Some artists arrive with a viral moment. Sly Force has arrived the slow way: one single at a time, for close to five years, with almost no press along the way. His Apple Music page now holds fourteen releases under his own name, and the pace has picked up sharply in 2026. If you have not heard of him yet, here is where to start.
Who is Sly Force?
Sly Force is a Ghanaian rapper and songwriter. Streaming services list his name in capitals as SLY FORCE, and some blogs write it as one word, Slyforce. According to a September 2026 post on The Urban Afro, his real name is Sylvester Nii Lamptey. The same post describes him as a young artist building his name as “a lyricist and composer”, and says he wants to grow his fan base “both in Ghana and beyond”.
That is about as much as the public record says about him so far. There are no long interviews and no label press kit. What he does have is a catalogue, and the catalogue tells a story of its own.
Where it started: “Abonten” (2022)
His first release, “Abonten“, came out on 29 January 2022. The title is the Twi word for “outside” or “the street”, a fitting place to begin. It runs just over two minutes. Later that year he followed it with “No Remorse”, which is even shorter at under two minutes.
Both songs, like almost everything he has released since, carry the label name “3580174 Records DK”. That numbered name is the kind DistroKid assigns to independent uploads, which tells you how he works: no record company behind him, just an artist putting out his own music.
Finding his range: 2023 and 2024
“Badman” landed in June 2023. A month later came “Stay With Me”, featuring Elvinthedon. It is still his longest song at 3 minutes 22 seconds, and the first he filed under Afrobeat instead of hip-hop. That was an early sign he did not plan to stay in one lane.
He opened 2024 with “We In Da Club” in January, then put out “Tremches” in July, a single filed under R&B and soul. Across those two years the releases were spaced months apart. Looking back, it reads like an artist trying different things and working out what suited him.
Features and freestyles: 2025
2025 was the year other artists began calling him in. In January he appeared on “Mafre” by Waspy, his first credit as a guest on another artist’s record. A month later he released “DOUBLE G Freestyle”, then “VALLEY” in June and “ONE TIME” with Blvck Jezuz in November.
Four appearances in one year was his busiest stretch so far. It did not stay that way for long.
The 2026 run
This year Sly Force has released more music than in 2022 and 2023 put together. The list so far:
“SCARS“ (7 January). He started the year with a solo single.
“Ruthless Circle” featuring Naab Yidan (20 June). Apple Music files this one under reggae, a first for him.
“Samankudi” featuring YAARO K (23 June). Released three days after “Ruthless Circle” and filed under dance.
“SKIILY” (6 July). A two-minute single, back in hip-hop territory.
“Undertaker“ (7 August). His latest solo single and his shortest song yet at 1 minute 49 seconds. The Urban Afro credits the beat to the producers Tomssvision and Danisan47.
“Sisala Man” (28 August). His track with Nawtyboi Tattoo on OLU Riddim The Album, a 14-track riddim project from Black Tradition Studios. Sly Force is one of more than a dozen artists Nawtyboi Tattoo brought onto it, alongside names such as VybzLord, Paq, Brookz, Kwaku Geezy and Mana Razklat.
Three different genre tags in under three weeks, from reggae to dance to hip-hop, plus a slot on a riddim compilation. Whatever his main sound turns out to be, he is clearly comfortable working across styles.
Short songs, fast turnaround
One thing stands out across the whole catalogue: Sly Force does not stretch his songs. Only two of the fourteen releases under his own name pass the three-minute mark, and his two newest solo singles both finish in under two minutes. That suits how people listen now, on short-video apps and on playlists where a song has seconds to make its case. It also lets an independent artist keep up a steady stream of releases without a label’s budget.
What comes next
Sly Force has not announced an EP or album. With five singles and a riddim feature out by the end of August, though, 2026 is already his busiest year by a distance. A body of work that size usually leads to a bigger project. When it arrives, it will come from an artist who has spent close to five years learning in public.
You can stream his full catalogue on Apple Music. AfroYard will be following his next move.
