FEATURE: Stonebwoy Further Solidifies his Legacy with The Torcher II

Upon first encounter, the easiest thing to notice about Stonebwoy is that he speaks with the swagger of a mild-tempered evangelist. His subversive philosophies on art, his passion for collective responsibility, and his striking vision for the future of African music are delivered with a conviction free of evangelical theatrics yet just as galvanising. Put simply, the 38-year-old Ghanaian Afro-dancehall superstar can effortlessly get you to believe in what he believes in.

What he’s even better at, though, is distilling those beliefs into compact manifestos, many of which form the heart of his new album series called The Torcher. This series began with The Torcher album, released in September 2025. That album, a daring shift away from his classic reggae sound, integrates elements of Afropop, reggae, dancehall, and amapiano into a project that formally established Stonebwoy’s place as a musical visionary and enabled him to mark out his territory in an industry that often needs reminding.

It’s a hot afternoon in early March when I speak with Stonebwoy. Born Livingstone Etse Satekla and raised in Ashaiman, one of Accra’s commercial hubs, Stonebwoy built a formidable career around dancehall and reggae, genres that are deeply connected to Africa but whose intertwined history between the continent and the Caribbean is often under-discussed. His continued success in and championing of that genre have resulted in a singular career and an artistry specific to him. 

In the year between the release of The Torcher and The Torcher II, Stonebwoy himself underwent many life changes. For one, he got his Master’s Degree in International Relations and Diplomacy. “I have a huge interest in actually understanding the international play and the political arena of our industry and of our states, because I am very keen on that,” he explains. “With the level of representation that I seek to occupy, I know I need to envelop myself in that aspect so that I'm not only limited to creativity and entertainment but to look at it as an ecosystem.”

But it doesn’t stop there. When Stonebwoy joins our virtual call, I learn that he is also in the middle of filming a documentary about his life. It’s been in the works for five years, and it’s not a fluff piece, he shares. 

“If the lion does not tell its own stories, then it's going to do itself a disservice because then people are going to be saying it from the perspective that they envision it from,” he says, in his matter-of-fact way. Later on in our conversation, it’ll also become clear that Stonebwoy talks the way he sings, often inserting allegories and original anecdotes into his sentences. 

The Torcher Series: Stonebwoy's Journal and Legacy

Preservation of legacy is something Stonebwoy is actively thinking about and working towards. It’s the connecting thread between the documentary he is making and the new music he has been putting together.

“Given the opportunity and technological advancements that we have, I think that we are actually privileged to be able to do storytelling better and the documenting of our journey, especially as creatives who have shifted culture.”

Part of that effort towards documenting is sufficiently reflected in The Torcher series. The first album in the series featured hits like the amapiano-laced “Gidi Gidi” and set the tone for what Stonebwoy now describes as “the Stonebwoy Bible.” 

The series is a running compilation of Stonebwoy’s deepest reflections on life and his most sharply constructed perceptions of relationships; the one he shares with fame, with money, with family, and even with his fans. Stonebwoy’s ultimate goal with The Torcher series, as he explains, is to create an identifiable diary of thoughts and feelings that may not fit thematically in his other classic projects. In many ways, The Torcher is Stonebwoy’s journal, one he is writing in real time and making available to the public in an act of radical vulnerability.

Following the success of the first instalment, Stonebwoy is flipping to the next page with The Torcher II, an album-length project that builds on the themes of the first album. Where Stonebwoy sought to establish his place as a torchbearer and leader in the first album, this second album allows him to cement that claim even more by showing, rather than continuously telling us, why he has earned those titles. “The Torcher series is going to live on forever,” Stonebwoy tells OkayAfrica.

Inside The Torcher II: Themes and Features

The Torcher II opens with a spoken-word intro by OgeeTheMC, a Ghanaian MC who also voiced the intro of the first Torcher album, a decision Stonebwoy says was important for expanding the MC culture as we know it. “There's a difference between when the artist needs that as a backup, and when the artist intentionally is creating that MC culture within the performance as well.”

The Torcher II shifts keep similar genres to the first iteration, including hard-edged lyrics and a penchant for choruses sung with choral groups. This element adds a menacing edge to tracks like “Wilderness,” where Stonebwoy reaffirms his formidability, referencing God as his ultimate bedrock and his unwillingness to stop his own momentum. He also turns intensely philosophical in many aspects of the project, such as “Blood Don’t Make Family”, where he reflects on the often complicated truth that not all bonds are formed through blood; many are established through years of hard-won loyalty. 

According to Stonebwoy, the songs on this project weren’t recorded specifically for this project. While working on the project, he curated songs that best capture his intent to be open. “There are songs that belong to those categories, that have been recorded, and all I needed was to just pick and choose and drop them in The Torcher,” he says. “Some have been recorded quite recently, and some have been recorded way before.”

The Torcher II follows in Stonebwoy’s penchant for working with artists that genuinely pique his interest rather than those currently hot on the radar. The project features rising Ghanaian star AraTheJay, Tomi Thomas, Jah Miel, and Kingston-born 10Tikk. “Where I've gotten to in terms of creativity, it doesn't occur to me like that if they are popular,” he says. “Anybody can become popular tomorrow; who is becoming popular is what matters.”

In all this, though, the greatest contributor to The Torcher series has been life. Not music, or books, or films, but the keen attention Stonebwoy has been paying to life. “I was listening and paying attention to life,” he says. “I was paying attention to life, so that I can interpret it on the records, not necessarily listening to other music to make music.”

The album is now exclusively available for early access on EVEN.

CREDIT: Nelson C.J/OkayAfrica