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Crosstown Arts presents Ata Kak, the mysterious Ghanaian electronic/rap/highlife icon of the Awesome Tapes From Africa phenomenon, with an opening DJ set by Qemist.

TICKETS: $15 advance / $20 day of show
Doors at 7 pm | Show at 7:30 pm

This performance is presented with support from Sonosphere, Inc.

Crosstown Arts is requesting proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test for this event. Please be prepared to present your vaccination card or a negative Covid test taken within 72 hours at check-in. Masks are required.

Ata Kak is the mysterious Ghanaian electronic/rap/highlife icon who kick-started the whole Awesome Tapes From Africa phenomenon. After a long wait, he’s presenting his first-ever live performances in Europe and the United States.

Ata Kak’s Obaa Sima cassette fell on deaf ears when it was first self-released in Ghana in 1994, but when American musicologist Brian Shimkovitz stumbled upon the tape at a street stall in Cape Coast, Ghana, eight years later it became the stimulus for him to launch his Awesome Tapes from Africa blog. In his inaugural post, he wrote, “This is it. The song is called Moma Yendodo. You may never hear anything like this elsewhere. No one I know in Ghana listens to this frenetic leftfield rap madness.”

The music on the recording – an amalgam of highlife, Twi-language rap, funk, hip-hop, and electronica – traverses a pop music landscape that encapsulates international modes while reflecting contemporary Ghanaian music of the period. Presented with the sweaty passion of a Prince record and the lo-fi recording charm of early Chicago house music, Obaa Sima’s joyous soul and casual brilliance made the enigmatic Ata Kak an underground internet sensation and a party-starter the world over. After more than a decade of searching, Brian finally tracked down the singer and released the LP officially in March 2015.