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Black Coffee

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

Speaking to Bridget Masinga on Kaya FM, Black Coffee said 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 did not 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 the road to opening up about his hand was a difficult one, but one that brought a feeling of relief and freedom.

“It’s been a long journey for 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,” said the renowned DJ.

The musician who will be in Zimbabwe later this month for a performance at the iFlix Vic Falls Carnival said he made a choice to no longer hide the brace because he felt more comfortable about his disability and wanted to show people that there was nothing wrong with embracing it.

In August, Black Coffee took to social media 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 posted on his Instagram.

He said he had opened up to inspire others who could be facing similar challenges.

“We all have little/big things that we don’t like about ourselves and we often put ourselves down before others. I’m personally working towards breaking those chains.

“Fight for the best version of yourself.” – TimesLive