© 2024 Milwaukee Public Media is a service of UW-Milwaukee's College of Letters & Science
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Blitz: The Ambassador Of Hip-Hop And African Music

Quazi King
/
Blitz the Ambassador

Rapper Blitz the Ambassador explains to Tell Me More for the occasional series "In Your Ear," that his favorite songs are the ones that helped shape his sound. "I keep these songs really close because they always remind me of where it all begins, and what makes me the artist that I am," he says.

As his name suggests, Blitz sees himself as an ambassador for Africa and hip-hop.

He champions Who're You, a song by Afro-pop legend Fela Kuti, "because of the urgency and the importance of his sound," Blitz explains. "As an artist who's from Ghana, Fela was somebody that, you know, resonated with everybody and is partially why I got into music, and why I continue to make music."

He points to another song — Public Enemy's Bring The Noise — as his start in hip-hop. "That's where it began for me," he says. But it wasn't as popular at home. "My parents hated the song and hated the title, because it was noisy. But it really, really informed me."


Blitz The Ambassador's Playlist

Who're You by Fela Kuti

Bring The Noise by Public Enemy

Funky Drummer by James Brown

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Tell Me More Staff