Overview
- Multiple outlets and the MOBO Awards confirmed that British‑Ghanaian rapper Derek Safo, known as Sway DaSafo, died at age 44, with friends and reports saying he was at his home in Ghana when he passed.
- The announcement was posted publicly by MOBO and was corroborated by several friends and news organisations on Thursday, September 17, 2026, but no official cause of death has been released.
- Tributes have poured in from peers and artists he mentored, with Olajide 'KSI' Olatunji calling Sway a father figure who helped launch younger acts and others praising his influence on north London rap.
- Sway broke through as an independent artist and became the first unsigned act to win the MOBO Best Hip‑Hop Act in 2005; his debut album This Is My Demo earned a Mercury Prize nomination and he later ran Dcypha Productions.
- He had a publicly reported Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis in 2010 followed by remission, he is survived by four children, and no public details about funeral or memorial arrangements have yet been announced.