The BET Awards are not the only measure of an artist’s significance. Anyone who has spent time in Ghana’s music conversation knows that. But they are a specific, externally administered benchmark of recognition that has meant something to Ghanaian artists and their audiences since the awards began including African and international categories. When a Ghanaian artist wins, it registers differently at home than an equivalent domestic award does.
Here is the full record: The Ghanaian Artists Who Won BET Awards
Sarkodie — 2012 and 2019
Michael Owusu Addo became the first Ghanaian artist to win a BET Award when he took Best International Act: Africa in 2012. The win mattered enormously in Ghana, where it was treated as external confirmation of what domestic audiences had been saying for years.
Seven years later, he won again. Best International Flow at the 2019 BET Hip Hop Awards is assessed by a hip-hop-specific audience and carries the judgment of a peer group that Sarkodie had spent years trying to reach credibly. He won it. He remains the only Ghanaian artist to have won two separate BET awards across two different ceremonies and two different categories.
Stonebwoy — 2015
Livingstone Etse Satekla won Best International Act: Africa at the 2015 BET Awards. The win came at the peak of his international profile in dancehall and reggae circles.
It was the second time a Ghanaian artist had won the category and it confirmed that Sarkodie’s 2012 win was not a one-off moment of Ghanaian visibility at the awards.
Black Sherif — 2023
Mohammed Ismail Sherif Kweku Frimpong won Best International Flow at the 2023 BET Hip Hop Awards, the same category Sarkodie had won in 2019.
He was 21 years old. The win confirmed what his streaming numbers had been suggesting since “Kweku The Traveller” broke: he was not a one-song artist but someone with the range to hold international attention across multiple projects.
Notable Nominations
Kojo Antwi was the first Ghanaian to receive a BET nomination when he was considered for Best International Act in 2010. That nomination went largely unacknowledged in the global entertainment press but was a historically significant moment for Ghana.
D Black followed with a nomination in 2011. R2Bees were nominated in 2013. Fuse ODG received a nomination in 2015 in the Best International Act: UK category, recognizing his London base rather than his Ghanaian origin. MzVee was nominated in 2016, becoming the first Ghanaian female artist to receive a major BET nomination. Kwesi Arthur received a nomination in 2018. Camidoh was nominated in 2023 for Best New International Act.
No Ghanaian female artist has won a BET Award. MzVee’s 2016 nomination remains the only time a Ghanaian woman has been a genuine contender.
What the Record Shows
Three wins across eleven years from three different artists in three different genre contexts: Afropop, hip-hop, and dancehall. That range matters more than the number. Ghana’s BET Award wins are not concentrated in a single era or a single sound. They reflect a music industry with genuine width.
Eight different artists nominated across thirteen years. No single artist or label dominating. No single year when Ghana swept the African categories. The recognition has come steadily and from different directions, which is a healthier pattern than a burst of attention followed by a long absence.
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