Trotros are to Accra what the subway is to New York, in that neither city would function without them. On Trotro, DJ Katapila pays homage to Accra, and on its title track, he tips his hat to its infamous minibus system. From the song’s outset, a cartoonish voice exclaims, “Makola, UTC, Kaneshie!,” imitating the mates (drivers’ assistants) who lean out the side of the trotros calling out their destinations. That same kind of humor and depiction of daily life runs through much of DJ Katapila’s music, which is a mix of neo/traditional Ga dance music, and old-school house and techno.
DJ Katapila, aka Ishmael Abbey, grew up in the ’70s in the coastal district of Jamestown in Accra, a historically Ga area. The now-40-something became known for his marathon DJ sets, to the point where his tirelessness earned him the nickname “Katapila,” after Caterpillar construction equipment. Yet it wasn’t until several years ago that he started actually producing, and in 2009, he self-released his debut album, Trotro. Since then, a number of his tracks have circulated on bootleg tapes, which is also how Awesome Tapes From Africa found his music and ended up partnering with him to issue this rerelease.
The album was never actually pressed to cassette, yet it still sounds as if it were playing back through a thin layer of dust. This rawness comes in part from Katapila’s own production, in part from the spirit of early Chicago house and Detroit techno, and in part from Ga music. The album is grounded as much by the four-on-the-floor thump of Chicago house as it is by the programmed son clave patterns that are common to so many genres of music across the Black Atlantic, including kpanlogo. Kpanlogo is a type of neotraditional Ga dance music that combines older sounds like gome drumming and street processional music with elements of highlife and ’60s-era rock (i.e., the Twist). It also happens to be a precursor to azonto, whose inflections can be heard throughout Trotro. For instance, on “Sakawa,” the rhythm comes through in the snare, on “Trotro” through the handclaps, and on “Cocoawra” and “Lalokat,” very clearly in the cowbell.
Besides house and azonto though, DJ Katapila also often references other kinds of contemporary, black club music, while still largely staying within the sphere of Accra life. “Nkran Dokunu” refers to Accra kenkey, a corn-based staple food of Ghana. The track bounces along at around 140 BPM and feels almost like a slower, crunchier shangaan electro. Midway through it, as a toy Casio-like figure plinks along over a galloping snare, two cartoon-voiced characters chant in Ga, “Accra kenkey is delicious! We’re eating it!”
By contrast, “Ice-Inc” is a lot darker in mood. It’s a direct line to old-school Detroit techno, complete with 808-sounding electrofunk cowbell, and the time-warped, intergalactic quality of a Kraftwerk song. It may not scream “Accra” like some of the other songs on the album. But as a part of Trotro as a whole, it speaks to the multitude of musical and cultural influences that have been exported and imported to the city over time. That, and the propensity to approach the otherwise unremarkable with a remarkable sense of humor.
