{"product_id":"ata-kak-batakari","title":"Ata Kak - Batakari","description":"\u003cp\u003eFirst new songs since 1994\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAta Kak created a peculiar slice of Ghanaian music history with his debut album “Obaa Sima”.\u003cbr\u003eWhile it barely made a ripple at the time of its release in 1994, the cassette found a new life online in 2006.\u003cbr\u003eA not-sounderground cult obsession grew after it appeared on the blog Awesome Tapes From Africa as its very first post, a sort of manifesto for the project.\u003cbr\u003eHis addictive amalgam of left-field electronic music and Twi-language hiplife reached surprising levels of awareness among music fans of many stripes.\u003cbr\u003eThe mystery behind the musician’s identity grew.\u003cbr\u003eEventually Yaw Atta-Owusu came out of the shadows, from his quiet home in Kumasi, to tour the world playing high-energy, sweat-soaked performances at major festivals like Glastonbury, Sónar and Pop Montreal.\u003cbr\u003eNow, for the first time since 1994, Ata Kak releases new music.\u003cbr\u003eHoned in studios around Kumasi over the last several years, the songs feature the rapper-singer’s acrobatic rap, signature scatting, dramatic drums and even traditional Akan harp.\u003cbr\u003eThe compositions are more ambitious than his earlier work, with more complex arrangements and layered harmonies.\u003cbr\u003eAta Kak’s new songs are also the natural expression of a restless artist—he is a prolific poet and author of a half-dozen books, as well as an active gardener and busy painter.\u003cbr\u003eBorn in Ghana in 1960, Ata Kak wasn’t always involved in music.\u003cbr\u003eBut his travels and openness to the world lead him into the music industry.\u003cbr\u003eWhile living in Germany, he was invited to play drums in a reggae band and subsequently played in highlife bands in Ontario after moving to the Toronto area.\u003cbr\u003eHe recorded “Obaa Sima” there at his home studio and released it in Ghana in 1994.\u003cbr\u003eHe didn’t participate in music much in the intervening years until “Obaa Sima” was reissued in 2015.\u003cbr\u003eHe started performing his song live with the help of a brilliant cast of Londonbased musicians and has toured three continents and played to thousands of fans in venues of all kinds.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"AWESOME TAPES FROM AFRICA","offers":[{"title":"Black Vinyl","offer_id":53201690067271,"sku":"TRI-66838","price":29.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":53206250881351,"sku":"TRI-66839","price":16.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0931\/9779\/5655\/files\/ec0302ca7649caa9927ebeebd15755b2_fce8ae5e-945b-45c8-a660-ae0223247ab6.jpg?v=1769368964","url":"https:\/\/towerrecords.ie\/products\/ata-kak-batakari","provider":"Tower Records Dublin Ireland","version":"1.0","type":"link"}