Black Sherif — IRON BOY (Review).
On IRON BOY, Black Sheriff presents a well rounded project with a more focused theme, and a wide palette of chill production to back it up.
Black Sherif makes music for those who want to feel heard and noticed. He packs all of his raw emotions and feelings into his delivery, crafting relatable stories that easily resonate with his listeners, and leaves an extraordinary impact. The rawness of his artistic essence is exactly what propelled his debut album “The Villain I Never Was” to critical acclaim.
He typifies every hustler, showing their grit, unflinching desire for success and their doggedness to withstand life's hurdles until they achieve their dreams. These stories are quite relatable, especially in the African setting, and it's the reason that his works appeal to the large African audience. Records like “Konongo Zongo”, “The Homeless Song”, and “Kweku The Traveller” are perfect examples of his artistic vision.
On his sophomore album “IRON BOY”, Black Sherif doesn't deviate from his well oiled formular, rather he dives deeper into his soul, forging connectable stories of life, resilience and success. He's as vulnerable as ever, and even more exciting this time as he sheds his ultra focused tone for sometimes casual and unfocused deliveries.
“The Victory Song” is a polar opposite to the intro “The Homeless Song” on his debut album. Here, he is taking a look back at how he has hustled his way to fame. He has grown from the “homeless” guy on his debut to one who now flies intercontinental and sleeps in various exotic suites. On “One”, Black Sherif fills in on his divine connection with God, citing His guidance as the major reason for his success. The tape continues to unfold with “So It Goes” as he taps Fireboy DML on the record about survival, and getting himself and his family to a comfortable place in life. Fireboy finds his feet on the Afro-Drill soundscape, keeping it neat with his delivery.
“Top of the Morning” has him questioning some of his decisions and pushing himself to do better. He also levels in about the unreliable behaviour from people and how he has learned to get all he wants by himself without relying on people's help. “Body” addresses him in an unstable relationship, navigating the issues of infidelity while he calls for a much closer connection. “Sacrifice” is a breather from the Hip-Hop centric productions. He admits to his limitations of just trying to work things out all by himself, with intent to be better. “Soma Obi” centers on him moving on and coping with life's issues.
“Dreamer” and “Rebel Music” returns to trap terrains and he puts his defiance on show, with resilience never to be broken down. “Where Them Boyz” is a call to salute for every man walking through the hurdles, motivating them to keep their heads high. The title track “Iron Boy” is relatively soft and gentle as he delves into the importance of finding happiness regardless of situations. “Sin City” pairs him with Seyi Vibez on an otherwise groovy Afropop production. Both singers brag about the life that fame and success affords them basking in the abundance. The Lekaa produced “Eyes Open” is a message of how he keeps his peace, even in the face of different oppositions. “Changes” captures his current mindset moving forward as he becomes increasingly focused on achieving more of his life's dreams. “January 9th” is a reference to his birthday and a record dedicated to himself, basking in his resilience and strength to push himself to success.
“IRON BOY” is cut from similar fabric as his debut “The Villain I Never Was”. It bears all the hallmarks carrying its emotionally charged writing and delivery, focused theme explored thoroughly and Black Sherif's raw and dynamic vocals to carry it through. However, the production here is much more exotic and expansive which will definitely appeal to more listeners and very much fill in as a continuation of the stories he left unsaid on his debut.
There will be comparisons between both works, but notably, TVINW has a much better peak than “IRON BOY”. However, the latter is a well rounded project with a more focused theme, and a wide palette of chill production to back it up.