Ata Kak with Lollise and Hailu Mergia shows at Elsewhere in Brooklyn

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Awesome Tapes from Africa, the label known for championing under-appreciated and often eclectic music from the continent, teamed with The World Music Institute to present two artists, Ata Kak from Ghana and Ethiopian artist Hailu Mergia, in separate shows on back-to-back weekends at Brooklyn venue Elsewhere.

The audience at Elsewhere chanted and waved their arms with Ata Kak, revelling in the same music that captivated Ghana years ago.

The quirky energy of Ata Kak’s music made it a summer hit in Ghana at the time of its release and then nothing more was heard from the artist until recently.

Awesome Tapes From Africa founder Brian Shimkovitz discovered Ata Kak’s 1994 recording “Obaa Sima” in a pile of cassette tapes after returning from Ghana in the early 2000’s. Brian’s fascination with that recording, he says, led to the beginning of the blog https://www.awesometapes.com/blog/ The blog shares his African music discoveries

Ata Kak's music was being heard around the world but the artist was nowhere to be found. In fact Brian searched for him for years asking around everywhere he went until finally, through a chance meeting, located his son in Toronto. When he finally met the artist in rural Ghana, he found out Ata Kak had no idea his music was a hit and no one in the village even knew he was a musician. He had recorded the music in a home studio in Canada, and sent it to his twin brother who made cassettes and sold some 600 copies before it was largely forgotten. 

Lollise opened up for Ata Kak, joined on stage by long time collaborator Morgan Greestreet. Lollise, a musician, visual artist, and fashion designer from Botswana, known for her work with Underground System, has quietly built an innovative repertoire of bouncy engaging original tunes material including a tongue io cheek ode to booties. Currently living in NYC. Lollise shared her bold Afro-futurist pop sound, rich with analog synths, layers of percussion, and gentle waves of ambient noise with the appreciative audience at Elsewhere.