaking at a press conference to launch the 2019 Music is King concert on Wednesday, Black Coffee said the entertainment industry could be lonely and musicians needed to support and mentor each other.

"My dream is to create a family out of this. Where we can call each other... I would like for us to become like, for example, me and Oskido, where when I have real problems, I call him. I would like to see that where we don't really know each other but can reach out to each other, to be a family."