Black Sherif isn’t holding anything back on his new album, IRON BOY. Two years after his acclaimed debut The Villain I Never Was, the Ghanaian artist returns with a body of work rooted in vulnerability, strength, and self-reflection. From the very first track, “The Victory Song,” Sherif sets the tone for what’s to come—an unfiltered look at the emotional and spiritual journey he’s taken since his last release.
Vulnerability is a key theme across IRON BOY. The album shows a more open, unfiltered side of Sherif that reflects how he’s grown since his debut in 2022. On “The Victory Song,” he immediately draws listeners into his inner world, speaking candidly about the trials and triumphs he’s faced over the past few years.
Since then, he has continued to expand his reach. With IRON BOY, Sherif builds on the foundation he laid with his debut, leaning into themes of resilience and strength while also opening the door to something deeper. “Aside from strength and resilience being the core of IRON BOY, I feel like the soul of it is vulnerability,” he says.
Sherif has always stayed true to his own sound. Across his freestyles, mixtapes, and debut album, he’s crafted music that reflects his life and voice without chasing trends. “We didn’t want just to leave everything that we had done with The Villain I Never Was,” he says. “The soul and the sonics for this were not trying to do anything too different, nor were they trying to do the same thing again. It was more so about where we can elevate this thing to.”
The album continues his creative partnership with longtime collaborators Joker Nharnah and Lekaa Beats. Together, they build track by track, weaving stories that reflect Sherif’s pain, healing, and resilience. His refusal to box himself into a specific genre is part of what makes his sound unique. “One about me is I don’t care about what my sound is, I just want to make art,” he says. “I just want to make the best thing I can make at the moment. Some art doesn’t entertain. Some art asks questions and reflects the times of the environments that the artist is living in, or the atmosphere in which it is created, and that is what I try to do with my art.”
Sherif’s creativity has always gone beyond music. His visuals, live performances, and overall presentation reflect how deeply art shapes every part of him. Fashion, in particular, plays a big role in how he expresses himself. “My clothing expression is parallel to the music I make,” he says. “They just kind of come together once in a blue moon, but to me, they are like brothers and sisters who go different ways.”
Style has always been part of Sherif’s artistic identity. He believes that the way people perceive him visually can influence how they hear his music. “I believe that everything starts from the eyes and the ears before the brain processes anything,” he says. “So, no matter what, how you see me might affect how you listen to me, and I try to play with that a lot.”
Sherif’s interest in fashion started early. Growing up in Ghana, he lived with his aunt, who sold second-hand clothes. His parents, who lived in Greece at the time, would ship clothes and other items for her to sell. This gave Sherif access to a wide range of styles and sparked his curiosity. “I never really cared about what people thought about my clothes because my interest in fashion was so intense that there was no room for me to think about what someone thinks about what I was wearing,” he says.
That same mindset has shaped how he approaches music. Sherif stands in his own lane, crafting work that reflects who he is without needing to conform. As a multidimensional artist, he takes his output seriously because it reflects how he sees the world and himself.
It’s not just about what the work means to him. He wants his music to speak to others, too. IRON BOY offers a message beyond his confident presence; it invites listeners into his most personal thoughts. “I feel like if everybody accepts that nobody is flawless, there will be a lot more people who can find confidence within themselves,” he says. “When you are used to growing up a certain way with certain views of what it means to be a man and what that looks like, a lot of people see me as somebody who is confident and is put together. However, when you listen to the first song on the album, I talk about crying in a hotel in London.”
That moment, and many others on the album, capture what IRON BOY represents in this new chapter of Sherif’s journey. It’s a body of work that blends truth with purpose. And at this point in his career, Sherif is clear about what he’s striving toward. “As an artist, I’ve tried my best to carve out a space for myself to be the person I want to be,” he says. “With this album, there are things that I wish I had heard from artists when I was growing up that I’m doing right now. Topics that I didn’t even think I needed as a music listener, and that’s what I’m trying to make my art about, because work like that doesn’t die. I’m trying to make meaningful and timeless art.”
CREDITS
Photographer: Jonathan Tomlinson @jtjtjtjtjtjtjtjtjtjtjtjt
Creative Director: Zekaria Al-Bostani - @zek.snap
Producer: Seneo Mwamba @SeneoMwamba
Stylist: Jacob R Levine @jacobrlevine
Styling Assistant: @lenaangelides @y0ungabz
Grooming: Afsha Kabani @afshaartistry
Movement Director- Ayanna Birch @ayannabirch_
Lighting Director @jonah_dali
BTS videographer: Shirin Chorfi @shirinchorfi
Design: @margokatesmith & @ShalemAlone
Creative assistant : Whitney sanni @its.whit_
Writer: Seneo Mwamba @seneomwamba
PR: Emerald East @emerald__east
Styling
Look 1:
Jacket - Ala Tianan @alatianan
Top - KOAT @koat.ny
Bottoms - Labrum London @labrumlondon
Shoes - Roker Atelier @roleratelier
Hat - Stylist own
Jewellery - Emanuele Bicocchi @emanuelebicocchi
Look 2:
Suit - Labrum London @labrumlondon
Top - Mains London @mainslondon
Shoes - Stylist own
Hat - Benny Andello @bennyandello
Jewellery - Emanuele Bicocchi @emanuelebicocchi
Look 3:
Full look - William Palmer @williampalmer
Shoes - Diemme @iprlndon
Hat - Benny Andello @bennyandello
Jewellery - Emanuele Bicocchi @emanuelebicocchi
