Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the Ghana Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
He won the BET Award for Best International Act within a few years of his debut, and has been one of the two dominant figures in Ghanaian dancehall ever since.
Livingstone Etse Satekla grew up in Ashaiman, a dense working-class town outside Tema, and lost his mother young; he has said the name he records under refers to being as hard as stone because of it.
He took Ghanaian dancehall — a form often dismissed as an imitation of Jamaica — and made it carry Ghanaian language, Ga and Ewe and Twi, and Ghanaian subject matter. Baafira, Into the Future and Putuu are the records most Ghanaians would name. He won the BET Award for Best International Act, Africa, in 2015, and has since worked with Keri Hilson, Sean Paul, Morgan Heritage and Beyoncé's Black Is King project.
His rivalry with Shatta Wale has been the organising feature of Ghanaian popular music for a decade — genuinely bitter at points, including an onstage confrontation at an awards show in 2019 that got both of them briefly banned, and since reconciled.
He runs the Livingstone Foundation, which works on health and education in Ashaiman, and has been an ambassador for the Ghanaian ambulance service. He is among the very few Ghanaian artists whose audience is continental rather than national.
He took Ghanaian dancehall — a form often dismissed as an imitation of Jamaica — and made it carry Ghanaian language, Ga and Ewe and Twi, and Ghanaian subject matter. Baafira, Into the Future and Putuu are the records most Ghanaians would name. He won the BET Award for Best International Act, Africa, in 2015, and has since worked with Keri Hilson, Sean Paul, Morgan Heritage and Beyoncé's Black Is King project.
His rivalry with Shatta Wale has been the organising feature of Ghanaian popular music for a decade — genuinely bitter at points, including an onstage confrontation at an awards show in 2019 that got both of them briefly banned, and since reconciled.
He runs the Livingstone Foundation, which works on health and education in Ashaiman, and has been an ambassador for the Ghanaian ambulance service. He is among the very few Ghanaian artists whose audience is continental rather than national.
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