There are many styles of traditional and modern music of Ghana, due to Ghana's worldwide geographic position on the African continent.
Yaa Naa Yakubu Andani II (1945–2002) was the King of Dagbon, the traditional kingdom of the Dagomba people in northern Ghana, from 31 May 1974 until his assassination on 27 March 2002. He was born in August 1945 in Sagnarigu, a suburb of Tamale in the Northern Region of Ghana. Yakubu II was killed on 27 March 2002 at Yendi, the capital of the Kingdom of Dagbon, by unknown people when clashes broke out between the two feuding Gates of Dagbon Kingship. For 600 years the Abudu and Andani clans, named after two sons of the ancient Dagbon king Ya Naa Yakubu I, cordially rotated control of the kingdom centred in Yendi, 530 kilometres (330 mi) north of Accra, the capital of Ghana. A regent acted as sovereign of the kingdom until 18 January 2019 when a new ruler is chosen to occupy the revered Lion Skins of Yendi.
The Dagombas or Dagbamba are an ethnic group of Ghana, and Togo. They number more than 3.1 million people. The term Dagbamba is originally extended to refer to other related peoples who were unified by Naa Gbewaa including the Mamprusi and Nanumba. The Dagomba country is called Dagbon and they speak Dagbanli language. Dagbanli is the most spoken language of northern Ghana and second most widely spoken local language of Ghana. Dagbanli belongs to the Mabia (Mole-Dagbani) subgroup of the Gur languages, a large group of related languages in West Africa. The Dagomba practises both patrilineal and matrilineal systems of inheritance.
Hiplife is a Ghanaian musical style that fuses Ghanaian culture and hip hop. Recorded predominantly in the Ghanaian Akan language, hiplife is rapidly gaining popularity in the 2010s throughout West Africa and abroad, especially in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and Germany.
Reggie Rockstone is a Ghanaian rapper. He was born in the United Kingdom but lived his early years in Kumasi and Accra. He has been living in Ghana continuously since he pioneered the Hip-Life movement in 1994. He is married to Dr. Zilla Limann, Daughter of Hilla Limann, the only president of the third Republic of Ghana. They have three kids together and have been married since 2001.
Yaw Osafo-Maafo is a Ghanaian politician who was appointed in April as the senior presidential advisor to the Akufo-Addo Administration 2021. He was Senior Minister of the Republic of Ghana in the Akufo-Addo Administration from 2017 to 2021. He was Member of Parliament for Akim Oda from 1997 to 2009, and previously served as Finance Minister and in other cabinet roles in the Kufuor Administration between 2001 and 2009.
Naa Gbewaa is the founder of the Kingdom of Dagbon, in what is now northern Ghana. His sons and daughters are credited with founding several states, including the Mossi kingdoms of Burkina Faso. He established a stable and prosperous kingdom. Naa Gbewaa's shrine is located at Pusiga, 90 km east of Bolgatanga. His descendants continue to pay respects at the shrine.
The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 34 million people as of 2024, making up 85 per cent of the population. The word "Ghana" means "warrior king". An estimated diaspora population of 4 million people worldwide are of Ghanaian descent. The term ethnic Ghanaian may also be used in some contexts to refer to a group of related ethnic groups native to the Gold Coast.
Dagbani music and dance is a core tradition of the Dagbamba of West Africa. The Dagbamba speak the Dagbanli language. They are the dominant ethnic group in the kingdom of Dagbon found in the Northern Region of Ghana. Music and dance plays a central role in Dagbon. It is through these arts that the Dagbamba have preserved their history over the centuries. The Dagbamba regard dancing as a form of emotional expression, social interaction, a spiritual performance or even physical exercise that aids them articulate or illustrate ideas or tell a story. In most cases, music in Dagbon is accompanied by dancing in order to form a complete story.
The Kingdom of Dagbon (Dagbaŋ) is the oldest and one of the most organised traditional kingdoms in Ghana founded by the Dagomba people (Dagbamba) in the 15th century. During its rise, it comprised, at various points, the Northern, Upper West, Upper East, Savannah Region and North East regions of present-day Ghana. It also covered portions of Burkina Faso, North East Ivory Coast and North West Togo. Since Ghana's independence in 1957, the Kingdom just like all of Ghana's kingdoms and ethnic states has assumed a traditional, customary role.
R2Bees is a Ghanaian hip hop and hiplife duo from Tema, comprising two cousins, Faisal Hakeem and Rashid Mugeez. They were nominated for the 2013 BET Awards. In March 2019, the duo released their third studio album, Site 15.
Kwadwo Nkansah, professionally known as Lil Win, is a Ghanaian artist, musician, actor, and comedian. He is the founder and director of Great Minds International School in Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
Mujahid Ahmed Bello known by his stage name Fancy Gadam, is a Ghanaian afropop, dancehall and reggae musician. In 2017 he won Ghana Music Awards for Best New Artist and in 2020 was named BestAfrobeat Entertainer at the International Reggae and World Music Awards.
Sherif Abdul Majeed, known by his stage name Maccasio, is a Ghanaian Hip hop, Hiplife, and Afropop recording Artist and Entrepreneur. He is from the Kingdom of Dagbon, in the Northern Region of Ghana. Maccasio raps and sings in his native language Dagbani with the ability to mix it with terms in English and Twi. He has performed on stages with artists such as Davido, Shatta Wale, Samini, Stonebwoy, Medikal and VVIP.
Kwame Owusu-Ansah or Kwame Owusu Ansah was a Ghanaian radio broadcaster, actor, poet, Public Relations Consultant and teacher turned actor who graced the scene of the Ghanaian movie industry through various collaboration with Nigerians and major features in Ghanaian movie.
Michael Elliot Kwabena Okyere Darko popularly known as Obrafour, other names include Rap Executioner and Rap Sofo is a Ghanaian hiplife musician and rapper. Obrafour has a unique style of Twi rapping and storytelling. His popular and hit debut album "Pae mu ka", for which he won 3 awards during the 2000 edition of Ghana Music Awards is arguably one of the best selling albums in Ghana. In May 2019, Obrafour celebrated the 20th anniversary of the "Pae mu ka" album. He is revered as one of the Most Iconic figures in the Ghana Music Industry.
Marian Asantewah Nkansah is a Ghanaian environmental chemist. Her research work focuses on finding solutions to environmental problems associated with levels and fate of toxic substances such as heavy/trace metals, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in food, water, soil, rocks, sediments and other environmental samples. She also researches on the interaction of these pollutants with each other in the environment. In 2016, together with some scientists from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, she led a research which led to the confirmation that edible white clay poses potential cancer risk. In 2016, she became the first scientist to win the Fayzah M. Al-Kharafi Prize, an annual award that recognises exceptional women scientists from scientifically and technologically lagging countries. She and Collins Obuah, another scientist from the University of Ghana, were the two scientist selected to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate meeting in 2017. In 2021, she was among five women recipients in developing countries of the OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards. She received the 2022 Africa Role Model Overall Female Personality Award, and was inducted as a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences the same year.
Dobble was a Ghanaian hiplife and highlife duo based in Accra, Ghana. The group is composed of Paa Kwasi, and EnnWai. They won most popular song of the year with their hit song titled "Christy" at the 2017 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards.
Victoria Lebene Osafo-Nkansah, also known as Victoria Lebene, is a Ghanaian actress, journalist and entrepreneur.
