Bleep

It might just be the biggest success in Brian Shimkovitz’ quest for musical gold: more than twelve years after buying his copy of the original cassette in Cape Coast, Ghana, he finally managed to track down Ata Kak, the very Ghanaian musician whose “Obaa Sima” he dedicated his first Awesome Tapes From Africa blog post to in 2006. Because the master tapes had already disintegrated, Shimkovitz used his personal copy of the tape, as the source for the much demanded reissue. Ata Kak, real name Yaw Atta-Owusu, recorded the album in Toronto in 1994, after living for a while in Germany playing in reggae cover bands, and sent the album to get manufactured in Ghana creating around 50 cassettes of Obaa Sima. This incredible recording traces his global experience, combining his Ghanaian roots in the form of highlife with techno beats and funk guitars, creating a timeless release that sounds as extraordinary and as it did over 20 years ago.