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**Ata Kak - Obaa Sima**
★★★★☆

In the grand pantheon of musical archaeology, few discoveries have been as thrilling or as unlikely as the resurrection of Ata Kak's "Obaa Sima." This isn't just another dusty crate-digging triumph – it's a testament to the power of music to transcend time, geography, and the cruel indifference of history itself.

The story begins not in some legendary studio or iconic venue, but in the most prosaic of settings: a German flea market in 2002. There, nestled among the bric-a-brac and forgotten ephemera, lay a cassette tape that would eventually rewrite the narrative of Ghanaian electronic music. The tape bore the enigmatic title "Obaa Sima" and credited one Ata Kak – a name that meant nothing to anyone at the time, including the curious collector who plucked it from obscurity for mere pocket change.

What emerged when that tape was finally digitised was nothing short of revelatory: a kaleidoscopic journey through the outer reaches of Afrobeat, highlife, and proto-house that sounded simultaneously ancient and futuristic. Recorded in the late 1980s by Yaw Atta-Owusu – a young Ghanaian living in Germany – these tracks represented a unique collision of West African rhythmic sensibilities with the emerging electronic music technologies of the era.

Ata Kak's sound is gloriously unclassifiable, a genre-defying brew that feels like it was beamed in from some parallel universe where traditional African polyrhythms evolved naturally into acid house. Working with basic drum machines, synthesizers, and an infectious enthusiasm that leaps from every groove, Atta-Owusu crafted something that was both deeply rooted in his Ghanaian heritage and boldly experimental.

The album's standout tracks read like a masterclass in cross-cultural musical fusion. "Daa Daa" opens proceedings with a hypnotic pulse that builds layers of percussion and melody with the patience of a master craftsman, while the title track "Obaa Sima" delivers an irresistible hook that burrows deep into the brain and refuses to leave. "Moma Yendodo" showcases Ata Kak's gift for creating space within density, allowing each element to breathe while maintaining an almost tribal intensity that feels primal and sophisticated in equal measure.

Perhaps most remarkable is "Bome Nnwom," which anticipates the global bass movement by nearly two decades, its stuttering rhythms and elastic basslines creating a template that contemporary producers are still mining for inspiration. Throughout, Atta-Owusu's use of traditional Ghanaian vocal techniques over electronic backdrops creates a dialogue between past and future that never feels forced or contrived.

The production aesthetic is lo-fi by necessity rather than design – these are bedroom recordings made with limited resources – but what might sound like limitations instead become the album's greatest strengths. The slightly degraded quality of the original cassette, combined with the raw immediacy of the performances, gives "Obaa Sima" an authenticity that no amount of studio polish could replicate.

The album's eventual reissue by Awesome Tapes From Africa in 2015 sparked a renaissance that continues to ripple outward. Suddenly, Ata Kak was being name-checked by everyone from Four Tet to Actress, his influence audible in the work of contemporary electronic artists seeking to break free from the tyranny of the grid. The man himself, tracked down after decades of anonymity, found himself thrust into an unlikely spotlight, performing at festivals and clubs across Europe and America to audiences who treated these decades-old compositions as urgent, vital music.

What makes "Obaa Sima" so enduring is its refusal to be pinned down. It's Afrofuturist before the term gained currency, world music that never panders to Western expectations, and electronic music that never loses sight of its human heart. In an era of increasingly homogenised global culture, Ata Kak's vision feels both radical and necessary – a reminder that the most profound innovations often happen in the margins, created by artists working without audience or expectation, driven purely by the need to make something new.

"Obaa Sima" stands as proof that great music will find its way to the ears that need to hear it, regardless of the obstacles place