Lollapalooza 2022: Black Coffee Predicted the South African Musical Takeover

Black Coffee is here to prove that dance music is spiritual. In 2009, the South African DJ’s breakthrough release Home Brewed showcased the expansive community feeling shared by gospel, house, and the music of his country. Today, he’s full speed ahead on sharing that musical breadth. Ahead of his Lollapalooza performance, he sat down with Rolling Stone to talk about the past, present, and future of dance music in the latest episode of The Green Room.

Black Coffee has been having a big year. This spring, he took home a Grammy for his 2021 album Subconsciously; at the top of the summer, he figured heavily on Drake’s Honestly, Nevermind. The Canadian superstar went straight to the source for his love letter to dance music, recruiting Black Coffee to produce highlights like “Texts Go Green” and “Currents.”

Asked about the current mainstream acceptance of the genre he’s been working in for years, Black Coffee applauded the rest of the world for finally catching up. “I’ve done so many interviews – probably 10, 15 years ago where I was saying, ‘Imagine a bigger artist doing what we do without changing a thing,’” he said.

“I used to make an example with Superman: Imagine if Superman was sung by Beyoncé or Drake. It’s so crazy for me that it’s happening. Americans consume rap mostly and smart artists listen to everything. Eventually they want to branch out… and experience their music touching different people.”

See more from our interview with Black Coffee in the video above.