Kweku Smoke

Born in Ghana as Paul Amankwah, Kweku Smoke operates between Accra and the Ghanaian hip-hop scene with a rap style that blends hip-hop, hiplife and trap. His writing is rooted in everyday life, hustling and street realities. Active since 2018, he initially released freestyles under the name YRS before gaining wider visibility in 2019 with the track “Yedin” alongside Sarkodie, which introduced him to a broader audience. His style relies on direct flows, restrained hooks and frequent use of Twi, English and Pidgin, with production that alternates between trap rhythms, dark textures and touches of contemporary Ghanaian rap. Across his releases, Kweku Smoke has built a substantial discography with the EPs We Rage and Big Shmoke in 2022, followed by Old Compound in 2023, and the projects He’s Just Different and Playman later that year. In 2024 he released Kweku Jesus and then Born in Hell, a more introspective project focused on personal experience, obstacles overcome and the idea of progression. Kweku Smoke is part of a generation of Ghanaian rappers circulating local forms of rap between street register, hiplife melodies and contemporary urban language.