Akua shines in Recognise #115
The Ghanaian‑American DJ reflects on her techno‑filled summer and unveils her new mix. B2B sessions with Function and The Advent highlight her European run.
Akua, the Ghanaian‑American DJ, has enjoyed a techno‑filled summer with sets at landmark festivals such as The Great Beyond and Wire in the US, and at Awakenings, Veta, Lighthouse, Stone Techno and Sónar across Europe. Speaking from Berlin she says, “There’s been a lot of joy surrounding me.”
In those months she teamed up with scene heavyweights: in May she went b2b with Function at Horst Arts and Music Festival, in June she shared the decks with The Advent at Lighthouse Festival in Croatia, and in July she performed alongside Henning Baer at Awakenings. At Spain’s Veta she closed with Philippa Pacho, delivering vibrant funk energy.
Akua admits that while she mainly plays techno, she often feels like an outlier and that European techno spaces feel constrained. “Within techno, I sometimes feel like an outlier,” she says, adding that she needs “a palate cleanser” to balance her sound and explore new directions.
Her résumé includes a breakthrough 2018 Discwoman set, Rinse FM sessions with DJ Stingray, a BBC Radio 1 Guest Mix and an all‑vinyl odyssey for Illian Tape. Now she releases her first official 2026 mix for Recognise series, a two‑sided record inspired by Hyperactive’s mid‑90s ‘Relevance’ mixtape.
The new mix, Recognise 115: Akua, follows a vinyl A‑/B‑side format, pairing jacking house on one side with journeying techno on the other. Akua repeats her credo: “You can’t have techno without house,” emphasizing that true techno DJs understand this.
