More often than not, Ghanaians have tipped certain individuals to carry the country’s music to the global stage, but Black Sherif has challenged the idea that such a responsibility can rest on one artiste.
According to the award-winning musician, while an individual artiste may serve as a prominent face or “flag bearer” for Ghanaian music, the responsibility of building an internationally competitive industry is a collective one.
“It is not realistic for one person to carry an entire nation to the global stage as people assume. It can never be the work of an individual artiste,” he said.
Rather, he sees the industry’s progress as a “collective motion” involving artistes and the people and structures behind them.
Black Sherif was speaking about the state of the Ghanaian music industry and the country’s prospects of competing more strongly on the international market when the issue of his own growing global profile came up.
Although he has earned recognition beyond Ghana and performed alongside international acts, he pushed back against suggestions that his success could make him the one artiste to take Ghana to the level of the world’s biggest music markets.
For Black Sherif, the conversation should go beyond individual artistes and focus on how the entire music ecosystem is being built.
Asked what Ghana’s music industry is currently doing well, he pointed to the country’s music-making, describing it as broad and an area in which he has “no problem”.
“It does not sound real if we’re talking about one person taking it. It doesn’t sound real. It’s not realistic. I think with the music making, we’re doing well. The businesses and all of the things we are picking up momentum,” he added.
However, he believes the next stage of Ghana’s music journey will depend on how well the different parts of the industry work together.
Blacko explained that creating an environment where artistes can thrive and young people can see music as a viable career requires more than successful musicians.
“When we bring value to artistes and make kids growing up see some things and want to pursue music, we need people,” he said.
Black Sherif said his generation of artistes is prepared to contribute to changing that situation.
His comments come at a time when Ghanaian artistes continue to pursue wider international recognition, with Afrobeats and other African sounds increasingly finding audiences beyond the continent.
