[youtube id=”pn0_s9gJ6CI”] Red Bull Music Academy and Los Angeles label Awesome Tapes From Africa are releasing the documentary Ata Kat: Time Bomb. Ata Kat is a musician from Ghana who made a tape of eclectic pop music in 1993 called Obaa Sima and then disappeared. Brian Shimkovitz, the founder of Awesome Tapes, searched for Ata Kat during an eight-year period that took him to Germany, Toronto and then Ghana. Shimkovitz had been playing Obaa Sima at parties and would always receive an overwhelming response from the crowd. Ata Kat had recorded the tape in his bedroom with second-hand equipment and never released any more music because it was not a financial success and he needed to make money. Ata Kat: Time Bomb tells the story of how Obaa Sima was created and looks into the life of its creator. Shimkovitz told Noisey,
“I just feel like people don’t get a sense of what life can be like in developing countries. People make a lot of assumptions, and also people who listen to African music aren’t too in touch with Africans in Africa! The main touchstone for me and everything that I do, is thinking about my friends in these places. That guides the decisions I make and how I run [Awesome Tapes from Africa].”
Next week the Red Bull Music Academy Festival Los Angeles will begin on October 6th and end on October 29th.