Culture
Tyla Tops Billboard’s U.S. Afrobeats Artists of the Year, Outpacing Wizkid, Davido and Burna Boy
South African breakout star Tyla has been crowned Billboard’s U.S. Afrobeats Artist of the Year, topping a competitive field dominated for years by West African heavyweights.
The 2025 year-end chart places her ahead of Wizkid, Davido, Burna Boy, and Rema—a major milestone for both Tyla and the growing influence of Southern Africa on the global Afrobeats landscape.
Billboard’s U.S. Afrobeats Songs Artists ranking pulls from streaming, sales, and radio performance across the American market, making Tyla’s rise especially significant. Her chart dominance reflects a year in which her sound—rooted in Afropop, Amapiano, and global R&B—has cut across borders and reshaped expectations of what “Afrobeats” can encompass.
Wizkid, Rema, Davido, and Burna Boy followed in positions 2 through 5, underscoring Nigeria’s continued grip on the genre internationally, even as new voices shift the centre of gravity.
The list also features notable representation from Ghana and the diaspora. Moliy, the American-Ghanaian singer known for her ethereal blend of Afro-fusion and alté, landed within the top ten, reinforcing the global reach of Ghanaian-influenced soundscapes.
Nigeria’s Asake, Shallipopi, Seyi Vibez, and BNXN rounded out the top ten, highlighting the strong pipeline of new-age artists who’ve dominated playlists and festival circuits over the past year.
Further down the ranking, names including Fola, Tems, Olamide, Ayra Starr, Omah Lay, Kizz Daniel, Zinoleesky, and T.I Blaze reflect a diverse mix of established stars and rising voices shaping the genre’s next wave.
The final stretch of the chart features British-Nigerian talents Odeal, Young John, Odumodublvck, Kunmie, and Ayo Maff, showcasing how Afrobeats continues to evolve as a transnational movement driven by creators across continents.
For Tyla, whose breakout success has made her one of Africa’s most recognisable young stars, the Billboard honour crowns a year of global momentum—and signals a new, more expansive phase of Afrobeats’ worldwide evolution.
Festivals & Events
Rooftop Market — The Studio Edition Brings Accra’s Young Creative Scene to Life
As the afternoon sun softens over Accra on June 28, a rooftop in the city will transform into something more than a market.
Music will spill through the air, artists will paint live before a crowd, young entrepreneurs will showcase their work, and strangers will leave as collaborators.
Rooftop Market — The Studio Edition is shaping up to be one of the city’s most vibrant creative gatherings this season.
Hosted at Glaze Art Studio in Accra, the one-day event reflects a growing cultural movement in Ghana where art, fashion, music, and entrepreneurship are no longer separated into different corners.

Instead, they exist together in the same energetic space, driven largely by young creatives redefining what modern Ghanaian culture looks and feels like.
In recent years, Accra has earned international attention for its creative scene. From fashion pop-ups and art exhibitions to music festivals and photography collectives, the city has become a hub for emerging African talent.
Rooftop Market taps directly into that spirit by creating a relaxed but stylish environment where local brands and artists can connect with audiences face-to-face.
Visitors can expect far more than shopping stalls. Live DJs will keep the atmosphere lively throughout the evening while guests move between curated fashion, beauty, lifestyle, and service-based brands.
One of the biggest attractions is the Sip & Paint experience, where attendees can join guided canvas painting sessions while enjoying music and conversation in an open studio setting.
The event also offers something many modern city dwellers quietly crave: genuine connection. Young entrepreneurs network with photographers and designers. Artists meet future clients.

Visitors discover handmade products and creative services they may never encounter in traditional retail spaces.
For tourists visiting Ghana, the experience offers a close look at Accra’s youthful cultural pulse beyond the beaches and historic landmarks. For locals, it is a reminder that creativity continues to shape the city in exciting ways.
With limited capacity and free RSVP access, Rooftop Market — The Studio Edition promises an evening where art, music, and community meet above the city skyline.
Festivals & Events
Karaoke, Dominoes and Connection: A Night Out That Captures Modern Accra
On a warm Friday evening in Accra, the sound of karaoke vocals, domino tiles snapping against wooden tables, and laughter drifting across a crowded restaurant will signal the start of something more meaningful than just a night out.
“Social Meet Up: Party & Game Night,” organised by SV GH in collaboration with The Goodcute Restaurant & Bar, is bringing together a mix of entrepreneurs, couples, creatives, and young professionals for an evening built around connection.
Set for May 29 at Towneast Centre, the event reflects a growing social culture in Ghana where nightlife is becoming less about exclusivity and more about community.
In cities like Accra, social gatherings have evolved into spaces where networking, friendship, business conversations, and entertainment comfortably exist side by side.
That blend is central to the appeal of the event. Guests can move from a competitive round of cards or dominoes to karaoke performances and casual conversations over drinks.
https://ghananewsglobal.com/business-culture-and-connection-collide-at-the-signet-hour-conference-2026/ing it especially attractive for people attending alone or visiting Ghana for the first time.
Game nights themselves hold a familiar place in Ghanaian social life. Across homes, bars, and roadside hangout spots, games like cards, draughts, and dominoes often become unofficial community rituals where storytelling, humour, and debate naturally unfold. This event modernises that spirit for a younger urban crowd while keeping the same sense of togetherness alive.
For tourists, the gathering offers something travel guides rarely capture — the rhythm of everyday social life in Accra.
Beyond beaches and landmarks, Ghana’s personality often reveals itself in shared tables, playful competition, spontaneous music, and conversations with strangers who quickly stop feeling like strangers.
Food and drinks will be available throughout the evening, adding another layer to the experience.
Ghanaian nightlife thrives on atmosphere, and venues like The Goodcute Restaurant & Bar increasingly serve as cultural meeting points where music, food, business, and friendship intersect.
With an entry fee of GHS100, including a complimentary drink, the night promises more than entertainment.
It offers visitors and locals alike a chance to experience Accra the way many residents know it best — social, energetic, and deeply communal.
Arts and GH Heritage
Why Ghanaians Still Pour Drinks for the Dead And Why the Tradition Never Disappeared
Before the first sip is taken at many Ghanaian gatherings, a small portion of the drink belongs to someone unseen.
A splash of schnapps hits the earth. A few quiet words follow. Heads bow slightly. Then the living continue.
Across Ghana, libation remains one of the most enduring acts of cultural memory — a ritual that turns ordinary moments into conversations between generations.
Whether at naming ceremonies in Accra, funerals in Kumasi, or family gatherings in northern compounds, the act carries the same message: the dead are not absent; they are listening.
For outsiders, the ritual can seem mystical or symbolic. For many Ghanaians, it is deeply practical. Ancestors are viewed not as distant spirits locked away from daily life, but as guardians with continued responsibility to the family and community.
Pouring drink onto the ground is both an invitation and an acknowledgement. It says: we remember you, walk with us, witness this moment.
What makes the tradition especially fascinating is how it echoes far beyond the continent. In African-American communities, the phrase “pour one out for a homie” survives as an almost instinctive gesture of remembrance.
Though shaped by different histories, the emotional logic feels strikingly familiar. A drink touches the ground, and suddenly grief becomes communal rather than private.
That cultural continuity matters. It reveals how African spiritual practices travelled, adapted, and survived even after displacement and centuries of interruption.
In Ghana, libation still carries ceremonial authority, often performed by elders who recite family lineages and invoke ancestral names with precision and reverence.
At a time when modern life often pushes mourning into silence, libation offers something different: remembrance spoken aloud. It insists that memory deserves ritual, and that the bond between the living and the departed should never be reduced to silence.
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