Ghana’s music industry is a vibrant melting pot of talent, diversity, and creativity. From the infectious rhythms of Afrobeats to the soul-stirring melodies of highlife, hip-hop, reggae, dancehall, and rap music, Ghanaian musicians have consistently pushed boundaries and captivated audiences both locally and internationally. Not only that, these musicians have also left an indelible mark on the industry and continued elevating it to new heights.
As a keen observer who’s deeply immersed in the world of Ghanaian music, it’s with great pleasure to announce to the world with pride my carefully crafted list of the TOP Best Musicians in Ghana 2023. This ranking is a testament to their latest achievements, ranging from chart-topping songs and acclaimed albums to prestigious awards and remarkable philanthropic endeavors.
Top Ten Best Musicians in Ghana 2023
1. Sarkodie
Michael Owusu Addo, who goes by the name Sarkodie is no doubt the best musician in Ghana. He has been the best in the country over the past decade. It is for this reason that he is mostly referred to as “The Landlord”.
He lived with his parents at Koforidua before they later moved to Tema where he had his education at Tema Methodist day senior high school and then had his degree in graphic design at IPMC. Sarkodie began his career as an underground artist when he participated in the Adom FM rap competition where he met his former manager, Duncan Williams of Duncwills Entertainment. The competition set a pace for his career until he resigned from Duncwills Entertainment’s record label to Sarkcess. On July 17, 2018, Sarkodie tied the knot with his baby mama, Tracy.
Sarkodie is not only known as the best rapper in Ghana but internationally, he’s also recognized as the best African rapper and this is proven by the multiple awards he has received some of which include, international best flow from BET, artist of the Decade from Vodafone music and others. During the 25th Anniversary of the Vodafone music awards on February 2023, Sarkodie received the best collaboration on the song Black Sheriff featured him on, Country Side.
On July 13, 2013, Sarkodie showed an act of humanity when he launched the Sarkodie Foundation, a non-profit organization that was aimed at helping unprivileged children. He also went ahead to make donations to orphanage homes such as the Royal seed home which is situated at Kasoa. His generosity earned him the support of Roshi Motman, the CEO of Tigo Telecommunications.
Aside from all these, Sarkodie has been trending all over social media for the wrong reasons since the release of a memoir by the popular actress Yvonne Nelson on June 18, 2023. Yes. There’s no way I would talk about Sarkodie in this article and not mention the whole brouhaha responsible for his recent trends. In the book, the actress accused Sarkodie of impregnating her and detailing how he forced her to abort the baby. This news created a mega pandemonium between Sark fans and Yvonne Nelson fans. As a result, Sarkodie was forced to release a new song Titled Try Me as a response to the allegations. Which received both positive and negative critics from netizens.
This somehow turned out to be a blessing in disguise as Sarkodie didn’t only trend but shot his YouTube subscribers to a million which is a first for any Ghanaian.
2. Black Sherif
It is no doubt that second place in the list goes to Mohammed Ishmail Shariff popularly known as Black Sherif. He’s a 21-year-old singer from Ghana who in one year went from the country’s new viral sensation to one of the most popular musicians with his unique blend of Ghanaian authentic Highlife, Afrobeats, and drill music.
He came into the limelight in 2021 when he released the First sermon followed by the second sermon. He had a massive breakthrough when he released his first single “Kweku the Traveller” and later featured the African giant, Burna Boy on the remix. He then released his debut album, The Villain I Never Was, on October 5, 2022.
On February 2023, Black Sherif emerged as the Artist of the Year during the Vodafone music awards and the best hip-hop award at the Soundcity MVP Awards which was held in Lagos.
Black Sheriff has already made a significant impact with his talent but the world is on the edge of its seats eagerly waiting for the moment when he will solidify and surpass his current level of success and accomplishments.
3. StoneBwoy
Next on my list of best musicians in Ghana is my personal favorite, he goes by the name Livingstone Etse Satekla and as usual, is popularly known as Stonebwoy. He’s a Ghanaian reggae, Afropop, and dancehall musician and the CEO of Burniton music group. Born in Ashaima but of Alakple-Anloga in the Volta region origin.
He studied at Methodist Day senior high School the same year with Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie and had his tertiary education at the University of Professional Studies and earned a degree in marketing in the year 2013.
Throughout his career, Stonebwoy has won numerous awards for his music. He won nine awards at the 2015 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards, including Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, and Best Reggae/Dancehall Song of the Year. That’s not all.
In 2020, GRAMMY handed a plaque to Stonebwoy in acknowledgment of his role as a featured performer on the Grammy award-nominated single “AVRAKEDABRA” by Morgan Heritage. In 2021, 3 albums on which Stonebwoy featured were nominated for the 2022 Grammy Awards.
In 2022, Vodafone Ghana recognized him for using his creativity and music to promote awareness of environmental and sustainability issues. His song “Greedy Men” received an award and a cash reward of GHS 10,000. And in March 2021, his album Anloga Junction won the Album of the Year award in the 3Music Awards and his song Putuu Freestyle (Prayer) won the Viral Song of the Year.
Stonebwoy is also a global ambassador for sanitation. In September 2019, he was made the brand ambassador for Voltic Natural Mineral Water, a “Big Boss” energy drink, and Tecno mobile in Ghana.
Aside from his career, Stonebwoy is noted as one of the most responsible, and calm artists in Ghana following his marriage to Dr. Louisa Ansong who’s a dentist with whom he has two kids. His current album “5th Dimension” featuring internationally recognized artists such as Angelique Kidjo, Shaggy, Stormzy, and others is making waves and topping charts making it the first Ghanaian album to score this success on the reggae charts.
In January 2017, Stonebwoy established the “Livingstone Foundation” following a sponsorship package for five students of the Tema Methodist Day Senior High School, his alma mater. He went on to donate a sum of money to the accident ward of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in March 2018 as part of his 30th birthday celebrations. He also helped to supply sanitizers in an effort to combat the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic.
To climax it all, the Livingstone Foundation together with Duffour Foundation renovated a basic school that serves four towns close to Stonebwoy’s hometown in 2022.
When we thought we have seen it all with his talents, Stonebwoy turned out to be an actor when he appeared in the movies, Happy Day Death, and my name is Ramadan. All this proves without doubt that Stonebwoy is by far one of the greatest and most accomplished artists of our time.
4. King Promise
Gregory Bortey Newman is a Ghanaian award-winning artist and songwriter born in Ghana on August 16th, 1995, and goes by the stage name King Promise. His smooth vocals, melodic tunes, and romantic lyrics have won him a wide audience both in Ghana and beyond.
Unlike other musicians, his interest in music was piqued at a young age by his father who constantly loved playing classical music. According to King Promise, he didn’t have plans to become a musician and that if he sing, it was only because he loved it. Well, that was until high school when one of his teachers got taken aback by his melodious voice and made him join the choir. But everything changed after a studio session he had with a friend. While in the booth, he realized his raw talent and his curiosity to unveil it heightened. He started writing his songs and collaborating with producers.
He dropped his first single ‘Thank God’ and featured Fuse ODG. He got signed to Legacy Life label and has since dropped hit after hit, featuring famous artists in Ghana and beyond. King Promise expresses his versatility as he dubs the RnB, highlife, and Afrobeats. Some of his hit songs include CCTV, Sisa, Tokyo, and others.
King Promise has bagged many awards including the best male vocalist of the year at the U.K edition of the Ghana Music Awards and the Hiplife Song of the Year at the 3 Music Awards. His writing prowess paid off when “Too Late” the song he co-wrote with Adina won the record of the year at the Vodafone Ghana music awards 2017.
Despite his achievements, the young artist feels somehow, the Ghanaian music industry hasn’t been fair to him after he came back with zero awards during the Vodafone music awards despite the hit songs he dropped that year.
Speaking on TV3’s NewDay program, King Promise wondered how he has failed to win a VGMA during the same period that he received some international awards. This drove his declaration on delay show that he’s the most accepted Ghanaian artist globally since he gets international awards more than he gets in his homeland. King Promise is of the view that if he’s capable of bagging international awards then it has to reflect in his homeland.
However King Promise is unstoppable, he finally emerged as Best Afropop/Afrobeat Artiste of the Year at the 2023 Ghana Vodafone music awards after years of snub and has continued to make waves with his latest hit Terminator.
5. Shatta Wale
Shatta Wale, formerly Bandana is a multi-award-winning and undoubtedly the most popular reggae dancehall artist in Ghana whose real name is Charles Nii Armah Mensah. Born October 17, 1984. He’s the CEO of Shatta Movement Empire.
Shatta Wale started his career with Doggy, a borrowed name that was inspired by his favorite dancehall artist Doggy-Yoggy. He dropped his first single, ‘Moko Hoo’, and left the country marveled and hungry for more of his music only for the artist to disappear.
Just when almost everyone had forgotten about him, he sprung to life all of a sudden with full force, bearing a new name, Shatta Wale, and firing back-to-back hit songs which includes Dancehall King, enter the Net Confuse, my level, kakai, Mahama paper, and others. Since then the world witnessed no end to his energetic stage performance, catchy dancehall songs, controversial persona, and his collaborations with both international and local artists all over the world. By 2016, Shatta solidified himself as the most sought-after artist in Ghana and got signed to Zylofone Music in the year 2018 where he released his third album ‘Reign’. This album landed the sixth position on the Top World Albums Billboard charts.
From 2013 to 2020 Shatta Wale won 71 prestigious awards out of 120 nominations. One of the prominent ones was his collaboration with Beyoncé on her album The Lion King: The Gift which was nominated at the Grammy Awards in 2019. In 2021, he was nominated for two awards and won the ‘Best Virtual Entertainer of the Year Award at the International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA).
In addition to his awards, Shatta became a brand ambassador for Guinness Ghana Breweries, Rush Energy Drink, Kasapreko Storm Energy Drink, Boss Baker Beef Roll, and Infinix Ghana, a smartphone company.
Unlike other artists, Shatta Wale had a rough beginning that forced him to the streets. Because of that his music not only resonates with every street hustler but is most loved and accepted by the streets. And he never ceases to stretch his generosity to the streets whenever he can. His foundation whose sole aim is to help the youth through social-economic interventions is a shred of evidence.
“The primary aim for me and my team is to always put smiles on people’s faces through entertainment and financial support #ShattaFoundation” The artist Tweeted.
This post was supported by the majority of his fans. Some of the comments were. ” This be why he is a king.” Wale hopes that his Foundation contributes to building a better society, as well as creating a great future for everyone.
6. Kidi
Dennis Nana Dwamena best known as Kidi is number 6 on our list of best musicians in Ghana. Kidi is a famous Ghanaian singer, songwriter, and producer whose unique blend of highlife and Afrobeats couldn’t help but sway his fans all over the world off their feet.
He was born on August 18, 1993, in Accra, Ghana.
He had his basic education at St Anthony and proceeded to Accra Academy where he obtained his senior high school certificate. In 2016 he graduated from the University of Ghana with a degree in economics and information studies.
While at the University, Kidi who has always had a passion for music performed at Moonlight Café – a music production that supports underground musicians and gives them a platform to display their talents on University Campuses in Ghana. That wasn’t all, he also made it a point to record covers of any popular songs he lay his hands on.
In 2015, he gave a shot at the popular MTN hitmaker competition and fortunately won. Lynx Entertainment quickly signed him on for grooming and he dropped his first hit, ‘Say you love me’ which shot him straight into the limelight. He went on to establish himself as one of the fast-rising artists with yet another banger titled ‘Odo’ in July 2017 featuring Nigerian international artists Davido and Mayorkun.
He didn’t stop there. In 2019, Kidi released ‘Sugar’ his debut album which featured 13 tracks like Adiepena, Thunder, and sugar daddy which broke the internet and earned him the popular nickname, ‘Sugar Zaddy, Gyal dem Sugar’ and others. He also released a movie the same year with the album name, ‘Sugar’ in Kumasi, Accra, and the UK. This was followed by ‘Blue’ his first Ep in 2020, containing five songs including ‘Say Cheese’ a banger.
In 2021, Kidi dropped yet another album titled ‘Golden Boy’. The album featured 14 songs including popular songs like ‘Touch It’, ‘Spiritual and Mon Bebe’. His track ‘Touch It’ didn’t only come out as a global hit but called for a remix with famous American rapper Tyga and has since received massive streams across the world.
4play, his second Ep got released in 2022 and contained four tracks with ‘Champagne’ standing out. Kidi has not only proven his dedication and consistency with his back-to-back albums and singles every year since his fame but has also written songs for popular award-winning musicians like Mzvee and Adina and had a chance to collaborate with prominent artists like Tic tac, Ko-Jo Cue, Magnom and Kwesi Arthur.
In 2018, Kidi got six nominations and went on to win the award for High-life Song of the Year and got crowned as the Artiste of the 5th Edition of the 3Music award and VGMA 2022.
Aside from being a musician, Kidi has also endeavored in philanthropic work by partnering with the Ghana government to launch the ‘Free SHS’ campaign which aims to provide free senior high school education to every Ghanaian child. Kidi’s efforts in the Ghanaian music industry have not only made him a lovable figure but he continues to also be a positive influence on his fans and the nation at large.
Recently, it has been rumored that Kidi has suffered a stroke, leaving the majority of his fans dejected but his management was quick to dispel the News. To prove to his fans that he was okay, Kidi dropped a new hit, ‘I Lied’ this year 2023 a coincidental irony to what we had been made to believe concerning his health.
7. Kwesi Arthur
Kwesi Arthur, popularly known as Emmanuel Kwesi Danso Arthur is an independent award-winning Ghanaian rapper and songwriter born in Tema.
After his high school education, Kwesi Arthur’s plan to study law and psychology at the University ended abruptly due to a financial crisis. He started working as a security guard but had to quit to pursue his music career. He found a local recording studio and strikes a deal with the owner. In return for free recording and widening his scope in music, he had to do menial jobs like cleaning the place and running errands.
In 2016, he saw a tiny light at the end of the tunnel. Kwesi Arthur met management from Ground up Chale, a social media movement for upcoming musicians. After a year, he dropped his first hit single, ‘Grind Day’ at their studio.
The song did so well that he featured Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie and Medikal in the remix. He has also collaborated with a handful of popular Ghanaian musicians like Kidi, Shata Wale, Stonebwoy and not forgetting South African rapper Nasty C.
In 2020, his song ‘Live from 233’ emerged as one of the most streamed African songs on Apple Music and was even nominated for Best International Act at the 2018 BET Awards, making him the second Ghanaian rapper to be nominated for BET Hip Hop Awards after Sarkodie’s nomination in 2019.
Kwesi Arthur has dropped four EPs and one studio album. In 2019, his second EP ‘Live from Nkrumah Krom Vol II’ amassed more than 2 million streams in the first week of its release.
In addition to his music career, Kwesi Arthur is also known for his philanthropic activities. Using his platform, he raised awareness about social issues affecting Ghana’s youth, such as unemployment and poverty.
In 2020, he launched the “Day With Kwesi Arthur” initiative to provide mentorship and support to young people in Ghana interested in pursuing music careers. The initiative was embraced and has since helped in inspiring amateur musicians in Ghana.
8. Kuami Eugene
Ghanaian rockstar, Kuami Eugene is a contemporary highlife and Afrobeats singer and songwriter whose passion for music started from the church while learning the drum and keyboard alongside. He grew up in Fadama, a suburb of Accra, and had his tertiary education at Ghana Telecom University.
Just like Kidi, he also took a leap of faith and joined the MTN hitmaker competition and won first runner-up in 2016. Shortly after, he got signed into the same record label, Lynx Entertainment as Kidi.
And in 2017, Kuami Eugene dropped his breakthrough single ‘Angela’. The song hit a million views on YouTube and became part of the top trending songs in Ghana. That was not all, he kept dropping hit after hit like, ‘confusion’, ‘Wish me well’, and others.
He has since released 2 albums and one Ep. His international recognition paved the way for him to perform at Oh My Festival in Amsterdam, the Afrobeats to the World concert at the PlayStation Theatre in New York, and Afronation in Ghana. He also performed at the 2022 Afrochella right after releasing ‘Take Away’ his single.
His hard work and dedication didn’t go unnoticed. Kuami Eugene has received several awards including the New Artist in 2018 from the Ghana Music Awards and the Ghana Music Awards UK. He also received the Most Promising Artist in Africa award from AFRIMA.
Among his awards, Kuami Eugene consecutively won the highlife artist of the year award. This caught the attention of Ghanaian’s legendary Highlife artist, Amakye Dede to crown Kuami Eugene his successor in highlife music during the 20th edition of the Vodafone music awards. By so doing, he solidified Kuami Eugene’s position when it comes to highlife music and made him a force to reckon with.
Aside from his musical endeavors, Kuami Eugene has taken it upon himself to donate items to Widows and orphans in his hometown, Akim Oda during every Christmas festivity.
9. Medikal
Samuel Adu Frimpong, popularly known as Medical is a Ghanaian hip-hop artist and songwriter born in Sowutuom, a suburb of Accra. Medikal is one peculiar artist who is known for the use of witty wordplay in his songs.
His passion for rap music ignited at a young age and he grew up rapping about doctors, surgeons, nurses, medical practitioners, the hospital, and generally things that are connected with it. According to sources, he was on a quest to prove to his colleagues that he was a “sick rapper”, and that was why his rap was all about the hospital. ‘Sick’ here in his sense does not mean he’s unwell but just a way of describing the goodness of his rare rap music.
It was later concluded that his rap was indeed ‘sick’ and needs medical attention from his mates and hence the stage name, ‘Medikal’ which was given by his school father back in Junior High. His unique blend of hip-hop drew the attention of Cris Waddle, the CEO of the Arab Money Gang label and in 2010, he was officially signed.
Medikal rose to fame in 2017 after receiving the most nominations together with famous rapper Sarkodie during the Ghana music awards. With inspiration from international singers like Lil Wayne and Sarkodie, Medikal brought together numerous hits songs and has successfully released 5 albums.
“The Plug” one of his albums featured Nigeria’s superstar Davido and several top-notch Ghanaian artists like Joey B, Kofi Mole, and Efya who made significant contributions to the album. Some of his popular songs include Accra, Stubborn Academy, Ayekoo, Too Risky, Omo ada, kpok3k3, and a lot of others.
In 2016, he won Best Discovery Video for Anthem at the MTN 4Syte Music Video Awards.
Best Collaboration at the Ghana Entertainment Awards USA, Best Hiplife/Rap Act at the Ghana Entertainment Awards USA among others.
Currently, he is the owner of the Arab Money Gang (AMG) Record Label and uses it to help those who need exposure and to help in elevating the upcoming musicians in the country.
Medikal is married to Fella Makafui an actress and model with one kid.
10. Gyakie
Last but not least on the list of best musicians in Ghana is Jackline Acheampong, best known as Gyakie Aka Songbird is Ghanaian’s latest budding female RnB and afro-fusion singer born 16 December 1999.
She was raised in Kumasi in the Ashanti region of Ghana and attended T.I. Almadiya senior high school. He proceeded to Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and acquired a degree in international studies. Gyakie happens to be the daughter of Ghanaian highlife legend Ernest ‘Owoahene’ Nana Acheampong, popularly known as Nana Acheampong, one-half of the famous Lumba Brothers. With her father being her main muse, she was also influenced by Ghanaian musician, Omar Sterling of R2bees.
Despite growing up around music and loving it, Gyakie’s dream was to become a career woman working at an international office. But it got to a point music kept calling and pushing her to the studio. She gave in and poured out all that was in her head into the microphone and that was how it all began.
The songstress made the first impression with ‘love is pretty’ her first single and blew the world away with it in 2019. The song paved the way for another single, ‘Never Like This’in 2020. She also released a five Ep track titled ‘Seed’ that same year.
‘Forever’ one of the songs on the Ep was her ticket to fame, leading charts in the whole of Africa. It topped music charts such as Billboard’s Top Triller Global and Shazam Top 200 charts. She went ahead to smash it with a remix with Omah Lay, a Nigeria top-notch singer in 2021. In that same month, she emerged Woman of the Year at the 2021 3Music Women’s Brunch for the 3Music Awards.
She has since gone on a solid run, working with gurus like E.L., Bisa Kdei, and Sarkodie. In the space of a year, Gyakie amassed over 1M organic streams with just 5 singles, a feature and cover song on Audiomack, as well as hundreds of thousands more on Spotify and Apple Music. She released her second EP titled ”MY DIARY” in July 2022, The EP featured Nigerian multi-award-winning artist Davido.
Still counting her achievements, Gyakie was once a guest on BBC’s ”Focus On Africa”, featured on Red Bull South Africa and Nigeria’s One Tribe magazine made it on Kuulpeeps’ ”2020 EMERGERS” list, and earned a nomination in the 2020 VGMA ”Unsung Artist”. In June 2022, Gyakie got featured in Grammys Herbal Tea and white sofas interview, a new series where artists reveal their backstage must-haves.
Gyakie is officially under the management of FlipTheMusic but has also signed an international record deal with Sony Music Entertainment, RCA Records UK, and Sony Music Africa.
In 2022, she emerged Woman of the Year yet again during the 3Music Women’s brunch. She also won International Collaboration of the Year Forever – RMX ft Omah Lay and The Headie Awards Best West African Artiste of the Year.
In 2023, Gyakie collaborated with a Ghanaian-born UK-based artiste, Jbee on the song Scar. With the song already making waves on TikTok and its massive response in the first week of its release, it is expected to be one of the most popular songs to come out of the country this year.
The night is still young and Gyakie is promising. Thus, the world can’t wait for what the young artist has in store and for her to get past the sky and solidify her position in the music industry.
