“Of course, I f**ked up! Who never f**k up, hands in the air?…” reads the lyrics to Black Sheriff’s 2022 smash hit, ‘Kwaku The Traveller.”
The single was everywhere, from the streets of Kumasi, Ghana, to the densely populated city of Lagos. Ghanaian rapper and singer-songwriter, Black Sheriff, had the average Nigerian on a chokehold for the major parts of 2022 for impeccable reasons. His songs topped the charts and appealed to the psychological and social well-being of Nigerians.
On social media, ‘Kwaku the traveller’ was heavily used by TikTokers to promote their skits and content, while on microblogging sites such as X, the punchline, “of course, I f**ked” was reiterated intensely by netizens for apparent reasons.
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Kwaku The Traveller: Understanding The Hit Single
Black Sherif, at the tender age of 20, released the single that would change the trajectory of his music career and personal life. Themed around the pursuit of happiness and personal development, Sherif talks about how he wants to depart from the home he has always known in pursuit of some of his greatest desires, which are to acquire funds, attain fame and prominence. His simple objective is to become a man of his own and distance himself from the disrespect, animosity and jealousy he has experienced over the years.
The lyrics to the song are simple, and it resonated easily with Nigerians. The average Nigerian person believes he/she is a hustler, so this song served as their anthem, a hymn for the brokenhearted person who wants to make something of themselves; however, they struggle to achieve to do.
Remember those who say, “We left home to feed home,” oh yeah, this song is for them.
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Chasing Gwalala: Immediate Impact of ‘Kwaku The Traveller’
Listeners know how massive Sheriff’s ‘Kwaku The Traveller’ was in Nigeria. It was a crossover hit, and it shook the Nigerian music industry for several months. Additionally, it assisted immensely in the success of his debut studio album, Villain I Never Was. Though the album had other notable tracks such as ‘Soja’ and ‘Second Sermon’ featuring Nigerian Grammy award winner, Burna Boy (which was his initial first crossover single), it was ‘Kwaku The Traveller’ that shattered the fourth and introduced Sheriff to a more mainstream audience.
It debuted at number 1 on the Nigeria TurnTable Top 50 chart, number 5 on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs Chart and number 2 on the UK Afrobeats Singles Chart. On 11 July 2022, following the launch of TurnTable Top 100, an expansion of the Top 50 chart, “Kwaku the Traveller” debuted at number 22. On 14 July 2022, “Kwaku the Traveller” debuted at number 2 on the newly launched Nigeria Top Hip-Hop/Rap Songs chart.
To date, “Kwaku the Traveller” is Black Sherif’s second most popular record with over 2.5 million Spotify streams, and his most popular record with over 14.6 million Boomplay streams as of 20 April 2022.
Now, this is impact.
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Conclusion: Where Is Black Sheriff Now?
Blacko released his debut album, The Villain I Never Was, on 5 October 2022. As stated earlier, the popularity of the song immensely impacted the success of the debut album.
His sophomore album, Iron Boy, was released on 3 April 2025.
In May 2025, he was nominated for the 2025 BET Awards.
Who Is Blacko?
Mohammed Ismail Sherif, professionally known as Black Sherif and formerly Blacko, is a Ghanaian singer, rapper and fashion model. He initially gained popularity in 2021 with his song “First Sermon,” which he released in May 2021. This was followed up with the “Second Sermon” in July 2021.
