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Home > Prizes > Prize Recipients > Samuel Bazawule

Samuel Bazawule

2013 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Contemporary Music

A black and white photo of Samuel Bazawule.
Photo courtesy of Jahse
Location

Brooklyn, NY

Title

Blitz the Ambassador; performing artist; rapper; filmmaker

Area(s) of Research

Hip-hop; rap; film

Education

Kent State University, OH

Country of Birth

Ghana

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A black and white photo of Samuel Bazawule.
Photo courtesy of Jahse

Hip-hop was the soundtrack for Samuel Bazawule growing up in Accra, Ghana; later, it gave him his own voice. Today, performing as Blitz the Ambassador, he is using hip-hop to “give others a voice.” How music moved from the background to the foreground of this young artist’s life has all to do with the 1992 appearance of the politically and socially conscious rap group Public Enemy in his country, when he was 10. “The impact of that show would last my whole life,” he says.

As a child, Bazawule drew famous soccer players and musicians, all the while listening to music. “The special thing about life in Accra,” he recalls, “was that music was everywhere — from funerals to baby-naming ceremonies.” Once “caught by the hip-hop bug,” he began his music theory “training” by memorizing raps and studying the masters: Chuck D., Rakim, and KRS-One.
He shaped his own sound and immigrated to America in 2001 as a college student, earning degrees in business management and marketing, but never veered from his true purpose: “to become outspoken about justice and political issues in Africa and in the world” through his music, putting together a band, The Embassy Ensemble.

Blitz has released two full-length albums, Stereotype (2009) and Native Sun (2011); as visual accompaniment to the latter, he wrote and co-directed a short film of the same name, filmed in Ghana and scored with music from the album.

Shifting effortlessly between English, Twi (pronounced “trwee,” his native tongue), and West African pigeon, multilingual Blitz has performed at music festivals all over the world. His proudest achievement, though, was the homecoming concert he performed with his full band in Accra in 2011. His musical collaborations include those with Grammy Award-nominated duo Les Nubians, JUNO Award-winning Shad, and Chuck D.

 

Awards and Accomplishments

  • Beyond Race magazine’s “50 Emerging Artists” (2012)
  • Best New Artist at the Ghana Music Awards (2000)

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Jury Members

2013 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Contemporary Music

Victor Gonzalez

President, Universal Music Latin Entertainment

Rekha Malhotra (DJ Rekha)

Teaching Faculty, New York University Clive Davis School of Recorded Music

Georgia Anne Muldrow

Performer, Songwriter, and Producer

Chris Sampson

Associate Dean and Director, Popular Music Program, USC Thornton School of Music

Bob Santelli

Executive Director, The GRAMMY Museum
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Related Prize Recipients

James Abrahart

James “JHart” Abrahart receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Contemporary Music for his diverse songwriting for renowned pop, hip-hop, and R&B artists.
James Abrahart

Tigran Hamasyan

Tigran Hamasyan receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Contemporary Music for skillfully blending Armenian folk music, classical music, beatboxing, and funk to create a unique jazz sound.
Tigran

Ruby Ibarra

Ruby Ibarra receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Music for her hip-hop and spoken word performances that center her experience as a Filipina American woman, and for her powerful lyrics that address colonialism, immigration, colorism, and misogyny.
Portrait of Ruby Ibarra.

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