Thirteen of Twenty
Kweku Smoke's 'No Days Off' still holds most of Apple Music's Ghana chart weeks after release, as Accra collects a global nightlife ranking and GHAMRO reports its latest payout.
Thirteen of the twenty places on Apple Music's Top 20 Ghana chart belong to one rapper. That was the count in the update Pulse Ghana published on 26 October 2026, as GhanaSongs.com reported, almost two months after Kweku Smoke released 'No Days Off' on Friday, 4 September.
The top of that list is his. 'Faith', his song with Lasmid, held number one for another week, with 'Bra' and 'Bombele' at two and three. Only one song broke his hold on the top five: Kofi Mole's 'BALOTELLI (SUPA)', at number four.
Accra has been named one of the world's best cities for a night out. The Ghanaian story under that headline is a home-grown album that will not leave the chart, and a plainer question beside it: how much of a run like this reaches the people who make the music.
The run started fast. According to 3Music TV, cited by GhanaSongs.com, the album went straight to number one on Apple Music in Ghana when it was released. The guest list is short. The only features are Lasmid, Kwesi Arthur and Real Dikoo. GhanaSongs.com describes the album's themes as hustle, survival and gratitude. In a season of 'coming soon' posts, an album that simply came out on a Friday and stayed is its own kind of rollout.
Kweku Smoke, from Berekum, rose to wider attention with 'Yedin' featuring Sarkodie, GhanaSongs.com notes. Black Sherif released his Sun Sherif EP on the same day, 4 September, and by the latest update his 'Jolie' was at number 18. A big Ghanaian album usually leads the chart for a week or two, the site says. The rest of the chart, it adds, shows how strong Nigerian music remains in Ghana, with Asake holding three places.
The city ranking came from Time Out, which placed Accra 18th among the world's cities for nightlife in 2026, MyJoyOnline reported. Bangkok led the list. Accra and Johannesburg were the only two African cities in the top 20. The ranking drew on responses from more than 24,000 locals, alongside assessments by Time Out's city editors, culture experts and nightlife specialists.
In that survey, 62 per cent of Accra residents rated going out as affordable, and 75 per cent said it was easy to find a sense of community. Time Out named Osu as one of the city's major entertainment hubs and East Legon as an emerging destination. MyJoyOnline reports that the after-dark culture reaches beyond mainstream Afrobeats into electronic music, alté and R&B. Ask the 62 per cent again in December.
The money sits in a different set of figures. GHAMRO, the Ghana Music Rights Organisation, began its first royalty distribution of 2026 on 27 July. The total distributable amount was GH¢1,433,571.43, and the single highest recipient was set to receive GH¢121,000, YEN reported. Of that total, Pulse Ghana reported, GH¢706,149.55 was digital mechanical royalties, largely generated in the third and fourth quarters of 2025. For the first time, Citi Newsroom reported, every beneficiary receives a personalised statement showing which quarters generated their earnings.
GHAMRO says it recorded its highest-ever digital collections and its largest international royalty income since it was established in 2011. It also says unresolved licensing issues limit what it can collect inside Ghana, and that businesses and broadcasters using music without licences reduce the money available to creators. A Citi Newsroom commentary goes further and calls the unresolved operating licence GHAMRO's biggest hurdle.
None of these reports links a chart run to a payout. None says when streams from September and October would appear on a statement, or what thirteen places on a chart would be worth when they do. For now the clearest number is on the chart.
Thirteen of twenty.
“An album that simply came out on a Friday and stayed is its own kind of rollout.”
- GhanaSongs.com: Kweku Smoke takes 13 spots on Apple Music Ghana Top 20
- MyJoyOnline: Accra ranks among world's top 20 cities for nightlife in 2026
- Pulse Ghana: GHAMRO to distribute over GH¢1.4 million in royalties
- Citi Newsroom: GHAMRO to distribute over GH¢1.4m in royalties
- YEN: GHAMRO begins 2026 royalty distribution on July 27
