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I can sell the O2 Arena – Manye Fi
British-Ghanaian Rising Afrobeats singer Manye Fi set X ablaze on Sunday when she declared, “If Asake sold out the O2 with Yoruba, Manye Fi can sell out the O2 with Ga.” The tweet racked up more than 160,000 views, in under two days, trending in both Ghana and the UK Ga-diaspora circles.
Within hours, heavyweight dancehall star Stonebwoy known affectionately as 1 Gad – dropped a two-word reply, “Powerful.. Resilience 🫡🇬🇭.” The cosign prompted Manye Fi to double-down: “If 1 Gad approves, it is sealed.” Fellow Ga songstress Cina Soul quietly amplified the post with a retweet, signalling a growing coalition of Ga-language hit-makers determined to push their mother-tongue onto global stages.
Musicians and fans piled in via quote-tweets. Influencer @TheGaBrit wrote, “Our time is coming,” while singer-songwriter Gïdochi chimed “gaaaaaaaaga,” a playful rallying chant. Skeptics were present too; street-culture account 100 % STREET simply laughed “Lmao,” and @cherubim_ asked, “Why you no tell them?” – reflecting a mix of excitement and disbelief that a rising British-Ghanaian artist could fill London’s 20,000-cap arena.
If Asake sold out the O2 with Yoruba, Manye Fi can sell out the O2 with Ga.
— Manye Fi (@ManyeFi) May 18, 2025
The comparison point, Nigerian superstar Asake, famously sold out the O2 in August 2023 and arrived by helicopter, a feat that underscored Afrobeats’ commercial clout. Many commenters noted that Asake’s victory followed multiple UK chart entries and a Barclays Center sell-out in New York, hinting that catalogue depth and overseas promotion will be critical for Manye Fi too.
Still, the mood under the tweet skews positive. Roughly seven in ten quote-tweets celebrate Ga cultural pride or volunteer to buy tickets; the rest question the practicalities rather than the dream itself. Fans have already started informal pledge threads committing to travel from Accra, Amsterdam and Birmingham if a date is announced.
Why it matters:
If successful, a Ga headline at the O2 would mirror Asake’s Yoruba milestone and mark the first time the UK arena hosts a show primarily in Ghana’s coastal language. For Manye Fi whose “Manye Fi Rebirth” EP dropped this month, the viral moment doubles as market research: her bold claim has already mobilised a potential core audience. The next step, as one reply put it, is “music, merch, and a mailing-list” before any deposit is sent to the O2 box office.
Whether the dream reaches the arena floor or remains a galvanising slogan, the conversation has already expanded the horizons for English-Ga pop and put the wider industry on notice that the next African arena moment may come with Ga flair rather than Yoruba ad-libs.
