Sway

Sway, the London rapper born in Accra, died on 17 September 2026 at his home in Ghana, aged 44. The MOBO Awards announced his death, recalling the night in 2005 when, still unsigned, he beat 50 Cent and The Game to the best hip hop act prize. No official cause of death was given; he had been diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 2010.

Hornsey to the charts

Derek Andrew Safo was born in Accra on 5 September 1982 and grew up in Hornsey, north London, with his Ghanaian parents, Beatrice and Alhaji. He learned music production at Highgate Wood Secondary School and co-founded Dcypha Productions with DJ Turkish and Jr Appiah, releasing the This Is My Promo tapes in 2004.

Records

His self-released first album, This Is My Demo (February 2006), sold more than 50,000 copies in its first year without much radio play, was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize and gave him a top 40 hit with "Little Derek". A BET Hip Hop Award followed, a first for a British rapper. In 2008 he signed with Akon's Konvict Music and put out The Signature LP, including "Silver & Gold" with Akon. After health problems he returned on 3 Beat Records with "Still Speedin'" (number 19 in 2011) and "Level Up" (number 8 in 2012). He also worked with Ed Sheeran and Mark Ronson, featured on TiC's album Accra Connection, and acted in Top Boy. He released five studio albums in all and had four children.