BLACK COFFEE in The Lab Miami
for Miami Music Week
Miami Music Week: where VIP tables cost more than a mortgage and the front row is entirely populated by people filming themselves pretending to dance. The sheer volume of designer sunglasses worn indoors in a dark club is staggering. Yet, the music cuts right through the nonsense in this BLACK COFFEE The Lab Miami tracklist. Deep, percussive rhythms bounce off the intimate brick walls of The Lab, cutting through the sweltering Floridian humidity.
Categorised loosely as Rominimal here but undeniably Afro-house royalty, this BLACK COFFEE live set runs at a rock-solid 124.9 BPM. Operating heavily in the 12A key, he builds a masterfully sustained energy arc, relying on massive low-end weight and impeccably tight, cross-rhythmic mixing. The selection is proper fire, showcasing the absolute best of the Afro-house vanguard. "Zone Out" by Da Capo is a certified weapon, but dropping Tinlicker & Robert Miles' "Children" is a cheeky, massive curveball that causes absolute scenes.
The opening track, Enoo Napa's remix of "Uyankenteza", immediately establishes a tribal, driving groove. The mid-set peak hits hard with Stones & Bones' "Amahloni", before he brings it all home with the soulful, classic closing track, Roy Davis Jr.'s "About Love (Pezzner Remix)".