King Promise Crowned 2025 Artiste of the Year

Ghanaian Afrobeats star, King Promise, has won his first-ever Artiste of the Year award at the 26th Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA), held on May 10, 2025, at the Grand Arena of the Accra International Conference Centre.

This is King Promise’s second nomination for Artiste of the Year, having missed out in 2024 to Stonebwoy. However, he came back stronger this year with 10 nominations and went home with four awards: Artiste of the Year, Best Afropop Song, Best Afrobeats/Afropop Artiste, and Best Album/EP of the Year.

In his acceptance speech, the “Terminator” hitmaker encouraged young people to stay focused and trust in God’s timing. “If any young person is watching me right now who has a dream, use me as an example of resilience,” he said. “My first year, I had seven nominations and left with zero. Some laughed, but I worked harder. Today, I am the chosen one.”

King Promise dominated 2024 with hit songs like Paris, Continental, Favorite Story, and Too Sexy. These, along with major collaborations, earned him nominations in categories such as Best Afrobeats Song, Best Afropop Song, and two for Best Music Video.

While the night was full of glitz, excitement, and memorable performances, some big names left empty-handed. Sarkodie, despite five nominations, did not win any awards. He had been nominated for Best Rap Performance, Collaboration of the Year, Best Hiplife/HipHop Artiste, Best Hiplife Song, and Best HipHop Song.

Black Sherif, another top contender for Artiste of the Year, also went home with no awards despite six nominations. Kwesi Arthur, Medikal, Kuami Eugene, Mr Drew, Eno Barony, Lyrical Joe, Samini, Okyeame Kwame, Lasmid, and Amerado were also among notable acts who missed out.

Meanwhile, Stonebwoy, King Paluta, and Kweku Smoke each won three awards. King Paluta’s Aseda was named Most Popular Song, while Stonebwoy won Reggae/Dancehall Artiste of the Year for the 10th time. Kweku Smoke surprised fans by winning Best Rap Performance, Best HipHop Song, and Best Hiplife/HipHop Artiste.

Other winners included KiDi, Joe Mettle, Ayisi, Kofi Kinaata, Beeztrap KOTM, OliveTheBoy, and Fameye.