Black Sherif releases “Soja,” his latest single via Blacko Management / EMPIRE. The 20-year-old Ghanian artist has been having a whirlwind year as Africa’s newest star and with “Soja,” he brings the focus back to his gifted songwriting ahead of his debut album. An anthem about shaking off adversity and protecting yourself from your own demons, “Soja” is the first new song from Black Sherif since the breakout success of “Kwaku The Traveller” earlier this year. “Kwaku The Traveller” exploded onto the global stage with 100 million plus streams, in addition to earning cosigns from DJ Khaled and Timbaland. From gracing the cover of Apple Music's Rap Life playlist to being named YouTube's Foundry Class of 2022, a Spotify Radar Artist in May and Audiomack's #UpNow artist in August, Black Sherif is being championed as music’s next big thing. He’s currently nominated for “Best International Flow” at the upcoming BET Hip Hop Awards. As he prepares to release his first full-length body of work, Black Sherif is stepping into his role as “a certified hit-maker.” (Complex) Listen to “Soja” here and stay tuned for the latest updates.
Black Sherif will make his US debut this fall with a performance at Elsewhere in New York City on Sunday, November 6th. Purchase tickets here.
Self-proclaimed as the “street preacher,” Black Sherif, who was born as Mohammed Ismail Sharif Kwaku Frimpong and is referred to as “Blacko” by those close to him, is set to be Africa's next breakout star. Bridging the gap between Afrobeats and Drill, Black Sherif has topped the viral charts of TikTok, Shazam, Instagram and more, with his potent wordplay and unique ability to seamlessly tread between dialects, regions and genres. He dropped his first single ever, “Cry For Me,” fresh out of high school at age 17, while his next one, “Money,” released in January 2020, depicted his coming of age, maneuvering through the tough streets of Accra, Ghana. “I have loved music since I was a kid. I just didn’t know I was going to make a career out of it,” Black Sherif shared with Okayafrica. “I am a Muslim. In Islam, music is more like sin, you shouldn’t make a career out of it if you are a Muslim. The music was chasing me, but I was always dodging it.” It became inevitable when his 2021 releases, “First Sermon” and “Second Sermon” catapulted both him and “asakaa,” or Ghanian drill, onto the map. Often cited as the track that changed his life, “Second Sermon” was a revelation of sorts for Black Sherif. Made two weeks after the passing of his beloved cousin, Sister Mariam, and two days after “First Sermon,” “Second Sermon” finds the rapper poignant and sturdy, rising to the occasion while at his most vulnerable state. The tracks took #1 and #2 most streamed songs of the year on Boomplay in 2021. "Second Sermon" was #16 on The Fader's 100 best songs of 2021 and the remix, which features Nigerian star Burna Boy, gave Black Sherif even more notoriety internationally. Now, at only 20 years old, Black Sherif has quickly risen from humble beginnings to be viewed as one of the continent's brightest new talents. Speaking with Rolling Stone earlier this year, he shared "Where I grew up, Konongo, I wanted to be a musician, an artist. But there weren’t a lot of people doing it. So, my whole life is an experiment. Like, let me just try this. It makes you tough and it’s exciting. There's beauty in the journey, too.” Stay tuned for more news as Black Sherif prepares to make his debut.
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