TGMA 2025: King Promise Will Win Artiste of The Year, Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh Explains Why

• For the fourth time running, King Promise is racing to win the ultimate trophy at the Ghana Music Awards
• This year, unlike the previous, the Paris hitmaker is the leader on the nominations score sheet with ten nods
• Music executive and entertainment analyst, Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh, is certain that the 26th TGMA Artiste of the Year glory on May 10, 2025, won't evade King Promise this year

When CharterHouse announced its list of nominees for the 26th edition of the annual Telecel Ghana Music Awards, King Promise was getting ready for his True To Self album tour in the USA.

The album loaded with top Afrobeats fan favourites, including Paris, Continental, and Favourite Story, earned King Promise ten nominations, one more than his closest competitor in the Aritste of the Year race, Stonebwoy.

Stonebwoy, the reigning Artiste of the Year, is looking to retain the prize, but the competition from King Promise is at an all-time high.

Mr Eazi and Shatta Wale are among several musicians who have already called it for the Paris hitmaker.

In a chat with YEN.com.gh, entertainment analyst and Head of Amin Music, Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh, weighed in on the chances of King Promise finally making the Artiste of the Year kill after four years of no-show.

Check the stats; Numbers don't lie

Last year's road to the Telecel Ghana Music Awards was a bumpy ride, escalating tensions between Stonebwoy, who won the highest prize and Baba Sadiq Abdulai, who believed King Promise fielded a more deserving race.

Sadiq's reason was simple - data. The former 3MusicNetworks CEO established in one of his tweets that,

"In terms of facts, figures and data. King Promise is the GOAT of 2023. Reason no one, absolutely no one, is able to debate this fact except the usual fanatical noise and insults."

This year appears to be no different for King Promise. By the close of 2024, King Promise was the most-streamed artiste on Spotify alone.

In that same year, he unlocked a new milestone as the first male artist from Ghana to surpass 400 million streams across all credits on Spotify.

Global appeal

With the Telecel Ghana Music Awards 2025, the board is considering all efforts and words from January 1 to December 31, 2024.

In the year under review, King Promise has toured almost every continent with his music and represented Ghana.

Europe, America and the UK are no new territories to King Promise. He also secured his first stint in Asia, which took him to Jakarta, Indonesia, Singapore and Bali. He later performed in Japan on September 28, 2024, at the R3/R2 Club Lounge.

"No one comes close when it comes to appeal in Ghana and beyond. Almost everyone in the category had some amount of traction in that year. But weighing everyone on a scale, King Promise has to be a clear favourite," Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh mainatianed.

To win artiste of the year, one must be adjudged by the Academy, Board and the General Public as the artiste with the highest audience appeal and popularity in the year under review.

Shatta Wale backs King Promise

Meanwhile, Shatta Wale has publicly endorsed King Promise for the 2025 Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA) Artiste of the Year title, with King Paluta among the nominees for the accolade.

King Promise, who leads with the highest number of nominations, is considered a strong contender. Last year, he lost to Stonebwoy, whose acclaimed album and performances secured him the award.

YEN.com.gh reported that the TGMA Artiste of the Year category features a competitive lineup, including King Paluta, Stonebwoy, Black Sherif, Joe Mettle, Team Eternity, and Kweku Smoke.

Source: YEN.com.gh