Black Sherif is a well-known musician, singer, and social media star who is known to the country as the most talented musician at a very young age. He was raised in the town of Konongo in the Ashanti Region in Ghana. He is a known and rising Afrobeats star. His real name is Mohammed Ismail Sherif Kweku Frimpong, and he was born on 9 January 2002. He came to the limelight with the hit single he recorded called ‘Money,’ which referred to the struggles of the middle class and youth to earn and succeed in life.
Who is Black Sherif?
Mohammed Ismail Sherif Kweku Frimpong, popularly known in the entertainment industry as Black Sherif, is a Ghanaian music sensation and a rising Afrobeats star. He is a rapper, singer, and songwriter. He came to the limelight with the release of the single First Sermon in 2021 and became internationally successful with the release of Second Sermon, followed by the remix featuring Burna Boy. In March 2022, Black Sherif released Kwaku The Traveller, which has topped many music charts, reaching number 1 on trending Apple Music Charts in Ghana and Nigeria.
Black Sherif’s Early Life
Black Sherif was born to Mr. Frimpong and Mrs. Ante Marie on the 9th of January, 2002. His parents gave him the name Mohammed Ismail Sherif Kweku Frimpong days after his birth. The Frimpongs are Muslims and raised Sherif in Islam.
As a child growing up in the Konongo District, Black Sherif had a taste of the downside of life because they lived in a ghetto neighborhood. And that shaped the genre of music he made in his later years.
He had grown up listening to Afrobeats music produced by Nigerian and Ghanaian artists on the radio while also fostering a passion for music. Black Sherif’s musical career started as a teenager when he made freestyle rap songs while the people in his community and his fellow school kids enjoyed and admired them.
He entered several talent competitions in Konongo and was always a good performer at the events hosted by his high school to entertain the audience. Before anyone knew it, he was one of the most popular teenagers in Konongo; his notoriety had spread to other parts of Kumasi.
Growing up, Black Sherif was a good dancer. At one time he thought about being a professional dancer, but he dropped it to pursue music, his first love.
Black Sherif’s Education
Black Sherif went to a public management primary school and finished his elementary school education in Kumasi.
Black Sherif continued to the Kumasi Academy for his secondary school education and graduated with good results in the West African Schools Certificate Examination in 2019.
Black Sherif went on to gain admission to study Statistics at the University Of Professional Services. But he moved to the University Of Ghana to continue with his studies and is currently in Year One.
Black Sherif’s Career
As Black Sherif got older, his love for music began to grow too, and he wanted to do art professionally. Black Sherif made the decision early on that he would make Afrobeats music but ultimately decided to put Trap and Grime sounds into the music he would make. Luckily for him, that was what he was good at, and the niche he found himself in would separate him from other aspiring artists.
As he was approaching the end of high school, Sherif began to work on his sound. During his free hours, he would write his songs and then visit a nearby studio to record his music.
In 2019, after completing secondary school and deciding to go solo, Black Sherif released his first single, Cry For Me. The single gained some traction in the local music scene and also exposed Black Sherif’s talent to a larger audience, and the Ghanaian music scene took notice of the talent that Black Sherif possessed.
But it was the single “Money” that gained him national fame. The single “Money” was released in 2020, which is Black Sherif’s first hit song, earning him fame in Ghana and abroad and in other parts of West Africa. Since then he has been riding that wave of success with hit singles.
Black Sherif entered the African music scene like a meteor shower in 2021, when he released the single “First Sermon.” The single thrust the young rapper into the continental spotlight. He followed up on the success of “First Sermon” by dropping the follow-up single, “Second Sermon.”
“Second Sermon” didn’t hit the same numbers as “First Sermon,” but it was enough to set him on the path to a collaboration with Grammy winner Burna Boy. The Second Sermon remix came out on December 8, 2021. Within days, the single was taking over music charts in both Nigeria and Ghana. The music video for the song came out in February 2022.
On March 31, 2022, Black Sherif took the Afrobeat music space by storm by releasing “Kwaku The Traveller.” The song has gone on to be a crazy success. It has hit the number one position on both the Nigeria and Ghana Apple Music Charts. Black Sherif set the record of being the first to have a solo single on the Nigeria Apple Music Chart.
In March 2022, the rapper performed to an amped crowd at the 3Music Awards Ceremony in Ghana. He also performed at the final match of the 2021 MTN FA Cup, which was between Accra Hearts Of Oak and Ashanti Gold SC. Celebrity Sarkodie told his followers to look out for Black Sherif.
Black Sherif’s Personal Life
Despite the mature appearance, Black Sherif is 23 years old; he turned 23 on 9 January 2025. The dark-skinned rapper has a full beard and looks as though he should be in his mid-twenties.
He has a slim build, is tall in stature, and wears an Afro. Although he doesn’t have any tattoos yet, he has plans to get a tattoo, and inscribed on it will read, “Keep Going, Blacko.”
Widely known as Blacko, Black Sherif is based in Kumasi, Ghana. He has made trips to Lagos, Nigeria, to promote his music and work with Nigerian acts. Black Sherif has signed with Empire Music.
The Trap music genius Black Sherif has revealed that he is not in a serious relationship with a young lady. He is more focused on making headway with his career right now. He is widely regarded as Ghana’s number one Grime and Trap artist and is achieving respectable feats daily.
Black Sherif is also close friends with celebrity dancer Poco Lee. He credits the former creative for helping him to make the collaboration with Burna Boy a reality; Poco Lee introduced Burna Boy to Black Sherif’s music.
Black Sherif is not married; he has no wife or girlfriend.
Black Sherif’s Awards and Nominations
The gifted rapper Black Sherif won the Entertainment Personality Of The Year at the Entertainment Achievement Awards in 2022.
Black Sherif won three awards at the 2022 3Music Awards, namely Hip Song Of The Year, Breakthrough Act Of The Year, and Hiplife/Hip-hop Artiste Of The Year.
Black Sherif’s Net Worth
The rising music star, Black Sherif, has a net worth estimated to be around $2.5 million to $3 million US dollars as of 2025.
