South African DJ, record producer, singer and songwriter Black Coffee is out with his highly anticipated new album titled “Subconsciously”.
A diverse, wide-ranging release and his first since 2018’s EP Music Is King’, Subconsciously explores a multitude of different styles and tempos across its twelve tracks. It is also dominated by collaborations with a string of huge global stars, including Pharrell Williams, David Guetta and Usher to name but three.
Things open with the fluttering vibes of ‘Lost’, featuring Greek artist DJ Angelo and British multi-instrumentalist Jinadu, a melodic, emotion-tinged club cut that sets the tone for the rest of the LP. There are no fewer than seven singles throughout the rest of the record, starting with December’s gospel-evoking ‘You Need Me’, featuring Bronx-born singer and model Maxine Ashley and South African star Sun-El Musician. Chart-topping singer-songwriter Sabrina Claudio then lends her ethereal vocals to ‘SBCNCSLY’, a delicate dance track drenched in warm piano chords and rolling drumlines, pop and R&B superstar Usher links up with Black Coffee on the groove-laden ‘LaLaLa’, a track that topped the South African Airplay Charts when released in 2019, and cultural icon Pharrell Williams contributes to the poignant modern pop energy of ‘10 Missed Calls’, with vocals from fellow Grammy winner Jozzy.
September single ‘Ready For You’ is next up, pairing warm, shimmering electro-pop vibes with the angelic vocals of aptly-named UK singer-songwriter and ‘BBC Sound of 2020’ winner Celeste. Fresh from being crowned #1 DJ on the planet in the coveted DJ Mag ‘Top 100’ rankings, David Guetta and Black Coffee’s 2018 collab ‘Drive’, featuring the vocals of London-based Delillah Montagu, is also included on Subconsciously, a track described by Resident Advisor as “another classic Black Coffee production”. The LP’s closing trackis a similarly high-profile affair. Featuring music mogul Diplo, ‘Never Gonna Forget’ is a percussion-driven deep house gem pairing guitar strings with the pitch-perfect vocals of UK chart-topper Elderbrook.
Non-single highlights include the melodic-natured ‘I’m Fallin’’, featuring the hushed vocals of Australian singer-songwriter Ry X, hypnotic R&B vibes of ‘Time’ featuring Cassie and punchy ‘Flava’, with fellow South Africans Una Rams and Tellaman.
Establishing himself as one of the biggest stars of the global electronic music scene, Black Coffee’s diverse production style has gained him recognition across the world. Hispenchant for production and vast musical knowledge jump-started the South African DJ scene and brought his cultural perspective to clubs and festivals around the globe. After releasing his multi-award winning debut album Pieces Of Me, his profile continued to grow as he found himself collaborating with the likes of Drake, Alicia Keys and Solomun. Over the years, Black Coffee has also asserted himself as a proud philanthropist and businessman, recently sharing his Africa Is Not A Jungle initiative on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
Black Coffee’s most complete work to date, Subconsciously is a career-defining album from one of the world’s most prominent dance music stars.