by Amanda London·April 7, 2022

“Kwaku, the traveller” is a moniker which Black Sherif is applying to himself. We know this not only because such is inferred in the lyrics. But also, children in certain parts of Ghana are often sub-named after the day of the week on which they were born. And under that system, Black Sherif, who did in fact enter this Earth on a Wednesday (9 January 2002), would be referred to as “Kwaku” in certain circles.

');var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; })();

That said, what we’re dealing with here is more or less your standard, self-fulfilling come up song. The reason it can be labeled self-fulfilling is because “Kwaku the Traveller” has indeed proven to be Sherif’s breakthrough hit. 

Even though the track isn’t quintessentially hip-hop in nature, the vocalist does come off a lot like a rapper, i.e. someone who is envisioning rolling in the dough, even though as it currently stands he’s still caught up in the hustle.

So when the vocalist refers to himself as “a traveler”, that’s basically a poetic way of saying that he has yet to find his footing in life, so to speak. Or put more into street terms, he’s on the paper chase, with music apparently being his hustle. And until he achieves that goal of making it big, “Kwaku the traveller” will remain on the prowl.

Black Sherif

Black Sherif is a vocalist from Ghana’s Ashanti Region. One of the earliest songs in his discography is a 2019 track entitled “Anadwo” by Kwame Yesu in which he appears as a feature. Later that same year, Sherif apparently dropped his first track as a headliner, a joint entitled “Mariana”.

');var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; })();

“Kwaku the Traveller”

“Kwaku the Traveller”, which the vocalist officially authored under his legal name Mohammed Ismail Sherif, has proven to be Black Sherif’s breakthrough hit. Upon release on 31 March 2022, the tune swiftly proceeded to blow up. In less than a week, it reached number one on Nigeria Apple Music Top Songs. And even though the music industries of Ghana and Nigeria are closely related, this marked the first time a Ghanaian soloist had achieved that feat.

The day after, the track made its debut on the Apple Music Top 100 Global itself. Perhaps even more importantly in the grand scheme of things, the song also went viral on TikTok.

The lyrics are bilingual, being rendered primarily in English but also a Ghanaian language known as Twi.

The producer of this track is one Joker Nharnah.