Blitz Bazawule is a Ghanaian filmmaker, author, visual artist, rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for directing and co-writing the critically acclaimed and award-winning films The Burial of Kojo (2018) and The Color Purple (2023), based on the novels by William Boyd and Alice Walker, respectively. He also co-directed Black Is King (2020), a musical film by American singer and producer Beyoncé, which earned him a Grammy nomination. He is also the creator of the musical project Afropolitan Dreams (2014), which blends Afrobeat, hip hop, and jazz influences. He has released four studio albums under the name Blitz the Ambassador and raps in English, Twi, and West African Pidgin.
Early life and career[]
Bazawule was born in 1982 in Accra, Ghana, where he attended Achimota School. He developed a love for drawing, jazz, Ghanaian highlife, Motown, and Afrobeat music from an early age. He was inspired to pursue hip hop after hearing the Public Enemy album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. He began to write and perform rap songs that incorporated historical and social themes. He won the Best New Artist award at the 2000 Ghana Music Awards for his verse on the song “Deeba” by Hammer of The Last Two. In 2001, Bazawule moved to the United States to study at Kent State University in Ohio, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He continued to make music and perform at various venues, opening for artists such as Rakim. He moved to New York City in 2004 and self-released his first album, Soul Rebel, under the moniker Blitz. He followed it with Double Consciousness in 2005.
Musical projects[]
Bazawule's musical style evolved to incorporate more diverse influences from his African heritage and his global travels. He formed a band, The Embassy Ensemble, to create a live sound that fused Afrobeat, hip hop, and jazz. He also adopted the stage name Blitz the Ambassador, reflecting his role as a cultural ambassador for Africa. He released his third album, Stereotype, in 2009, which featured collaborations with Seun Kuti, Angelique Kidjo, and Nneka. He also co-wrote and performed the theme song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, "Oh Africa", with Akon and Keri Hilson. His fourth album, Afropolitan Dreams, was released in 2014, and featured guest appearances by Chuck D, Les Nubians, Oumou Sangaré, and Baloji. The album was accompanied by a short film of the same name, directed by Bazawule, which chronicled his journey from Ghana to New York.
Film projects[]
Bazawule made his feature film directorial debut with The Burial of Kojo, which he also wrote, produced, and composed the score for. The film tells the story of a young girl who embarks on a magical adventure to rescue her father after he goes missing in a gold mine in Ghana. The film was shot in Ghana with a local cast, who speak Twi for most of the film. Bazawule funded the film with his own money and raised additional funds through Kickstarter. The film premiered at the Urbanworld Film Festival in 2018, where it won the Best Narrative Feature Award. It was acquired by Ava DuVernay's distribution company Array and released on Netflix in 2019, becoming the first Ghanaian film to be streamed on the platform. The film also won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best First Feature Film by a Director and the Luxor African Film Festival Award for Best Long Narrative.
In 2020, Bazawule co-directed Black Is King with Beyoncé, based on the music of The Lion King: The Gift, an album inspired by the 2019 remake of The Lion King. The film celebrates the beauty and diversity of African cultures and features several African artists, such as Burna Boy, Shatta Wale, Tiwa Savage, and Wizkid. The film was released on Disney+ and received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences. It also earned Bazawule his first Grammy nomination for Best Music Film.
Bazawule's latest film is The Color Purple, a musical adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, which follows the life of a young black woman named Celie who struggles with racism, sexism, and abuse in the early 20th century America. Bazawule co-wrote the screenplay with Marcus Gardley and directed the film, which features original songs by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray, and an original score by Kris Bowers. The film stars Fantasia Barrino as Celie, Danielle Brooks as Sofia, Taraji P. Henson as Shug Avery, Corey Hawkins as Harpo, Colman Domingo as Mister, and Ciara as Nettie. It is produced by Steven Spielberg, Quincy Jones, Scott Sanders, and Winfrey, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was released on December 25, 2023, in the United States.
Awards and recognition[]
Bazawule has received several awards and honors for his work in music and film. He was awarded the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Contemporary Music in 2017, which recognizes immigrants who have made significant contributions to American society through their artistic, scientific, or humanitarian efforts. He was also named one of the 100 Most Influential Africans by New African magazine in 2019. In 2020, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship for his influence on Ghanaian culture and art. He was also nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture (Television) for his work on Black Is King.
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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page Blitz the Ambassador. The revision history lists the authors. The text on Warner Bros. Entertainment Wiki and Wikipedia is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA). |