ATO announces new EP, ‘Side B’, shares single: Listen

ATO has announced a new EP, ‘Side B’, and shared the record’s first single, ‘Courts’.

Out 29th July via MCMXCV, the new five-track EP included unheard singles ‘nu balance’, ‘Straight Light’ and ‘outro’ as well as ‘Courts’, a collaboration with Ghanian drill artist Jay Bahd penned ahead of the British-Ghanaian-Danish rapper’s first trip back to Ghana. After discovering Kumasi’s asakaa, or Ghana drill, movement he said Bahd immediately sprung to mind for the final section of the song.

“I found the power in his voice very unique”, said ATO, who then reached out to Bahd about a collaboration. “What he sent back surpassed what I had in mind for that section. For me, this collab with Jay represents more than just the music. It also represents the connection to home that I was experiencing emotionally”.

The Yaw-directed video for ‘Courts’ was filmed in Accra, following ATO’s first time there meeting family members in June. “I witnessed some of my history and connected with Asakaa who treated me like one of their own and showed me Accra. It felt only right to film the video out in Accra”.

He added: “Despite a couple near misses on the Motorway shooting the jeep shots and sending my quad into the sea (RIP), we had a lot of fun making this one!”. Check out the video below. 

This new EP follows his celebrated 2021 ‘Side A’ EP and a 2019 collaborative track with Vic Mensa called ‘falling’, which was featured on his ‘Ep3’.

The Leeds-based rapper chatted to DJ Mag about growing up in the North, collaboration, and the importance of being honest with his audience. Revisit our interview here.