Today (Nov. 18), Ghanaian rapper Black Sherif had a sold-out concert at KOKO in London, England and surprised the crowd by bringing out Burna Boy to help him perform their single “Second Sermon (Remix).” This was Black Sherif’s first headlining concert in the U.K.
Black Sherif, whose real name is Mohammed Ismail Sharrif, earned his breakthrough to stardom in July 2021 when he released his street anthem “Second Sermon.” Nigerian singer Burna Boy hopped on the remix a few months later. In February of this year, they dropped the official video to the song and it reached over 10 million views on YouTube.
His hit single “Kwaku the Traveller,” which was released in March, reached No. 1 on the Ghanaian and Nigerian Apple Music charts, and by April, the song became the most Shazamed song in the world across all genres. The “Soja” rapper has already been recognized with several awards including Breakthrough Act of the Year, Hiplife/Hip Hop Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and Hip Hop Song of the Year for “Second Sermon” at the 2022 3Music Awards. Black Sherif also won Best New Artist and Best Hip Hop Song at the 2022 Ghana Music Awards. In June 2022, Boomplay announced Black Sherif as the first Ghanaian artist to surpass 100 million streams on their platform.
Black Sherif released his 14-track debut album, The Villain I Never Was, and it features Burna Boy. “It took me everything to give life to this body. The one thing in my life that I gave everything up for,” Black Sherif wrote in a sentimental Instagram post ahead of the album’s release. “There is life in this body, I hope it treats you good and speaks to you like I want it to. My debut album, The Villain I Never Was available on all stores on October 6, 2022. Thank you. Love you,” he added.