Ghana Highlife & Drill (Asakaa) Type Beats

Ghana's music scene in 2026 runs on two connected currents, and Black Sherif sits at the exact intersection of both. Born Mohammed Ismail Sherif in Konongo on January 9, 2002, he first went viral with "First Sermon" and "Second Sermon" in 2021, and the Burna Boy cosign on the "Second Sermon Remix" turned a local breakout into a continental one. By 2026 he had become the youngest artist in Telecel Ghana Music Awards history to win 13 awards before turning 25, sweeping that year's ceremony with Artiste of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Album of the Year for "Iron Boy," Best Hip Hop Song for "Where Dem Boyz," and Best Afropop Song for "Sacrifice." He blends drill, highlife, and Afrobeats with enough emotional weight to sell out the Zaama Disco Concert at UG Sports Stadium.

The highlife revival

Highlife's guitar-driven, storytelling tradition never left Ghana, but 2025 and 2026 saw a genuine resurgence of younger artists engaging with it directly rather than treating it as a legacy genre. King Paluta's "Ewor Me," a December 2025 collaboration with highlife icon Kwabena Kwabena, is the clearest example: a viral street hitmaker consciously reaching back to highlife's elder generation and having it become one of his biggest records. King Paluta's 2025 was defined by hit after hit, "Foko" went viral on TikTok and became a household name, and by year's end he'd surpassed 33.5 million YouTube streams and ranked as the fourth most-streamed Ghanaian artist on Audiomack. The late Daddy Lumba, honoured posthumously with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 TGMAs, and current Highlife Artiste of the Year Kofi Kinaata, represent the genre's continued institutional weight.

Asakaa: Ghanaian drill

Asakaa took Kumasi street culture and Kumerica slang and turned it into one of Ghana's most-exported sounds. Jay Bahd, O'Kenneth, and the wider Asakaa Boys collective built the genre's foundation, with acts like Beeztrap KOTM and Okese1 carrying it forward, Okese1 in particular has been shifting from aggressive street drill toward more melodic, globally accessible material.

What each lane needs

• Highlife revival: live-feeling guitar lines, warm horns or keys, mid-tempo grooves that leave room for storytelling vocals
• Asakaa / Ghana Drill: UK/Chicago drill drum programming adapted for Ghanaian slang cadence, dark minor-key melodies, sliding 808s

FAQ

What's the difference between Asakaa and general Ghanaian drill? Asakaa specifically refers to the Kumasi-originated scene and its Kumerica aesthetic; "Ghana Drill" is sometimes used more broadly, but the two terms describe essentially the same movement.

Is Azonto still worth chasing for new releases? Azonto's 2011-13 dance-craze moment has largely passed into nostalgia territory, current compilations are literally marketed as "Azonto Reloaded." For a 2026 release, Highlife and Asakaa are where the commercial energy actually is.

Get your beat

Browse Mbeatz's Ghana catalogue at mbeatz.org/beats. Pay with M-Pesa, Airtel Money, Apple Pay, or card, and download instantly.