Who is K.O.G?

Between the hum of Ghana’s markets and the hymns of Sunday mornings, K.O.G. — Kweku Sackey, known to many as Kweku of Ghana — found music long before he ever chose it.

 

His world was alive with sound: the clatter of metal in the markets, the voices of hawkers, the soulful pulse of church choirs, and the rich textures of his father’s record collection. His grandmother, a fierce market leader with no formal education but infinite wisdom, and his father, a marine engineer and physicist who travelled the world, became twin anchors of spirit and intellect. Between them, they nurtured a love of rhythm, resistance, and story.

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Those early years carved out an artist who would come to embody the union of tradition and invention. From his father’s LPs — George Clinton, Bob Marley, Daughters of Glorious Jesus, Michael Jackson, Prince, and George Jarrah — to his mother’s church, Hope Assemblies of God, where faith and music intertwined, K.O.G. began to see sound as something sacred: a bridge between people, worlds, and eras. Even during his school days at Mfantsipim, performance was less a skill and more a second nature — something instinctive, intuitive, and alive.

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That same instinct shapes his work today. A singer, rapper, percussionist, and songwriter, K.O.G. has built a sound that transcends geography: a euphoric Afro-fusion of traditional Ghanaian rhythms, funk, reggae, hip-hop, and electronic energy. Through his electrifying performances, he channels both the spiritual fervor of his roots and the boundless curiosity of the modern traveler. He has become the godfather and pioneer of Afro-fusion.

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As currently the frontman of K.O.G. & previously the frontman of The Zongo Brigade and one half of the Afrofuturist duo Onipa (with producer Tom Excell), K.O.G. has become a powerful ambassador of African creativity and culture. His music — layered, celebratory, and fiercely rhythmic — has carried him across more than 15 countries, lighting up stages from Glastonbury’s West Holts Stage and Shambala to Fusion Festival (Germany) and Sauti Za Busara (Zanzibar).

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He has collaborated with global icons such as Damon Albarn’s Africa Express, Tony Allen, Nitin Sawhney, Pat Thomas, and Guts, and appeared with Nubiyan Twist on BBC’s Later… with Jools Holland, performing the acclaimed single “If I Know,” which went on to be A-playlisted twice on BBC Radio 6 Music.

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K.O.G.’s debut album with the Zongo Brigade, Wahala Wahala (2019), cemented his reputation for crafting joyous, politically charged, and rhythmically explosive music. His collaborative projects with Onipa and his solo record Zone 6, Agege (2022) expanded his storytelling — threading together the local and the cosmic, the ancestral and the futuristic.

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Beyond the stage, K.O.G. is a storyteller in the truest sense. His collaborations with the University of Sheffield explore traditional African oral traditions through live performance, film, and discussion — tackling themes of colonialism, identity, and masculinity with both depth and warmth.

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From singing in church choirs to performing before Nelson Mandela’s family in Melbourne, his journey continues to honour the same truth that began it: that music is not just sound, but spirit — a language of joy, memory, and connection.