Awesome Tapes From Africa is a record label and website operated by Brian Shimkovitz, based in Los Angeles, California. The site was founded in 2006 in Brooklyn, New York.
History The site was created as a way for Shimkovitz to share music he had come across while on a Fulbright scholarship in Ghana. He was interested in the variety of genres and artists he found, distributed largely on cassette tapes at markets, but that he had not come across outside West Africa. In 2011, Shimkovitz transitioned the site from just a blog, in which he posted recordings of collected tapes without the artists' permission, to a commercial record label. The goal of the company is to seed and expand an audience for the artists presented as well as provide opportunities to sell albums and tour. Artists are paid every six months and receive 50% of the profits from an album. Tapes presented on Awesome Tapes come from a variety of sources: gathered in Ghanaian street markets, purchased in stores in the US, or sent by others over the internet. In addition to the website, Shimkovitz DJ's concerts, clubs and festivals as Awesome Tapes From Africa, as well as hosts a show on Dublab.
Most Awesome Tapes From Africa releases are official rereleases of out-of-print cassettes from African musicians and bands. SK Kakraba's Songs of Paapieye is the label's first new release. Although music is distributed in Africa via MP3 on mobile phones, Shimkovitz says the widest variety of music in West Africa is still available on cassette tapes. In the journal Public Culture, Awesome Tapes From Africa, along with record labels Sublime Frequencies and Parallel World, is discussed as being emblematic of "World Music 2.0" for combining the "open source ethics of online networks with long-standing countercultural networks of circulation" within cassette culture and music distribution in developing nations.
In her Beginner's Guide to Awesome Tapes from Africa, Asher White writes that "Most importantly, these particular tapes from Africa are, in fact, awesome; at best, they are utterly life-affirming. ...ATFA presents the work exactly as the artist intended, cover art and integrity intact."
Artists Hailu Mergia Walias Band Dur-Dur Band Bola Penny Penny Aby Ngana Diop Ata Kak SK Kakraba
Releases
ATFA001 - Nahawa Doumbia: La Grande Cantatrice Malienne, Vol. 3, 2011 ATFA002 - Bola: Volume 7, 2012 ATFA003 - Bola: Remixes, 2012 ATFA004 - Dur-Dur Band: Volume 5, 2013 ATFA005 - Dur-Dur Band: Remixes, 2013 ATFA006 - Hailu Mergia: Hailu Mergia & His Classical Instrument: Shemonmuanaye, 2013 ATFA007 - Hailu Mergia: Remixes, 2013 ATFA008 - Penny Penny: Shaka Bundu, 2013 ATFA009 - Penny Penny: Remixes, 2014 ATFA010 - Aby Ngana Diop: Liital, 2014 ATFA011 - Aby Ngana Diop: Remixes, 2014 ATFA012 - Hailu Mergia and the Walias: Tche Belew, 2014 ATFA013 - Hailu Mergia and the Walias: Musicawi Silt b/w Tche Belew (single), 2015 ATFA014 - Ata Kak: Obaa Sima (album), 2015 ATFA015 - Ata Kak: Obaa Sima (single), 2015 ATFA016 - Ata Kak: Daa Nyinaa (single), 2015 ATFA018 - SK Kakraba: Songs of Paapieye, 2015 ATFA019 - DJ Katapila: Trotro, 2016 ATFA020 - Awalom Gebremariam: Desdes, 2016 ATFA021 - Hailu Mergia & Dahlak Band: Wede Harer Guzo, 2016 ATFA022 - DJ Katapila: Trotro (12"), 2016 ATFA023 - DJ Katapila: Aroo (EP), 2018 ATFA024 - Awa Poulo: Poulo Warali, 2017 ATFA025 - Umoja: 707, 2017 ATFA026 - "Om" Alec Khaoli: Say You Love Me, 2017 ATFA027 - Professor Rhythm: Bafana Bafana, 2017 ATFA028 - Hailu Mergia: Lala Belu, 2018 ATFA028.5 - Hailu Mergia: Yegojam Mamesh (7"), 2018 ATFA029 - Papé Nziengui: Kadi Yombo, 2022 ATFA030 - Penny Penny: Yogo Yogo, 2020 ATFA031 - Asnakech Worku: Asnakech, 2018 ATFA032 - Professor Rhythm: Professor 3, 2018 ATFA033 - Jess Sah Bi and Peter One: Our Garden Needs Its Flowers, 2018 ATFA034 - Sourakata Koite: En Hollande, 2019 ATFA035 - Nahawa Doumbia: La Grande Cantatrice Malienne Vol 1, 2019 ATFA036 - Antoinette Konan: Antoinette Konan, 2019 ATFA037 - Hailu Mergia: Yene Mircha, 2020 ATFA038 - Ephat Mujuru and the Spirit Of The People: Mbavaira, 2021 ATFA039 - Nahawa Doumbia: Kanawa, 2021 ATFA040 - Teno Afrika: Amapiano Selections, 2021 ATFA041 - Hailu Mergia with The Walias Band: Tezeta, 2021 ATFA042 - DJ Black Low: Uwami, 2021 ATFA043 - Native Soul: Teenage Dreams, 2021 ATFA044 - DJ Black Low: Uwami II (12"), 2022 ATFA045 - Teno Afrika: Where You Are, 2022 ATFA046 - DJ Black Low: Impumelelo, 2023 ATFA047 - Roger Bekono: Roger Bekono, 2023 ATFA048 - Gibraltar Drakus: Hommage A Zanzibar, 2023 ATFA049 - Hailu Mergia: Pioneer Works Swing (Live), 2023 ATFA050 - Nahawa Doumbia: Vol. 2, 2024 ATFA051 - Jess Sah Bi: Jesus-Christ Ne Deçoit Pas, 2025 ATFA052 - Moskito: Idolar, 2025 ATFA053 - Ata Kak: Batakari, 2025
References
Further reading
"Awesome Tapes From Africa Head to Jakarta". Jakarta Globe. "The Sudans on cassette: Awesome Tapes from Africa's collection". The Guardian.
External links