Gyakie is ready to pull listeners even closer. The Ghanaian songbird, best known for her silky vocals and a sound that floats between Afrobeats, highlife, and R&B, has finally announced her debut album, After Midnight, a project shaped by late-night emotions, quiet reflections, and the kind of inspiration that only strikes when the world slows down.

 

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For Gyakie, midnight is more than just a time of day. It’s when she writes, when she records, when she processes everything happening around her. “Almost all the songs on the album were recorded after midnight,” she says. This period, with its tranquility, has been a fertile ground for her creativity, “It’s within those hours that I find my best inspiration to write. The peace and quiet, the sounds from the birds, the serenity, everything about that time fuels my creativity.”

The album is also about memory. Growing up, her mother would pray over her and her siblings after midnight, a ritual that still holds deep meaning for her. “It was a consistent routine, and it still is. That time of the night holds so much meaning for me,” she muses. After midnight is also a time when she allows herself to feel everything — happiness, heartbreak, nostalgia — all of which bleed into the music.

This is Gyakie’s first full-length album following two well-loved EPs, Seed and My Diary. Since she broke out with “Forever”, a track that turned her into an international name, she has collaborated with heavyweights like Davido while carving out her own lane.

With After Midnight, she’s expanding her world even further. While her past work drew heavily from Afrobeats and highlife, she’s hinted that this album will incorporate more R&B, hip-hop, and even elements of drill, continuing her evolution into a fully realized Afro-fusion artist. Speaking at the Forbes Summit 2025, she emphasized her desire to experiment, to pull from different influences while maintaining the warmth and intimacy that make her music distinct. She’s made it clear that she doesn’t want to be boxed in.

In the lead-up to the album, Gyakie is set to release a new single titled “Sankofa.” The term “Sankofa” is derived from the Akan language, meaning “to go back and get it.” While the exact release date for After Midnight has yet to be announced, the unveiling of the album’s title and the forthcoming single “Sankofa” suggest that fans won’t have to wait much longer. There’s no full tracklist yet, and she’s remained tight-lipped about collaborations, but if her previous work is anything to go by, After Midnight will be both expansive and intimate.

For a sneak peek of what’s to come, check out the snippet of “Sankofa” below:

 

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