Awesome Tapes From Africa

Ata Kak created a peculiar slice of Ghanaian music history with his debut album “Obaa Sima”. While it barely made a ripple at the time of its release in 1994, the cassette found a new life online in 2006. A not-so-underground cult obsession grew after it appeared on... 

Ata Kak created a peculiar slice of Ghanaian music history with his debut album “Obaa Sima”. While it barely made a ripple at the time of its release in 1994, the cassette found... 

Ata Kak created a peculiar slice of Ghanaian music history with his debut album “Obaa Sima”. While it barely made a ripple at the time of its release in 1994, the cassette found a new life online in 2006. A not-so-underground cult obsession grew after it appeared on the blog Awesome... 

After many years of searching and many months of preparation, Ata Ka’s Obaa Sima, the very nexus of this Awesome Tapes From Africa thing, comes out on on March 6, 2015 worldwide. Ata Kak is very excited that everyone is into his music and he has given ATFA his blessing to push forth with... 

10 years since our reissue of Ata Kak’s genre-defying musical masterpiece Obaa Sima. We now have a better quality source and this new remaster LP features a gatefold sleeve with unreleased archival photos and anew biography. The deluxe edition includes the incredible... 

10 years since our reissue of Ata Kak’s genre-defying musical masterpiece Obaa Sima. We now have a better quality source and this new remaster LP features a gatefold sleeve with unreleased archival photos and anew biography. The deluxe edition includes the incredible... 

10 years since our reissue of Ata Kak’s genre-defying musical masterpiece Obaa Sima. We now have a better quality source and this new remaster LP features a gatefold sleeve with unreleased archival photos and anew biography. The deluxe edition includes... 

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Debut LP by the remarkable producer from Pretoria, South Africa who has a singular take on amapiano. In many ways, DJ Black Low’s debut album, Uwami, shows the signs of an artist’s first offering in any musical genre. Showcasing fluency in a broad range of styles and stuffing a... 

Debut LP by the remarkable producer from Pretoria, South Africa who has a singular take on amapiano.

In many ways, DJ Black Low’s debut album, Uwami, shows... 

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Nahawa Doumbia’s new album Kanawa concisely captures this current moment in Malian history. The singer reflects on the immigration crisis from the Malian perspective in the title of her new album Kanawa. Across eight songs recorded in Bamako with a band including traditional and... 

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Completes trilogy of first 3 albums. Long out-of-print release available digitally for the first time. Restored, clarified audio. ATFA’s 50th Release. Intimate early recording by Malian icon. Awesome Tapes From Africa the label began over 10 years ago with the reissue of Nahawa... 

Completes trilogy of first 3 albums. Long out-of-print release available digitally for the first time. Restored, clarified audio. ATFA’s 50th Release. Intimate early recording by Malian icon. Awesome Tapes From Africa the label began over 10 years ago with the reissue of Nahawa... 

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It makes sense that Antoinette Konan’s eponymous album features nothing more than her ahoko on the cover. The deceptively simple traditional percussion instrument transformed... 

It makes sense that Antoinette Konan’s eponymous album features nothing more than her ahoko on the cover. The deceptively simple traditional percussion instrument transformed Ivory Coast’s Baoulé music scene when Konan deployed it against a roaring electrified backdrop... 

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Etiopialaisen Hailu Mergia & The Waliasin instrumentaalinen jazz- ja groove-levy “Tche
Belew" ilmestyy hartaan odottamisen jälkeen uudelleen. Alunperin vuonna 1977 ilmestyneen albumin julkaisee Awesome Tapes From Africa -blogin... 

Hardly anyone outside Ethiopia seems to know Hailu Mergia & The Walias Band “Tezeta” exists. Within Ethiopia this tape has been impossible to find for decades. That’s about to change with this release, which makes available this epochal recording on LP, CD... 

Hardly anyone outside Ethiopia seems to know Hailu Mergia & The Walias Band “Tezeta” exists. Within Ethiopia this tape has been impossible to find for decades. That’s about to change with this release, which makes available this epochal recording on LP, CD... 

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Hailu Mergia. The man is such a joy to work with, to be perfectly honest and earnest. His work is inspiring to me, but also his attitude. He knows what he’s about and he... 

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In common parlance, the two producers who make up Native Soul would be considered “ma2000”—or, born after the onset of democracy, having never experienced Apartheid—by virtue of their age. Kgothatso Tshabalala is 19 years old and Zakhele Mhlanga (DJ Zakes) is 18. Their... 

In common parlance, the two producers who make up Native Soul would be considered “ma2000”—or, born after the onset of democracy, having never experienced Apartheid—by virtue of their age. Kgothatso Tshabalala is 19 years old and Zakhele Mhlanga (DJ Zakes) is 18. Their... 

Kadi Yombo, published in 1989, is the most successful album in the quest for a fusion between tradition and modernity in Bwiti harp music of the Tsogho people of Gabon. Combining beating rattles with a layer of synthesizers, Papé Nziengui blends in a contrapuntal dialogue characteristic... 

Kadi Yombo, published in 1989, is the most successful album in the quest for a fusion between tradition and modernity in Bwiti harp music of the Tsogho people of Gabon. Combining beating rattles with a layer of synthesizers, Papé Nziengui blends in a contrapuntal dialogue characteristic... 

LP of Penny Penny’s fiery second album, available for the first time since it was originally pressed in Zimbabwe in 1996. The rags-to-riches chronicle of Penny Penny’s life would be remarkable if he had only released his smash debut Shaka Bundu and packed... 

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At last, by popular request, LP and CD editions of the revelatory Teno Afrika recording Amapiano Selections. Let this be your soundtrack to staying home (and dancing alone). Bleak and moving instrumentals from a young and brilliant producer from Pretoria, South Africa. 

At last, by popular request, LP and CD editions of the revelatory Teno Afrika recording Amapiano Selections. Let this be your soundtrack to staying home (and dancing alone). Bleak and moving instrumentals from a young and brilliant producer from Pretoria, South Africa. 

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