Globe-trotting flautist and composer Wouter Kellerman's Love Language has been nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album - which also debuted at #1 on the Billboard World Music charts in its first week.
Alongside Kellerman, DJ Black Coffee has also been nominated for a Grammy Award in the category Best Dance/Electronic Album for his album Subconsciously, which was released earlier this year. Black Coffee, whose real name is Nkosinathi Maphumulo, is a previous SAMA winner of Male Artist of the Year in 2019. He has conquered dance floors across the continents and legions of fans who hold him in high regard.
Since the release of his self-titled debut album in 2005, Black Coffee has reached several milestones including his Africa Rising live DVD recorded at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, residency at Ibiza, performance at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and recording with Mi Casa, David Guetta and Usher. This nomination puts Black Coffee in an exclusive league of South African musicians who have received Grammy nominations like Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Soweto Gospel Choir and Kellerman.
Kellerman has also received a Grammy Award for his album Winds of Samsara. The album also reached #1 on the US Billboard Charts and peaked at #1 on the Zone Music Reporter Top 100 International Radio Airplay Chart.
Kellerman thrives on experimenting with the shades, textures and colours that his magic flute is capable of painting, and creatively blending them with other instrumentation and vocal sounds. Over the course of nine albums, and through many high-profile live performances and collaborations, Kellerman has steadfastly built on the rigorous classical training of his youth to create a signature sound that’s earned him both critical praise and multiple awards. He has won a total of eight SAMA's (South African Music Award), reinforcing his status as one of South Africa’s foremost musicians.
Kellerman composed the song The Long Road, a solo flute piece that Wouter wrote for Nelson Mandela, which won the 2016 Global Peace Song Award in the Acoustic/Contemporary Music category. Wouter’s composition Soweto Travels won first prize in the instrumental category of the 2018 USA Songwriting Competition.
Martin Myers 24 Nov 2021
In 2018, Kellerman collaborated with the Ndlovu Youth Choir to help showcase their talent – together they created a South African version of Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You. The song became an internet sensation, with tens of millions of views, and winning awards like the HMMA (Hollywood Music in Media Award) for Best Independent Music Video - pushing the Ndlovu Youth Choir firmly into the international limelight and all the way to the 2019 finals of America’s Got Talent.
Wouter has performed in places like Berlin, Shanghai, Delhi and Sydney, including three sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York City. In 2010 he performed at the Fifa Soccer World Cup Closing Ceremony to a global audience of 700m viewers. A 2016 highlight was a performance in Johannesburg for the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, and a television audience of more than 200m.
Passionate about teaching and empowering young people, Kellerman has sponsored ten children in the SOS Children’s Village in Ennerdale, South Africa for the past 18 years; he has also financed the building of a house in the SOS Children’s Village in Rustenburg, South Africa. For his continued efforts in helping give these children better lives, Kellerman was nominated by the SOS Children’s Villages for the Inyathelo Special Recognition Award for Philanthropy. He continues to facilitate the teaching of young music and dance students in his country.
The Recording Industry of South Africa CEO Nhlanhla Sibisi congratulated Black Coffee and Kellerman, “It is a proud moment for South Africans to see one of our own shine so brightly on some of the biggest stages of the world. A Grammy nomination is a recognition Black Coffee deserves fully and it’s already a win for the house and dance music genre that South Africa is known for the world over. We have witnessed his rise in the industry and know how far he has come with his music. We send our best wishes to Black Coffee and will be cheering him on as he takes on the best of the best in his category."
