Black Sherif is one African artists from Ghana who is getting so much attention globally since he signed a distribution deal with Empire Distribution, Records and Publishing Inc.
Lots of Ghananaians, Nigerians, and the entire African continent has been seeking to know so much concerning Black Sherif deal with Empire distribution, records and publishing Inc. That is why I am writing this article to answer the few questions on what I know about Black Sherif as well as Empire distribution, records.
To get started with this article, let us first and foremost get to know who is Black Sherif as well as a brief history of Empire Records.
Who is Black Sherif?
Black Sherif was born Mohammed Ismail Sherif on January 9, 2002 and he is a Ghanaian singer and rapper who became popular in 2021 when he dropped his hit song in May titled “First Sermon”. In July of the same year, Blacko, as he is formerly known released a follow up single which he titled “Second Sermon”.
He however had his mainstream breakthrough in March 2022 when he released his hit single titled “Kwaku The Traveller”, the song was peaked at Number one on the Ghanaian and Nigerian Apple Music charts and the music video for the song had 17 million views.
Empire Record Label.
Empire Distribution, Records and Publishing Inc which is simply known as Empire is an American music distribution company and record label which was founded in 2010 by Ghazi Shami, a Palestinian-American music technologist, record producer, audio engineer, entrepreneur etc.
When the record label started it’s operation, it’s main focus was on the mainstream American artists, but due to the rise of Afrobeat, which is a popular genre of music in Nigeria, Empire has expanded its distribution and recording deal to engulf African artists and one of them is the fast rising Ghanaian singer known as Black Sherif.
Is Black Sherif signed to Empire Records?
Black Sherif is currently signed to Empire records for the distribution of the Second Sermon Remix which he features Burna Boy.
Before we look at how Black Sherif met Burna Boy let us look at a controversy that surrounds Black Sherif’s deal with Empire.
On March 8 2022, one of the online news media in Ghana made a post about Black Sherif’s deal with EMPIRE being the worst “deal ever” citing Reggie Rockstone as the one who made the statement.
As noted by the publication house, he made the statement in an interview on HitzFM, and made it clear that his last conversation with the late DJ seemed to confirm rumor’s that Black Sherif might have indeed “signed off his life.”
You can check out the post below in HitzFM Twitter handle.
Per my last conversation with DJ Rab, he told me that, Black Sherif's recent deal was the worse deal ever. It's so evil that Black Sherif wouldn't even do that to himself. He planned to speak with Blacko on that. Now he is no more. – @ReggieRockstone #DaybreakHitz pic.twitter.com/jjsx3NjuUQ
— Hitz 103.9 FM (@Hitz1039FM) March 8, 2022
But while shedding light on Black Sherif’s distribution deal with Empire, a music guru in Ghana known as Emmanuel Sarpong pointed out that Sherif’s distribution deal is not as bad as most people are suggesting, maintaining that the deal was mainly for the distribution of his song to the global market.
Below is exactly what he said:
“In the ‘contract’ doing the rounds on the inter-webs, EMPIRE is responsible for the distribution of the Second Sermon RMX, 2 other songs & a 7-track EP that’s yet to be released. This means Blacko & EMPIRE will share the revenue splits from these projects. In his case 60-40.
“A clause in the contract also states that both parties (Blacko & EMPIRE) can opt out of the contract at any time but must be within a 30-day notice. So once again Blacko hasn’t signed his life away. He can always do other songs other than what was captured in the contract.”
Now let us move on to see how Black Sherif met Burna Boy.
Who introduced Black Sherif to Burna Boy.
According to Black Sherif himself, it was a Nigerian dance superstar knwon as Poco Lee who introduced him to Burna Boy by playing his songs to him. And from there Burna Boy picked interest on working with him and that was how the journey to getting a distribution deal with Empire basically began.
No wonder why the distribution deal seemed to focus on the remix of his song titled “Second Sermon” which he featured Burna Boy.
