Flowking Stone has been consistently rated one of Ghana’s best rappers. To fully understand why, we must take a step back and lay out a few words about the linguistic terrain he hails from: Flowking is heir to a lineage of deep twi speakers.

Twi is an Akan language which has become the lingua franca in most parts of Ghana. It’s also the language of Flowking Stone’s Ashanti people. Expertise in twi is often related to a speaker’s level of fluency with the countless proverbs that make up not only the linguistic fabric of the language, but also define the cultural and intellectual intricacies of its people.

Historically, the finest okyeame, speaker or linguist in twi, is the person speaking on behalf of the Ashanti king, the Asantehene. Nowadays, the language has democratized, carried by the talent of rappers, who compete in linguistic depth, dexterity and bravado. In this new context, Flowking Stone stands at the helm of his generation.

Rappers will emphasize differently on the three pillars that are depth, dexterity and bravado. The most famous rapper of Ghana, Sarkodie, is known for his extra fast delivery and razor sharp punchlines – for the sake of simplicity, this puts him in the dexterity and bravado box. Flowking Stone is known for his dexterity as well, and has even been known to challenge Sark on his speed. But as the previous paragraphs suggest, Flowking is also highly regarded for the depth of his twi.

Stone is an artist for whom connecting to Ghana’s deep musical roots is key, be it via his mastery of the twi language, but also via the music on which he raps: “I like to fuse tradition and culture. So even on a westernized hip hop beat, you will hear traditional patterns in my rap.”​