But in 2010, DaSafo was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma.

"It felt like I had been dropped in the middle of the sea with no lifejacket," he later recalled.

"I didn't have time to think about how I was going to get to the other side, I just had to deal with it."

After receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy, he went into remission, releasing his biggest hits Still Speedin' (which sampled Black Box's Ride On Time) and Level Up (featuring a verse from Kano) in 2012.

He enjoyed further critical and commercial success with albums including Deliverance, and Verses from the Vault; and collaborated with artists like Mark Ronson, Ed Sheeran, Akon and Childish Gambino.

Through his record label Dcypha, he also signed and developed artists including Tiggs Da Author and KSI.

All three appeared on the 2013 single No Sleep, and KSI went on to become a hugely successful YouTuber, with a sideline in music.

DaSafo also dabbled with an acting career, appearing in two episodes of the crime drama Top Boy and the 2012 film The Grind.

At the time of his death, he was working on new music. His final Instagram post, shared last week, external, celebrated his 44th birthday.

He is survived by two sons, Jalil and Ammar-Joseph, and twin daughters, Queen-Inaya and Queen-Imara. At the time of his death, he was raising them as a single parent in Ghana, his friend Kash Ahmad told BBC News.

"It was an honour and a pleasure to have known and worked with him, and my thoughts and prayers are with his family," he added.

Other tributes came from the Mitchell Brothers, who wrote: "We were privileged to have worked with you", and praised Sway's "true penmanship level and delivery".