Blitz the Ambassador: Where Have All the Rebels Gone?

By Kevin L. Clark
AllHipHop
September 2006

For 24-year-old, Samuel “Blitz the Ambassador” Bazawule – that pretty much sums up who he is. A dedicated and highly driven man, Blitz is not only the CEO of his own record label (Reprisal Records), he’s holds onto his publishing (Sankofa Music Publishing), is a director of two music videos (“Black Market” and “Road Less Traveled”), and is a college graduate from Kent State University.

Blitz has an amazing ability to juggle Hip-Hop with life. He’s been able to pull off some miracles (did a tour in Europe while the rent’s still due!) and has always overcome any obstacle that has been thrown in his way. As an independent entrepreneur, Blitz, has churned out two albums – Soul Rebel and Double Consciousness. Blitz has very thought-provoking music, like the remembrance of Emmett Till with his track called “Emmett sTill.” He still hasn’t reached the heights of his predecessors like Black Thought and Common in terms of mainstream success and still remains a staple, performing mostly shows in small venues and colleges but, his time is sure to come.

The Ambassador is here and he sits down with AllHipHop.com as he talks about how Hip-Hop is the same, regardless of which continent you’re on, why he feels the masses are finally ready to hear his “theme music for the struggle,” and why everyone should be along for the ride.

Because you should be damned if you’ll let this revolution pass you by.

AllHipHop.com: Blitz… It’s an interesting name that is already commonplace in the game. In the mid-eighties, there was a rock band called, “Blitz.” This site, itself, had a song with Nas featuring an artist by the same name. I thought that it was you. Did adding “The Ambassador” help to make you stand out any?

Blitz: Yes, absolutely. The Ambassador is really who I am. You know… Blitz is what many people know me as. But in all essence, I am the ambassador. I was born and raised on the continent of Africa and that not only describes who I am in terms of Hip-Hop, but it also means that I am an ambassador of my people. Slowly, the name Blitz will be phased out and the Ambassador is who I’ll be.

AllHipHop.com: Your story is interesting. Being from Accra, Ghana, then moving to Brooklyn, New York City… finally attending college at Kent State University. How would compare the Hip-Hop scene in the States to what’s going back home?

Blitz: Well… with Hip-Hop, it’s the same thing… people rapping. That’s what I never understood about Hip-Hop. It’s a raw documentary about things that go on around you. People like to document their reality. I think that that’s one big similarity. A difference is that if you can make it in the States, then that means that you’re international and everyone knows about your struggle. You don’t know one good rapper from Africa. There’s hundreds and thousands of them there. The spotlight isn’t there. That’s what got me on this journey. Trying to come to the Mecca [New York] of all this. Trying to be in the middle of the action, while it’s going down… where else better than New York City?

AllHipHop.com: But you know K’Naan…?

Blitz: Yeah, but you really didn’t hear about K’Naan until he got to Canada. The difficult thing is keeping what makes you a distinctive artist. He’s done a great job at that. So has Akon. I plan on following in that same tradition. I want the core of my message to be from a third world perspective. The greater percentage of the world is living in struggle and strife. The same thing that’s going down in Brooklyn is the same that goes on in Africa. How I do my album cover is how I try to be different. The images on those covers speak volumes.

AllHipHop.com: So, how did you come up with the concepts for the images on the album covers?

Blitz: I’m an artist to begin with. Not just being a musician. I always have an idea in my head. Whether it’s for painting… graphic design, whatever. I mean for Soul Rebel – the kid with the gun it mirrored the music. The album had a raw anger. The only way that I could do it is by showing something that was ill visually. Double Consciousness was more so about dabbling in two worlds. How do you depict being African and being American at the same time? I mean in due time, you become Americanized. The cover for that album is where I think that Hip-Hop is. Hip-Hop is on the plantation right now. We don’t own our own publishing, we don’t own our masters, and hell… we don’t even own what comes out of our own mouths. The one with the lady on the turntables was just creatively where I think Hip-Hop is at today.

AllHipHop.com: The themes and music contained in your albums (Soul Rebel and Double Consciousness) are heavily influenced by the likes of W.E.B. DuBois, Dr. Francis Dorsey, Steve Biko, and others. Yet, the “mainstream” public hasn’t really caught onto the movement. Why do you think audiences seem so lackadaisical when it comes to your message, yet gravitate towards a Yung Joc or Young Dro more eagerly?

Blitz: Well, I mean… the truth about it is who wants to know what’s really going on. To know means to do something about it. The more you’re in denial the more you’re better. Look at our communities and I’m talking about all over… not just New York. That’s just a big conflict of interest. It’s all just escapism. People are just trying to get out of what they really live through. I mean with me… I’m comparable to The Roots, so I feel that what I do is more of a reality based rap. It’s more of a documentary style. It’s less Oliver Stone and George Lucas, fantasy type. We all know that documentaries are based on a true story. Face facts, we’re all documentarians and there’s a reason why people will watch Real World [on MTV] versus the newsreel on Channel 1.

AllHipHop.com: On Double Consciousness, you have a song called “Emmett sTill” that breaks down the life and death of Emmett Till. Wasn’t the song supposed to be featured in the Keith Beauchamp documentary about him?

Blitz: That was supposed to happen. It never really did. That’s my favorite record that I ever did… EVER! That song took me so long to just know the whole story about him. Not only to know about it factually, but also to turn it into a Hip-Hop track. It’s by far my most favorite song ever.

AllHipHop.com: Soul Rebel was produced mainly by M. Tilla of The Kickdrums. But Double Consciousness featured a myriad of producers. Why the change?

Blitz: First off, big shouts out to M. Tilla for lacing me with a classic album. One day the world will understand that. I think what the difference was that I grew as an artist. I couldn’t be trapped into one type of music. I had live instrumentation. I had a djembe assemble. I had real musicians to work with. I wanted to do a lot of the co-producing for the tracks. We had a violinist, a cello player, and that’s why I kind of broadened out the production base. For this new album, Suicide Stereotype, I’m trying to get some major producers on the album. I’m hoping for some Preemo, Just Blaze… producers that really are some heat-makers in the industry. But I will always keep my underground flavor to my shit, because that’s who I am. My people like Optiks, Oddisee, Ill Mind, Tilla, and 9th Wonder.

AllHipHop.com: There was supposed to be a remix to “Free At Last” with dead prez. Did that ever come about?

Blitz: Yes… that’s done. It’s features Stic. It’s a serious record. It talks about what freedom really is. He drops a really sick verse on it.

AllHipHop.com: But you do have a few collaborations in the works, correct? How’d you link up with Jean Grae and Pharoahe Monch? Would you ever work with any mainstream artists?

Blitz: I know Jean through her DJ… Bizarro; he used to DJ for her. We have a lot in the works between now and the end of the year. What I’m really focused on is making records with some of my favorite artists. I’ve listened to Monch and Black Star since… forever. I’ve been a fan ever since I was growing up in Accra, Ghana. I’m looking forward to collaborating with my peers. I think that I’m more focused on setting myself apart from everyone else. You can’t really cling onto someone else’s struggle and I have a very distinctive style and voice. My first two albums had absolutely no features. I didn’t want anyone to get sidetracked by featured appearances. I wanted people to get my story wholly. Now, I feel that it is the time to start collaborating with some of the best out there.

AllHipHop.com: Now… I’ve known you for a minute. I even worked for you at one point in both of our careers. In the liner notes of Double Consciousness, you list the staff that was down for the recording. Your management was listed as “nobody.” Do you think that because you’re handling all the day-to-day affairs, on top of being a rapper, that you haven’t been able to become more successful?

Blitz: A lot of people will tell you that if you want something done right, you’re better off doing it yourself. I don’t think that anyone who has longevity in this business has established that by having a lot of people doing the work for them. I am in this business for the long term and if that means sacrificing my short-term goals for long-term experience then I’m better for it. The learning experience has been enormous. There is so much stuff that I know now, that I know I wouldn’t have known about if people were doing the work for me. Where I’m at now… I’m getting calls and interviews from people because of the work that I have been putting in for three years. I need a team now. When you’re starting off… you just need to stick yourself in the studio and just grind out the albums. I’m now focused on reaching the next level. You have to be ready for it and I now feel that I’m absolutely ready for it.

AllHipHop.com: The one thing that I took from you when I worked for you is that you present the best quality work possible. Your albums, videos, and even the shows are all superb quality. Why do you think that you are so into giving your all even though you’re doing this independently?

Blitz: The first thing is that when people hear the word “independent” they think sub-standard product. I’m trying to rip that idea out of people’s mind. I’m trying to make sure that you think super-high quality. People think that they must not be good enough and once you give them an outlet to think that then that’s your lost. I try to make sure that my stuff looks like Jay-Z packaging. I don’t have Jay-Z’s money, but I have Jay-Z’s mind. From my website to my CD to my EPK, the quality is there. I put so much effort and enthusiasm into everything that I do. The artwork… everything that supports the movement. I mean I have a marketing degree. I’m not going to use it for IBM… I’m trying to use it for Hip-Hop! When you see it, I want you to question if I’m not independent. At the end of the day, I want you to say, “Yo… that’s dopeness!”

AllHipHop.com: We’re living in a trying time and your music really reflects a hope that isn’t really expressed in anyone else’s music. But let’s face facts – no one really wants to hear anything positive or uplifting, so why not just change your modus operandi and play into people’s strengths?

Blitz: That’s a lie. When you say that nobody wants to hear anything positive, that’s a lie! They’re not getting fed the truth. Look at it like this, if you feed a kid Burger King all of their life, how would they ever know what the Olive Garden tastes like? Whatever these kids are getting is all of what they’re going to know. It’s our job to tell these kids what’s out here. Not everyone is going to like it. But at the same measure, not everyone is going to like booty-shaking music. I’m amazed at how people talk about how the state of Hip-Hop is. There is a monopoly that has no stake in anything that’s positive. Once upon a time, they were making millions off of Public Enemy. They could make a million off of A-Alikes. We work twice as hard for half as much. We’re going against the machine. You’re trying to use your human element to hook it up. How many times have you had this conversation, “Yo… I want something else?!” You scan the television, the radio, and find nothing. That’s why Gnarls Barkley is successful. It’s not because they’re doing all the way out there music, but because it’s different and is an alternative. I have no stake in making major corporations money. I’m trying to work out a venture for my peoples to be able to be able to live comfortably. You don’t even have to be good nowadays, just bring something different to the table.

AllHipHop.com: What’s next in the works for you?

Blitz: My new album is coming out called Suicide Stereotype. I have a single called “B-Boy Massacre” that’s in the work. I’m working on a short film. I’m a director, as well. It’s really a good story. I’m inspired to go to Africa and bring that lifestyle that people are so oblivious to and take it to the mainstream. That’s what I’m trying to dabble in. Creating quality work. I’m trying to give you things that’ll be the soundtrack to your life.

Find out more about Blitz the Ambassador at his Myspace page.

Source: allhiphop.com