Album Review: Blitz The Ambassador - Native Sun

(Originally Appears in AU Issue 73, May 2011)

Blitz The Ambassador
Native Sun
[Jakarta]

Native Sun sees classic African highlife and golden age hip-hop awkwardly bumping pelvises, with Ghanaian-born, New York-based musician Blitz The Ambassador unsuccessfully attempting to join the dots between his two home countries. Rather than cutting and chopping up beats, Blitz for the most part simply raps over fully formed African rhythms. But the genres don’t make good bedfellows, and the experience is badly hampered by Blitz’s flow, which lacks rhythm, timing and eloquence. It’s a shame, because the production (courtesy of Blitz himself) is gloriously faithful to the afrobeat sound that emerged from West Africa in the seventies, resembling classic instrumentals that could have been unearthed from Lagos itself. Its standout moment, ‘Accra City Blues’, sees Blitz dropping the manic rhymes, and switching between a more effective crooning vocal and thoughtful spoken word delivery. A wannabe jack-of-all-trades, but a talent none-the-less, a strong second in command on his next album could coax the best out of Blitz. As is, this is an infuriating listen.

4/10

KEY TRACKS: ‘ACCRA CITY BLUES’, ‘THE ORACLE (CHUCK D PSA)’, ‘NATIVE SUN’

FOR FANS OF: FELA KUTI, PUBLIC ENEMY, SIR VICTOR UWAIFO

Blitz the Ambassador - Dear Africa ft. Les Nubians by embassymvmt