Blitz the Ambassador

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. Blitz made his debut as a film director with The Burial of Kojo (2018), and co-directed the musical film Black Is King (2020) alongside Beyoncé, receiving his first Grammy Award nomination. He directed the musical film adaptation The Color Purple (2023). In 2024 Variety listed him as one of the "10 Directors to Watch for 2024".

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), 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 fourth 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 debut 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.

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 is also a 2019 Senior TED (conference) Fellow, and founded the Africa Film Society, an organization focused on the preservation of classic African cinema. He was the recipient of one of the Guggenheim Fellowships for his influence of Ghana.

In 2020, it was announced that Bazawule was set to direct The Color Purple, a film adaptation of Alice Walker's book of the same name and the Broadway musical produced by Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey herself produced the film with Quincy Jones, Scott Sanders and Steven Spielberg. The film starred Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Colman Domingo and Danielle Brooks. It was released in the United States on 25 December 2023 by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film earned him nominations for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Picture and a Black Reel Award for Outstanding Director.

Bazawule's first book, The Scent of Burnt Flowers, was published on June 28, 2022. On 17 March 2022, it was announced that FX would produce a six-episode miniseries based on the book, with Bazawule directing and producing as well as Yahya Abdul-Mateen II starring.

Following the release of The Color Purple, in March 2024, it was announced that Bazawule would reunite with Color Purple distributor Warner Bros. for his next film, Black Samurai, basing it on the legendary Yasuke, an African warrior who became the first Black samurai.

Discography

Studio albums 2009: Stereotype 2011: Native Sun 2014: Afropolitan Dreams 2016: Diasporadical

Soundtrack albums 2019: The Burial of Kojo

EPs 2004: Soul Rebel 2005: Double Consciousness 2009: StereoLive 2013: The Warm Up

Filmography Short film 2011: Native Sun 2016: Diasporadical Trilogia

Feature film 2018: The Burial of Kojo 2020: Black Is King 2023: The Color Purple

TV series 2020: Cherish the Day TBA: The Scent of Burnt Flowers Luxor African Film Festival Grand Nile Prize (Long Narrative)

NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Directing in a Television Movie or Special

Grammy Awards Best Music Film

Black Reel Awards Outstanding Television Documentary or Special

Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Picture

Astra Film Awards Best Picture

Black Reel Awards Outstanding Director

NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Motion Picture)