The coronavirus pandemic has crippled the Ghana music industry but couldn’t cripple talents. Despite the heavy impact of the pandemic on the industry, Ghanaian musicians (both up and coming and mainstream) have proven to the world that nothing can stop greatness.
Musicians from across the country contributed exceedingly to the music industry this year. They entertained and kept hopes alive with songs of all genres.
While some musicians put in their all, others (we expected so much from) lagged.
We have dissected the projects and impacts of all the top Ghanaian music stars (from January 1 to June 30) and concluded that the list of five musicians below outperformed expectations from fans and music lovers across the country.
NB: This list is not ranked.
1. KiDi
The Lynx Entertainment label star has had a majestic year so far. He is a force to reckon with, having released two chart-topping songs, “Touch It” and “Spiritual” featuring label mate Kuami Eugene and Nigerian afro-dancehall star Patoranking.
On top of this, he released a record-breaking album, titled “Gold Boy”, a masterpiece that has earned extensive thumb ups from critics and fans. In addition, he put up mastery performances at the 3Music Awards and the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards 2021.
2. Mr Drew
Currently, the frontman holding down the Highly Spiritual record label, Mr Drew has proven to be a treasure in Ghana music. His hit song “Mood” is on heavy rotation on TikTok and Instagram and nearing a million views on YouTube.
His birthday mini-concert, dubbed 'Mr Drew and Friends,' which saw Medikal, Kuami Eugene, Shatta Wale and other stars in attendance caused a stir on social media. Aside from winning the “Best New Artiste of the Year” at the just ended VGMA, he put up a classic show at 3Music Awards as well as the VGMA.
3. Kuami Eugene
The Lynx Entertainment star is blessed, don’t argue. It takes a genius to create monster hits and make similar impacts on other stars’ songs. His hit song “Dollar On You” (which has 1.8 million YouTube views) has dominated TikTok trends for months.
His presence on Kwame Yogot’s “Biibi Besi”, Okyeame Kwame’s “Yeeko”, Kweku Darlington’s remix for “Sika Aba” and KiDi’s “Spiritual” seals his place as the hottest artiste in Ghana right now. Not to forget, he gave the best performance at the just ended Vodafone Ghana Music Awards. Pulse.com.gh ranked him no.1 on its list of top 10 performances at the VGMA.
4. Gyakie
Even though she was brutally snubbed at this year’s Vodafone Ghana Music Awards, she has established enough evidence to be one of the best female musicians in Ghana at the moment. She kicked off the year on a banging note with the release of the remix of her breakthrough song “Forever” featuring Nigerian star Oma Lay. The official visual has garnered more than 11 million YouTube views in just three months and debuted Billboard’s 'Top Triller Global' chart and ruled for weeks.
Gyakie secured an international record deal with Sony Music Entertainment, RCA Records UK and Sony Music Africa. She also performed at MTV Base’s YouTube African Day music concert alongside South Africa’s Elaine, rapper Focalistic, rap duo Blaq Diamond, Nigerian singer Teni, afrobeats stars Bella Shmurda Omah Lay, Suspect 95 from the Ivory Coast, Kenya’s Bahati and Tanzania’s Zuchu. In addition, she gave Bisa Kdei over a million YouTube views for his song “Sika”.
5. Sarkodie
The SarkCess Music label boss has, on a low-key, been impactful this year. He dropped two fairly hit singles, “No Fugazy” and “Coachella” featuring Kwesi Arthur. Both songs have closed to 2 million YouTube views combined. He managed to create a tremendous buzz around his upcoming album “No Pressure”. The pre-release activations have been solid.
Aside from his guest appearance on the VGMA stage, he dished out a viral freestyle, titled “Let Me See What I Can Do,” that trended on social media for weeks. His controversial verse that blew up the remix of Sista Afia’s 2020 song “Sika” can’t be taken out of the equation.
H/T: Ricky Tenneson (Ricky Rick), Music executive at 3Music, and Eric Agyapong-Mensah (Eric Toscar), Researcher at 3Music and Runner at Afronation Ghana, provided data and helped in the selection and shortlisting of musicians.