Kweku Aacht

Kweku Aacht, known by his stage name Awotwi, is a British Ghanaian singer-songwriter, composer, musician and dancer. He is known as a vocalist in his collaborations with experimental electronic artistes and for creating cutting edge dance theatre soundtracks and performances.^[1][2]

Aacht was influenced in the early 1990s by his time spent on the UK's underground club scene, at outdoor raves and music festivals. During this era, Aacht soaked up the eclectic sounds of the UK underground.^[3] He encountered artistes such as the Prodigy,^[4] Darren Emerson, Björk^[5] and Tricky.^{[citation needed]}

In 1999, Aacht began his work as recording artist, when he co-wrote and performed on two songs on Zan Lyons debut album Desolate^[6] and was also featured on Damian Lazarus' Mind Horizon Records compilation Different Noise.

While studying at London College of Fashion, Aacht moved to Hackney, the center of London's vibrant art scene. Here he socialised and collaborated with a range of fine artists from the movement dubbed the Y.B.As (Young British Artists) by the press, creating sound installations and performing music in art spaces and galleries. In 2004, he collaborated with electronica artist Leila Arab in her performance at the V&A museum, which was later featured on her album Blood Looms and Blooms.^[7]

In 2002, Aacht's dance career came to a crashing halt when he experienced a serious muscular skeletal injury. He was unable to dance for over three years. During this period, he focused on one of his other passions social development, leading on art-based programs, designed and to support the growth, empowerment and transformation of young people and of disadvantaged communities. His work with leading some of the UKs leading community development specialists includes co-designing a national program tackling conflict in community tension areas for The Tutu Foundation UK.^[8]

2006 marked Aacht's return to making music. Aacht attended a dance performance at East London's Stratford Circus featuring a performance from now leading contemporary dance company C-12 Dance Theatre. A meeting with C-12 following the performance led to a long-term collaborative relationship and sparked the beginning of his career as composer and musical director for innovative dance theatre productions.^[9][10] Two years later, Aacht himself returned to the stage performing in a series of self-choreographed pieces re-igniting his dance career. Over the next five years, Aacht developed his hybrid of music production and dance performance, gaining popularity within the UKs hip-hop and contemporary dance communities. In 2013 Aacht moved to Ghana.^[11]

In 2012, Aacht embarked on is first music performance project since mid 2000s. He joined forces with leading African Contemporary dance artist and Vocab Dance Company director Alesandra Seutin and dancer/actress and singer Nandi Bhebhe. Together they formed the dance collective produced by Aacht drawing upon the trio's eclectic influences to create a dynamic and unique dance act.^[3] Kindred Tribe wrote a number of songs and traveled to Ghana to perform at the Asa Baako festival.^[12][13]

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• Kweku Aacht on SoundCloud