Vintage Ata Kak, circa the Ghanaian dance-rap artist’s 1990s heyday. Credit: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

The tweet:

The show: Ata Kak at the Sunset Tavern

The original story:

Vintage Ata Kak, circa the Ghanaian dance-rap artist’s 1990s heyday.
Vintage Ata Kak, circa the Ghanaian dance-rap artist’s 1990s heyday. COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

This month, adventurous music heads in Seattle have the chance to see an experimental guitarist from Bhutan (Tashi Dorji) and a quirky rapper/singer from Ghana (Ata Kak). I hope you realize how good we have it here sometimes.

First, let’s talk about Dorji. But before that, a little prologue: In 1991, a tiny American indie label released a compilation titled Guitarrorists, featuring Sonic Boom, Helios Creed, Kim Gordon, Steve Albini, and more. It encompassed dozens of guitar players doing myriad interesting things with an instrument that’s most associated with rock music. If somebody were to organize a sequel to Guitarrorists, Tashi Dorji would have to be included.

Dave Segal is a journalist and DJ living in Seattle. He has been writing about music since 1983. His stuff has appeared in Gale Research’s literary criticism series of reference books, Creem (when...