Published: Tuesday - March 4, 2008
Words by Anne van de Sande
Blitz The Ambassador (Photo: Jesse Brown Photography)
Global citizens travel the world for many reasons -- like to discover new cultures, for work obligations or to be with a special someone. Blitz The Ambassador -- born and raised in Ghana -- moved to the other side of the pond and started a new life in America. The main reason he moved to New York -- the city where the apple of his eye was born and still resides -- was to get closer to the love of his life: hip-hop. "Ghana is all about the people," Blitz says. "I can honestly say the most important thing behind the music that formed the foundation of my life growing up was the people. Not the richest in terms of material things, but the richest spirits I've ever seen."
Moving from Ghana to such an overwhelming city as New York wasn't exactly a culture shock for Blitz, as he states the Big Apple is just like any other large city in the world. "Snakes, rats, cut throats, crooked cops, over priced shitty apartment... the list goes on and on," he explains. "I consider myself a global citizen, so adjusting was nothing for me."
Growing up in Ghana and living in Brooklyn made him see the good, the bad and the ugly and all that ended up being his inspiration. The competition is New York is always stiff. You have to constantly stay sharp and find new ways of getting yourself out there because there are literally thousands of MCs that will gladly snatch your spot. Blitz looks at in from a positive side; if you make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.
At the early age of eight, Blitz The Ambassador lost his heart to hip-hop, which he got introduced to by his older brother. "You know back in the day tapes of Rakim, KRS, Kane, PE... That's when I fell in love with it. I can honestly say the attraction between me and the culture was all about identifying with people who had similar problems as me, but lived on a different continent," Blitz recalls. "What was dope was they had found a way to let the world know what they were going through and through that voice, I found mine."
In one of his new promo tracks, "Hands Of Time," a sly Blitz takes the listener on a journey through his experiences with hip-hop as he presents a sharp delivery over versatile samples. From "If I could take you back in time, I would / Take you back to the eighties when sh-- was all good / KRS, Scott La Rock had the world in their palm / And the whole wide world represented the Bronx / Around the same time crime was evident / Rakim was the God MC, Erik B was president / Hip-hop gave us reason to fight / Public Enemy had the remedy, don't believe in the hype / Said the streets need something to lead us," he fast forwards to the current state, "if I could turn back the hands of time, no I couldn't / Cause we already hear, it's 2000 and something / Jay-Z ruled the war when he faded to black / Hip-hop was big business and less about rap."
After giving birth to two underground album standouts -- Soul Rebel and Double Consciousness -- Blitz and hip-hop are expecting again. The name of their third love child is Suicide Stereotype, which will differ a lot from the previous releases. Blitz fuses hip-hop with afrohop, jazz, Latin and even rock into a fresh hybrid, making it a sum total of all of his influences. "I've been working on the album for three years and that has helped me take my time to find the right collaborators and musicians to work with. I worked with an eight piece brass ensemble from Chicago called Hypnotic, collaborated with a string quartet lead by German composer and violinist Queen Rose," he reveals. "I also recorded with Brooklyn-based alternative rock band Mattison and Soul Maestro, and multi instrumentalist Rob Murat. All these collaborations shaped the album into a genre bending blend of good music so its really sounds like something new."
Suicide Stereotype is almost done and will hit stores later on this year. Blitz wants listeners to feel something new, like they are experiencing something they have never experienced before but at the same time some elements should feel familiar to them. He calls it "remembering the future."
Brooklyn is where Blitz honed his skills lyrically as an MC. He crafted a unique sound, influenced by artists such as Mos Def, Talib, Common and soul artist Miles Davis -- bridging the gap between the soulful sounds of the streets and politics. But don't label him "conscious" just because he speaks about politics. "I understand the whole conscious label as a way to categorize and sell records, but I don't believe just because you speak about political issues in your rhymes automatically gives you a monopoly on consciousness," he says. "I mean NWA had a level of consciousness that Public Enemy did not have and vice versa, so I don't believe in labeling. Hip-hop in its core is synonymous to change so it will continue to bring about change regardless of which box you put it in."
In between wrapping up his new album and throwing himself away on promotional activities, Blitz The Ambassador has been performing with hip-hop heavy weights in sold out venues. He performed with the likes of Public Enemy, Freeway and Akon among others. It takes a lot of practice to make the transition from doing small, intimate shows to performing in big venues. "I've really come a long way as far as live shows go," he states. "The last show I did was with an eight piece band with full horn section, which is real different from how I started. I mean, it used to be just me and a DJ when I begun. I think that slowly building my band has helped me reach a larger demographic since I'm able to play at venues that would never book just me with just a DJ. Also I think it's good for hip-hop when live instruments are used because it helps artist break out of the basic looped sample. I think playing those shows consistently with my helped me write more songs with live instruments since it's easier to play the parts when they are done live from scratch." One of Blitz' highest points of his career was opening for one of his heroes, KRS-One, in front of 6000 people at Prospect Park.
After being married to someone for a longer period, you get to know their weak characteristics and bad sides. But you accept them and learn to deal with these shortenings because you love your partner. Same goes for Blitz and hip-hop. He expresses his frustrations through a cartoonish man that graces his new album cover, website and promotional stuff: a man with a boom box head, blowing his head off. "Well, that cover was just an expression of my frustrations with the music industry and how it continues to kill the art, thinking it can survive without it; but the process of killing the art is killing the industry," he explains. "So it is no coincidence that record sales are at an all time low. So the cover is just a reflection of the time we are in."
On another note, the genre has overcome racial and class boundaries more than anything. You go to a hip-hop show and it's all kind of people, from all kinds of racial and economic backgrounds -- amicable nodding their heads to the same song. "Where I feel hip-hop diversity has failed is the issue of gender," Blitz says. "I mean, you can't even mention more than five female rappers in the game today. How sad is that?"
It's clear that Blitz and hip-hop have a steady marriage. They have come a long way, but fortunately for the hip-hop heads, they have even farther to go.
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