Blitz The Ambassador-Stereotype-CD-FLAC-2009-THEVOiD

                              DRIFT INTO THE VOID
 Info   
     Artist  | Blitz The Ambassador
     Title   | Stereotype
     Genre   | Hip-Hop                              Format  | Album
     Source  | CD                                   Time    | 50:49
     Label   | Embassy MVMT                         Store   | 2009
     Catalog | n/a                                  Rip     | 2022
     Bitrate | 935 kbps                             Size    | 360.53 MB
     Freq    | 44.1 kHz                             Encoder | FLAC 1.3.1
 Tracks 
     01. Prelude                                                     1:32
     02. Something To Believe                                        4:37
     03. Breathe (Feat. Rob Murat)                                   3:58
     04. Love Remorse (Feat. Rick Bartlett)                          4:20
     05. Instrumentalude                                             1:38
     06. Home                                                        5:01
     07. Ghetto Plantation                                           4:18
     08. Nothing To Lose (Feat. Kate Mattison)                       4:21
     09. Dying To Live (Feat. Tarrey Torae)                          5:14
     10. Beyond The Clouds (Feat. J. Ivy)                            1:53
     11. Remembering The Future                                      7:16
     12. Goodbye Stereotype                                          6:41
 Notes  
     When you listen to hip-hop music, you have certain expectations.  The genre
     has been around long enough now to have conventions and considering the
     sales numbers of rap records and related media, these conventions obviously
     work.  Or do they?  Familiarity breeds contempt, so the saying goes, and
     much of popular rap music now sounds awfully familiar.  Beats, rhymes,
     samplingall these elements have been around now for over twenty years and
     theres a significant part of hip-hop that is now formulaic and repetitive.
     In the early days of rap, the entire freaking genre was about breaking up
     the norm.  Now one pretty much has to go outside the boundaries of major
     label hip-hop to find true innovation anymore.
     With his new album Stereotype, Ghana-by-way-of-New York rapper Blitz the
     Ambassador has created a sound that truly pushes the boundaries of hip-hop
     beyond its established conventions.  Beginning with the arresting image of
     a boom box blowing its own brains out on the album cover (check it and
     youll understand), Blitz serves notice that this is not your typical rap
     album.  Like The Roots, Blitz employs live instrumentation on all his
     songs.  But where The Roots draw from their rock and R&B background, Blitz
     expands the landscape by including the popular African musical styles of
     Highlife and Afrobeat as influences.  Given his skills as a percussionist
     steeped in the musical stylings of his home country Ghana, Blitz is able to
     effectively weave these influences through his songs and create a sound
     that is nothing short of amazing.
     In an exclusive TBTS interview, Blitz discusses the origins of Stereotype:
     Stereotype was definitely a long process. It took 3 years to make. It came
     about because I decided that if I was gonna put something out there that
     was hip hop, then I was gonna challenge the status quo. I decided that I
     needed to put something different into the world, my individual
     contribution to hip hop music.  The reason it took me so long is because I
     had to establish a new sound.  I decided to go with the horns and live
     elements because that was my background. I grew up playing the djembe and
     hearing live music all the time. So I decided to take it to my roots.  To
     make this album I drew from musical styles like afro beat and high life. It
     took a long time but I think that it was well worth it. People can hear the
     difference. When they hear the horns and the live instrumentation they know
     that this isnt a typical hip hop album.
     Stereotype opens with Prelude, where Blitz serves notice that his music
     represents something larger than a set or a city.  As he raps later in the
     album, You got a city behind you, I got a continent.  As the album goes
     forward Blitzs band, the talented Embassy Ensemble, gets plenty of
     opportunities to stretch their legs on tracks like Something to Believe
     and Breathe.  The horn arrangements have a definite Afrobeat sound, and
     Blitz discusses this sound and his own influences including Fela Kuti, who
     many consider to be the father of Afrobeat:
     The live instrumentation is always the first thing that sets me apart from
     99% of hip hop artists.  But honestly I dont even see myself as a hip hop
     artist.  Yes, I rap, but my music is just as influenced by african musical
     styles as by hip hop. . . .[B]oth my music and my lyrics are influenced by
     my Ghanaian up-bringing and I think that is definitely something that
     separates me from the rest of the pack. . . .Fela has influenced my style
     probably more than any other single artist.  My horn arrangement style
     comes from Fela.  But not just his musical style influenced me.  I was
     also, influenced by his ability to speak on current issues, and his ability
     to confront authority, and to speak on the things that he believed in.
     Thats what Blitz the Ambassador is.
     The subject matter of Stereotype is as far-ranging as its musical
     influences.  Lovers Remorse provides a reggae backbeat to a story about
     a relationship gone sour.  Home ruminates on the effects of death through
     a number of character explorations and Nothing to Lose creates a feeling
     of desperation through a repeated bass riff and lines like You cant kill
     me without killing yourself.  On the lead single, Breathe, Blitz raps
     about the current state of hip hop, which he has strong opinions about:
     Right now, the state of rap music is embarrassing.  I think the people
     heralded as the Next are pretty metiocre. Its become a who you know game
     instead of a what you know game.   I think most rappers dont make it based
     on merit.  But I also see opportunities in that, because I think people are
     asking more of artists today because so much mediocrity has crept in.  But
     in reality, I dont even see myself as a rapper first.  I am a musician and
     composer first and foremost.  Rap just happens to be the verbal method I
     choose to express my ideas.   The music is the heart and soul of what I do.
     Ghetto Plantation starts out with Spanish-style acoustic guitar and
     barrels forward with lines like Incarceration is the new plantation.
     This song demonstrates the strongest political statements of the album,
     where Blitz laments that Its easier to build a monument than a movement.
     But dont make the mistake of thinking Blitz is all about dark topics.  The
     next-to-last cut on the album,  Remembering the Future, is the most
     hopeful and the most musically satisfying.  Blitz raps about his struggles
     in getting his music out there and his ultimate confidence in his talent
     and art.  The groove on this track just rolls and is supplemented by a
     jazz-style trumpet solo.  The final part of the song lets the horns rip and
     serves as a fitting closing to such a diverse album.
     Goodbye Stereotype serves as a coda and finds Blitz rapping about how he
     started out as a young hip hop fan in Accra, Ghana.  Despite his misgivings
     about the current state of rap music, its obvious that Blitz is a fan and
     has great respect for hip hop.  No less than Public Enemys Chuck D, who he
     cites as one of the best MCs ever, has publicly backed Blitzs movement.
     Blitz discusses his other heroes:
     Rakim, Chuck D, and Big Daddy Kane. Those people invented the modern style
     of rhyme, especially Rakim.  These guys made lyrics matter.  Today we take
     the modern style of emceeing for granted.  But without them, people like
     Nas and Kweli wouldnt exist.  I appreciate Public Enemy for their ability
     to speak on politics, and social issues.  I appreciate Kane for his style.
     He brought style and fashion to the game.  These three guys represent very
     different styles of emcee, but they are all the best at what they do.
     Theyre the best ever.
     In short, I highly recommend Stereotype as one of the best albums of 2009.
     Blitz has certainly made his vision a reality on this record and hes
     proven himself as a singular talent.  Apart from the musical arrangements
     on Stereotype, Blitz also wrote the musical score for the documentary
     Bronx Princess, which premiered this week on PBS.  There arent many
     rappers with the ability to write and perform instrumental music on this
     scale.
     Produced by  Blitz The Ambassador (tracks: 1-12), Ill Poetic (tracks: 7),
     Optiks (tracks: 1 to 6, 8, 9, 11, 12)

1.2M	00-blitz_the_ambassador-stereotype-cd-flac-2009-thevoid.jpg
4.0K	00-blitz_the_ambassador-stereotype-cd-flac-2009-thevoid.m3u
16K	00-blitz_the_ambassador-stereotype-cd-flac-2009-thevoid.nfo
4.0K	00-blitz_the_ambassador-stereotype-cd-flac-2009-thevoid.sfv
11M	01-blitz_the_ambassador-prelude.flac
33M	02-blitz_the_ambassador-something_to_believe.flac
28M	03-blitz_the_ambassador-breathe_(feat._rob_murat).flac
29M	04-blitz_the_ambassador-love_remorse_(feat._rick_bartlett).flac
12M	05-blitz_the_ambassador-instrumentalude.flac
34M	06-blitz_the_ambassador-home.flac
29M	07-blitz_the_ambassador-ghetto_plantation.flac
32M	08-blitz_the_ambassador-nothing_to_lose_(feat._kate_mattison).flac
34M	09-blitz_the_ambassador-dying_to_live_(feat._tarrey_torae).flac
11M	10-blitz_the_ambassador-beyond_the_clouds_(feat._j._ivy).flac
51M	11-blitz_the_ambassador-remembering_the_future.flac
47M	12-blitz_the_ambassador-goodbye_stereotype.flac
346M	total