Black Sherif Is Number One In Nigeria, But How?

Black Sherif's success offers a template for mainstream success for a new generation of Nigerian rappers.

As I type this, Black Sherif has the number one song on the Top 100 Nigeria chart on Apple Music, the number one song on the Spotify Nigeria chart and the first song on Boomplay to reach almost one million streams in 24 hours.

Black Sherif at number one. Credit - Apple Music

'Kwaku the Traveller' is pretty much a big deal. It's not every day a Ghanaian rapper tops streaming charts in Nigeria with a drill song (sorry, Shatta Wale). It is also a street certified jam and not just streams.

How was Black Sherif able to achieve this? 'Kwaku the Traveler' is the latest success story of Asakaa or Ghanaian drill.

Black Sherif is pushing drill music to other countries in Africa. Credit - Instagram/blacksherif

Asakaa and the Kumerica subculture have taken Ghana by storm in the last couple of years. Even rapper Stormzy had to get on the wave when he hopped on the remix of the firestarter single 'Sore' by Ghanaian drill act Yawtog in 2020.

With South African rappers dealing with the popularity of Amapiano and Afrobeats monopolizing the music scene in Nigeria, Ghana is now the flagbearer for rap on the continent.

Black Sherif is the hottest act from the Kumerican scene. Before Burna Boy jumped on 'Second Sermon', Nigerian tastemakers had penned the track to explode, and it did. The original video sits on 10 million views on YouTube.

His follow up single 'Kwaku the Traveler' has shot up very fast. His soulful Twi delivery on a drill beat is a match made in heaven for those looking for something new. In an era of algorithm friendly formulas, Black Sherif offers freshness.

Signing to a major has helped Black Sherif's latest single pop, but EMPIRE's machinery is not the sole reason. Black Sherif is the right artist to take drill from Kumasi to other cities with his approach. His melody intensive style has struck a chord. It's not just bars. It's about the connection to cultural heritage when hopping on a foreign genre. And Nigeria and Ghana have more in common than football and jollof rice.

Nigeria has a vibrant drill scene in the capital city. While it has its fair share of brilliant rappers, the sub-genre has yet to produce a mainstream single except for ‘Looseguard’ by Legendary Styles, released in late 2020.

Looseguard is in Igbo. Legendary Styles is based in the Eastern part of Nigeria, miles away from Abuja, the drill capital. He admitted to Naija Times last year that he did not even know what a drill beat was. His approach worked, and that's a fact.

Another notable Nigerian drill song is ‘Abeg Getat’ by Tim3oo, featuring Teelorh & Aiibreed. The song, which bounced on TikTok for a while, was delivered mainly in pidgin.

Maybe the drill scene in Abuja can take a lesson from Legendary Styles and Black Sherif. Less Top Boy and more Omo Boy.

Nigeria had a strong rap run in the last decade. However, Hip-Hop purists maligned its success and refused to celebrate the legendary achievements of this trio of indigenous rappers, Olamide, Phyno and Reminisce.

Fortunately, rappers like Ladipoe and (especially) Blaqbonez have done away with the boring, straight-jacket style approach. They are willing to blend musical styles relevant to the audience for mainstream acceptance.

For Nigeria to be a rap powerhouse again, rappers must not be shy to merge their cultural heritage with Hip-Hop. We can take a cue from Black Sherif and the Kumericans.