Samuel Bazawule (born 19 April 1982), known professionally as Blitz Bazawule and Blitz the Ambassador, is a Ghanaian filmmaker, author, visual artist, rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer.
He started his career in the late 2000s, publishing four studio albums and being awarded the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Contemporary Music. In 2018, Blitz made his debut as a film director debut with The Burial of Kojo,, which was recognized with the Africa Movie Academy Awards for Best First Feature Film by a Director and was shortlisted at the 77th Golden Globe Awards.
In 2020, Blitz was involved in the direction of musical film Black Is King by American singer and producer Beyoncé, receiving his first Grammy Awards and NAACP Image Awards nominations. He most recently directed the musical reimagining of The Color Purple, produced by Steven Spielberg, Quincy Jones, Scott Sanders and Oprah Winfrey, which is scheduled to be released in the United States on 25 December 2023, by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Bazawule was the recipient of one of the Guggenheim Fellowships for his influence of Ghana.
Early life
Samuel Bazawule was born in Accra, Ghana, on 19 April 1982. He is the third of four children and attended Achimota School. While in school, he amassed awards for his visual art, but later developed an obsession with hip-hop music after hearing his older brother play the Public Enemy album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Drawing on his love for history and social observation, Bazawule began to research and write historically loaded rhymes for which he became famous in school.
Career
After graduation from Achimota School in 2000, Bazawule was first recognized by Ghanaian Ace producer Hammer of The Last Two. Blitz was asked to come to the studio the next day after impressing Hammer with his skills. He recorded a verse on the song "Deeba" and received an award for Best New Artist at the 2000 Ghana Music Awards. In 2001, Blitz moved to the United States to study at Kent State University in Ohio, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration. In those years he performed at several live shows and opening for rappers such as Rakim. In 2004 he self-released the album Soul Rebel, under the moniker Blitz.
After graduation, Blitz moved to New York City. There, he recorded another album, Double Consciousness (2005), and more recently he released Stereotype. The album draws from his diverse musical background. In order to achieve the live sound he was looking for, he formed a band, The Embassy Ensemble, and brushed off his own djembe skills. He established a label, Embassy MVMT, and is now connected to The Roots community initiative Okayplayer.
In late 2009, Blitz the Ambassador was chosen as of one Beyond Race magazine's "50 Emerging Artists". In 2015, Blitz received the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Contemporary Music.
In 2011, he released "Feelin' High" with the French singer Ben Mazue, and in 2012, he was featured on the album Tetra by the French electronic crew C2C. Blitz has also frequently collaborated with Professor A.L.I. featuring on "Things Fall Apart" along with Raekwon in 2011, on the remix "Things Still Fall Apart" in 2012, and on his song "The Mic Shall Inherit The Earth" off of the "XFactor" album in 2015. In 2016 he published his forth studio album Diasporadical and the related short film Diasporadical Trilogia, a triptych with installments set in Accra, New York City and Salvador, Bahia.
In 2018, Blitz directed and wrote his debout film The Burial of Kojo, which featured actors Ama K. Abebrese, Joseph Otsiman, Joyce Anima Misa Amoah and Cynthia Dankwa. The film was acquired by Ava DuVernay’s independent film studio Array for a theatrical and a Netflix release, and premiered at the 2018 Urban World film festival in New York. It received nine nominations at the 15th Africa Movie Academy Awards, winning for Best First Feature Film by a Director, and won the Grand Nile Prize at the Luxor African Film Festival. The film also became the Golden Globes' first Ghanaian film shortlisted for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Director – Motion Picture.
In 2019, Blitz was one of the directors featured in Beyoncé's visual album The Lion King: The Gift and in the related Walt Disney Pictures's musical film Black Is King, for which he was nominated for Best Music Film at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. Blitz starred in the 2019 Whitney Biennial curated by Rujeko Hockley and Jane Panetta. Blitz is also a 2019 Senior TED (conference) Fellow, and founded the Africa Film Society, an organization focused on the preservation of classic African cinema.