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Talking Music: Blitz the Ambassador

Date

Feb 11 2016

Time

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Location

Forum for Scholars and Publics

011 Old Chemistry Building, Duke's West Campus Quad

Talking Music - A Conversation with Blitz the Ambassador and Yaba Blay

Talking Music

A Conversation with Blitz the Ambassador and Yaba Blay

Ghanaian-born, Brooklyn-based rapper Blitz the Ambassador spoke with Dr.Yaba Blay, Visiting Professor at North Carolina Central University, about his career and hip-hop culture today. The two covered Afropolitanism, urban hip-hop, and Blitz’s unique trajectory born in Ghana, raised in Brooklyn. The conversation preceded Blitz the Ambassador’s concert at Motorco Music Hall, organized by Duke Performances.

Free and open to the public. This event is a part of Talking Music: Conversations with Scholars, Writers, Archivists, and Artists, co-sponsored by Duke Performances and the Forum for Scholars and Publics. This installment in the series is also co-sponsored by the Duke Africa Initiative. Made possible, in part, with a grant from The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation.

Related Coverage

“Blitz truly embodies what it means to be an ambassador for African music and culture. From his style of dress, to the themes that he explores in his music — both sonically and visually — Blitz represents Africa and the African diaspora in an honest, personal, and accessible way.” —Gloria Yayra A. Ayee, Hip-Hop as a Diplomatic Mission: Blitz the Ambassador Shares Music of the African Diaspora, Forum Online

Speakers

Blitz the Ambassador

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…...

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Yaba Blay

Drexel University

Dr. Yaba Blay is a professor, producer, and publisher. As a researcher and ethnographer, she uses personal and social narratives to disrupt fundamental assumptions about cultures and identities. As a cultural worker and producer, she uses images to inform consciousness, incite dialogue, and inspire others into action and transformation. Dr. Blay…...

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