Black Sherif: The other side of the story you should read

Black Sherif just touched down in Accra from a series of tours abroad. The fast-rising 21-year-old had, on this recent run, shut down the biggest music festivals across the US and Europe this summer.

Social media on Wednesday, July 19, was awash with reports of the purported ‘arrest’ of ‘Kwaku The Traveller’ on sight at the Kotoka International Airport.

The incident’s details, albeit rather sketchy at the time, were reported by a blogger to the effect that the Konongo-born singer had taken “thousands of dollars”, suggesting Blacko’s evasion of a sort for an unmentioned transaction.

This also fuelled further speculation as to how a break-out star could be involved in purported suspicious dealings this early in his promising career. It transitioned into becoming the most talked-about topic on Twitter garnering over 5,000 tweets of reactions, concerns, questions and taunts of ‘gotcha’ moments. Checks uncovered some details that put many of these concerns to rest for now.

Sources point to an expression of interest by organisers of a certain cruise ship musical performance as being the tangent from which the hullabaloo emanated. The company had filed a complaint with the Ghana Police Service over what they see to be a breach of an agreement they entered with the Blacko team.

The complainant requested to book Black Sherif for the cruise ship performance, a move which was duly heeded by the singer’s agents who happen to be a leading international company representing artistes, athletes, and brands across the globe. Sources say an initial deposit of $20,000 out of a $40,000 booking fee was made by the complainant to the musician’s agency.

However, the contract did not include a requirement for promotional videos for a press launch ahead of the yet-to-be-held event. But in an interesting twist, the businessman and organiser of the cruise pressed the agents demanding promotional videos from Black Sherif with threats to cancel the contract, if the videos are not submitted which was a breach of the contract.

Amidst these threats of canceling the contract and lawsuits, the singer’s agents chose to refund the initial deposit in good faith, as the contract reportedly had no clause mandating such promotional videos.

However, the source said the complainant insisted on being reimbursed $50,000 instead of the initial $20,000 fee he parted with, a move which Black Sherif’s agents found unfair and inconsistent. This led to further threats from the businessman and his subsequent decision to report the case to the police, alleging breach of contract and fraud.

The artiste was stopped at the airport upon his arrival from his successful European tour to assist in the investigation of the matter.

Persons close to the matter, per this development, find that the issue at hand appears to not be about Blacko’s commitment to the event but rather a disagreement between the organisers and the talent agency.

Meanwhile, lawyers for Black Sherif are reportedly working around the clock to ensure an amicable resolution.

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The author, Kenneth Awotwe Darko is a journalist, music enthusiast and social media analyst.

Follow him on Twitter via @TheKennethDarko on Facebook, Kenneth Awotwe Darko and @TheKenDarko on Instagram.

Email: Kenneth.darko@myjoyonline.com