Blakk Rasta

Blakk Rasta's 2008 single "Barack Obama" was released while Obama was still campaigning for the White House, and it carried the Tamale-born reggae artist far beyond Ghana. At home he is just as well known as a broadcaster.

Roots

He was born Abubakar Ahmed on 2 September 1974 in Tamale to Muslim parents. He studied land economy at KNUST and later took an MSc in oil and gas management at Coventry University in England.

Kuchoko

He calls his sound kuchoko: reggae mixed with xylophone, talking drum, kologo, kora and flutes from across Africa. He names the dub poets Mutabaruka and Linton Kwesi Johnson among his models. In 2025 he revived Kuchoko in the Ghetto, staging street shows in Nima and Fadama.

Radio

His mid-morning programme Taxi Driver ran on Hitz FM and then, from 2017 to 2021, on Zylofon FM. He later broadcast on Class FM and his own YouTube channel, Blakk Media Empire, and now presents on Media General's 3FM.

Controversies

In 2015 he appeared before Parliament's Privileges Committee and apologised for saying on air that many MPs smoked cannabis. In 2021 he said he had deliberately limited airplay of Shatta Wale's music, and in 2025 he clashed publicly with the journalist Oheneba Boamah.