He started his career in the late 2000s, publishing four studio albums and being awarded the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Contemporary Music. Blitz made his debut as a film director debut with The Burial of Kojo (2018), and co-directed the musical film Black Is King (2020) alongside Beyoncé, receiving his first Grammy Award nomination. He directed the musical film adaptation The Color Purple (2023).[3][4] In 2024 Variety listed him as one of the "10 Directors to Watch for 2024".[5]
Early life[edit]
Samuel Bazawule was born in Accra, Ghana, on 19 April 1982. He is the third of four children and attended Achimota School. While in school, he amassed awards for his visual art, but later developed an obsession with hip-hop music after hearing his older brother play the Public Enemy album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Drawing on his love for history and social observation, Bazawule began to research and write historically loaded rhymes for which he became famous in school.[6]