Ghanaian hip-hop artist Lyrical Joe has admitted he felt let down after failing to clinch the Best Rap Performance trophy at the 26th Telecel Ghana Music Awards.
Chatting with DJ Slim and Doreen Avio on Daybreak Hitz, the rapper said the loss stung because of the heavy workload behind his ten-minute epic “5th August 8.”
“Yeah, I was disappointed this year,” he confessed. “Last year’s 5th August’ caused me a lot of stress and a lot of work went into it. Slim, you know it’s not easy to shoot a 10-minute hip-hop video and keep it top-notch.”
Lyrical Joe added that he and his followers always push hard whenever he is shortlisted for the coveted rap category.
“As for me, anytime I’m nominated I do it—campaign for it. Even my fans alone, they would not let people sleep online. They want us to have the best rap performance and everything,” he explained.
Still, he chose not to air grievances publicly after the results were announced, arguing that any protest could be misread.
“There’s no clean way to complain—you just leave it alone,” he said, noting that public criticism can come off as disrespect toward the eventual winner.
This year’s Best Rap Performance award went to Kwaku Smoke for his track “Holy Ghost.” Other contenders included Eno Barony’s “Manual,” Okyeame Kwame’s “No Competition,” Sarkodie’s “Brag,” and Flowking Stone’s “King Is Back.”
Lyrical Joe previously captured the category in 2022 with “5th August 5,” making this year’s outcome especially disappointing for the rapper and his fan base.
