Artist-in-Residence: Blitz the Ambassador

Tuesday, February 9, 2016 | 7:00 pm

HIP-HOP & THE REVOLUTION: A CONVERSATION ON HIP-HOP & GLOBAL ACTIVISM WITH BLITZ THE AMBASSADOR & ANGEL DOZIER

Ghanaian-born, Brooklyn-based rapper Blitz the Ambassador will speak with Angel Dozier, director of talent booking at Durham’s Beyù Caffè, about hip-hop in communities across the African diaspora. They’ll explore how hip-hop culture can mobilize those communities toward social and political change.

Tuesday, February 9, 7 – 8:15 PM
Beyù Caffè
335 West Main Street, Durham
Free & open to the public.

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TALKING MUSIC: A CONVERSATION WITH BLITZ THE AMBASSADOR AND YABA BLAY

Ghanaian-born, Brooklyn-based rapper Blitz the Ambassador will speak with Dr. Yaba Blay, Dan Blue Endowed Chair in Political Science at North Carolina Central University, about his career and hip-hop culture today. The two will cover Afropolitanism, urban hip-hop, and Blitz’s unique trajectory.

Thursday, February 11, 12 – 1 PM
Forum for Scholars & Publics, 011 Old Chemistry Building, Duke West Campus (Directions)
Free & open to the public; a light lunch will be served for all attendees starting at 11:45 AM.

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Ghanaian-American rapper Blitz the Ambassador makes no bones about his mission. He blends elements of Ghanaian highlife with the fiercest and most socially engaged ’90s hip-hop, drawing inspiration from the super-charged rhythms of Fela Kuti and the thunderous delivery of his hero Chuck D. The result is a pointed commentary about Africa and America that is at once smart and outrageously danceable. “Blitz is one of the leading voices in the growing movement connecting the classic sound of American hip-hop with stories and musical traditions of Africa and the African diaspora” (Afropop Worldwide).