Sarkodie

Sarkodie is the richest Ghanaian musician, with an estimated net worth of $8 million (estimated).

Sarkodie is the rapper who convinced the world that Twi could carry a hip-hop verse. Over more than a decade he has grown from a Tema teenager into one of Africa's most decorated rappers, a figure whose sheer output and award haul have made him the benchmark by which Ghanaian rap is measured.

Early life

He was born Michael Owusu Addo on 10 July 1985 in Tema, and spent his early years between Tema and Koforidua. He was drawn to rap as a boy, and by his early twenties had chosen music over a conventional career, a gamble that paid off when he broke into the mainstream around 2008.

Music career

His debut album Makye arrived in 2009 and announced a rapper of unusual speed and control. He followed it with a run of records that defined an era of Ghanaian rap: Rapperholic in 2012, Sarkology in 2014, Highest in 2017 and Black Love in 2019, each one cementing his status as the genre's leading figure. He built much of his catalogue rapping in Twi, proving a local language could travel.

Awards and recognition

Few African artists can match his trophy cabinet. He has won dozens of Ghana Music Awards and collected honours abroad, taking Best International Act: Africa at the BET Awards in 2012, the first Ghanaian to do so, and Best International Flow Artist at the BET Hip Hop Awards in 2019. Across his career the nominations run into the hundreds.

Business

He runs his own label, Sarkcess Music, through which he releases his work and mentors younger acts. His brand extends well beyond records into endorsements and business, and he is consistently ranked among the wealthiest musicians in Ghana.

Personal life

Sarkodie married his longtime partner Tracy Owusu Addo in a private ceremony in 2018. The couple have two children, a daughter, Adalyn, and a son named after the rapper. Known to fans as the Landlord, he remains, more than fifteen years into his career, the standard-setter for a generation of Ghanaian rappers who grew up wanting to rhyme like him.

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