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Obaa Sima

Obaa Sima is the debut studio album by Ghanaian singer Ata Kak. Originally self-released in 1994, only 50 copies of the album were made, of which 3 were sold. The album initially gathered no attention until record label Awesome Tapes From Africa founder Brian Shimkovitz came across one of the only copies of the album from a vendor in Cape Coast, Ghana in 2002. The album was finally re-released on 3 March 2015.

Background
Ata Kak (Yaw Atta-Owusu), a drummer from Kumasi who started out playing in a Toronto-based trio band Marijata (unrelated from the 70s band of the same name) after moving to the city in 1989. The band mainly focused on making covers of highlife songs. They released three albums, which greatly contributed to Ata Kak making music on his own. By 1991, using Notator Atari, a synthesizer and a secondhand 12-track recorder, he started to record his own songs. Obaa Sima, according to an undisclosed friend by Ata Kak who has a conversational grasp of the Ghanaian language Twi, suggested that the title could possibly mean 'Perfect Woman.' == Recording and production ==
Recording and production
The album is a dynamic blend (or experimentation) of highlife, electro-funk, and hip hop, the latter of which Ata Kak loved since seeing Grandmaster Flash on television in the 80s. It is built upon secondhand drum-machine rhythms along with built-in synth sounds and was recorded in his own living room and bathroom. He initially started rapping in English, before realizing that his flow was much better when he rhythmed in the Ghanaian language Twi. The original tracks of the DAT copy of the album was sped up by Ata himself in post-production, giving the music a rough but helium-like quality. In an interview with The Boston Globe, Ata Kak stated that "[he] invested [his] time and money to make this album, and [he] was expecting some good results" and also insisted that "When you're young, you're looking for fame. But after it came out, the response was silence. I didn't hear anything, and it turned me off for a while. I was frustrated." Singles The opening track of Obaa Sima sets the basis of a blend of 80s and 90s dance beats, lo tech and old school, overlaid with female backing chants and scattershot rapping in his native language of Twi, although the supposed female voices could be sped-up Ata Kak himself. The track's vocal delivery is considerably fast, which continues onto the next track 'Moma Yendodo'. All seven total tracks of the album are also considerably catchy, even though the rhythms might have been preset-generated due to the songs' palette being relatively basic on a surface level. The only exception is the closing track 'Bome Nnwom', which features no rapping or singing at all. == Release ==
Release
After finishing the album, Ata send over the recording to his brother, who duplicated about 50 and later digital formats. through the record label Awesome Tapes From Africa and distributed by Differ-Ant in France. == Track listing ==
Track listing
Credits adapted from Tidal. All lyrics and music were written and produced by Yaw Atta-Owusu. == References ==
Work cited
;Primary sources • • ;Secondary sources • == External links ==
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