Grammy-nominated Sierra Leonean American author, emcee and publisher honoured for two decades of independent storytelling across books, music and continents
LONDON, 25 October 2026: Wilfred “Freddy Will” Kanu Jr., the Sierra Leonean American author, emcee and independent publisher, has been named Content Creator of the Year at the Influencer Magazine Awards 2026 (Edition 3). The award honours his work as a storyteller, recording artist and publisher whose independent catalogue of books and albums spans two decades and multiple continents.
Based in Berlin, Freddy Will is the founder of Badson Publishing, Swift Nightz Music Society and The Theatre of Literary & Performing Arts. He became the first Sierra Leonean nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Spoken Word Album for Children category at the 53rd Grammy Awards, and he has been honored with four commemorative Sierra Leone postage stamps bearing his likeness.
“This award from Influencer Magazine UK is deeply meaningful because it highlights the continuation of my independent career in music, theatre and literary writing, something that belongs to my community and my culture,” said Freddy Will. “I have spent my career telling stories that bridge continents, and to have that work recognised on a global stage is profoundly humbling.”
A Life in Motion
Born in Brookfields, Freetown, Wilfred moved with his parents to Monrovia, Liberia, at the age of two. There he discovered his passion for music, theatre and literary expression. As a teenager, he lived through the Liberian and Sierra Leonean civil conflicts, finding refuge in Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Senegal before eventually becoming a naturalised citizen of the United States.
In 2006, he travelled to Toronto, Canada, to record his debut album and later became a permanent resident. In Canada, he recorded a mixtape, three further independent studio albums and an EP, released through his labels Ghetto Breed Entertainment and Swift Nightz Entertainment. He also began his freelance writing career, launched his blog, published three books through Soul Asylum Poetry & Publishing Inc. and his own imprint, Freddy Will Publishing, in Ontario, and founded The Freddy Will Hope Foundation.
An Afropolitan Publisher
After relocating to Europe, Wilfred became a diplomat in Brussels, Belgium, and later moved to Berlin, Germany, where he rebranded his imprint from Freddy Will Publishing to Badson Publishing and Swift Nightz Music Society. He deepened his connection to the African continent through The Theatre of Literary and Performing Arts and the Freddy Will Hope Foundation. His writing reflects his identity as an Afropolitan, a member of the African diaspora defined by geographic mobility. To date, he has published twenty-one titles: three paperbacks in Toronto, seven eBooks in Brussels, and eleven paperbacks, audiobooks and eBooks in Berlin distributed through the African Books Collective in Oxford, UK.
In a 2024 interview with Jatinder Padda, editor at Read African Books, a division of the African Books Collective, Freddy Will explained that Badson Publishing is registered in the United States and Estonia and operates in Berlin as the publishing subsidiary of The Theatre of Literary & Performing Arts. The company partners with the African Books Collective in Oxford, United Kingdom, and is committed to championing African creativity, with dedicated divisions for feminist and LGBTQIA+ authors. In the interview, he discussed the challenges African authors face when writing in their native languages, a legacy of colonialism that elevated European languages on the world stage. He encouraged African writers to translate their work to broaden its global reach, while stressing the importance of promoting African languages to enrich the continent’s literary heritage.
Bee Mann: An Afrofuturist Mythology
His current flagship work is BEE MANN, an Afrofuturist superhero mythology told across a trilogy of books and companion albums. It draws on the griot storytelling tradition, Hip Hop, family, and Sierra Leonean and diasporic cosmology. Book One, Stings from a One-Man Hive, was published in 2026 alongside its companion double album. The mythology continues with a third LP, Devils May Cry, and two further books that will complete the trilogy in 2027.
Music, Film and Influences
In 2010, Freddy Will joined musicians, producers, spoken word artists, chefs and children’s authors on a charity compilation of 60 songs, poems and prose pieces about food, nutrition and self-awareness. Executive produced in Philadelphia by the New York Coalition for Healthy School Foods, the double album was designed for use in childhood obesity education and to raise awareness of Type 2 diabetes among schoolchildren. It earned a Grammy nomination at the 53rd Grammy Awards in 2011.
Freddy Will was also nominated for Best Male Artist at the African Music Awards in 2014 after releasing his third consecutive book-and-album project, Hip Hop KruZade: Path of a Legend and Laboramus Exspectantes.
He also contributed a song to the soundtrack of Steadfast: The Jean Augustine Story, a 2022 documentary tracing the Hon. Dr. Jean Augustine’s journey from Happy Hill, Grenada, to becoming the first Black woman elected to Canada’s House of Commons and the first to serve in the federal Cabinet.
Speaking with award-winning Ghanaian journalist Jefferson Sackey, Freddy Will recalled that he began rapping while living in Liberia. He names Kool Moe Dee, LL Cool J, Queen Latifah, Ice-T, Naughty by Nature, the legendary Sierra Leonean rapper Jimmy B, Dr. Dre, Tupac Shakur, Scarface, Snoop Dogg, The Notorious B.I.G., Nas, The Luniz and The LOX among his primary Hip Hop influences. His literary influences include his father, John Grisham, William Shakespeare, Langston Hughes, Caresse Crosby, Maya Angelou, and the Pacesetter Novels series, while Idris Elba, Ice Cube, John Singleton, and Spike Lee have shaped his influence in theatre and film.
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Media Contact
Wilfred “Freddy Will” Kanu Jr.
The Theatre of Literary and Performing Arts
Instagram: @11th_freddywill_ofthesun
X: @Freddywill
Blog: https://publikdiscourze.com
Email: kanu0811wilfred@protonmail.com
Phone: +49 151 43102198
Website: www.freddywill.de
