‘SA musicians should master their art’

The country might be creating some of its best music in years‚ but DJ Black Coffee says all is not well. Black Coffee is having a great year and he added to it recently with a feature in popular US music authority Fader magazine. In his interview Black Coffee spoke about his music roots and also gave his opinion on the state of SA music at the moment. And while Black Coffee has praised the impact our music has had on the world‚ he says that our musicians still have to master their craft.

“(The global impact of African music) means we need to master our craft. People are paying attention now‚ so we need to really spend time on the production and approach things with a global eye when we’re making music.

“It extends all the way to how we mix and master the songs and the final product. I see so much amazing talent‚ but the production . . .” he told the magazine. The DJ says that much of the problem comes from access to quality infrastructure.

“This also has to do with lack of accessibility and facilities. We don’t have the toys to make the music sound as professional. If those becomes more accessible‚ then the quality will improve. The world is paying attention‚” he added.

Speaking about his own production process‚ Black Coffee explained that he wrote out his debut 2005 self-titled debut album note-by-note. “Back then‚ I would write out each song‚ like literally writing out each note.

“Now I use Logic‚ which has a music keyboard‚ so I can actually play the song. Before it was more like I was tracking out the song‚” Black Coffee explained. Black Coffee’s comments come in a year where he became the first South African to win a prestigious US BET Award.

The DJ has also been nominated alongside Cassper Nyovest in the Best African Act category at the upcoming MTV European Music Awards. — Sowetan.