Blitz the Ambassador

Blitz the Ambassador

Born and raised in Accra, Ghana, Blitz the Ambassador grew up to the sounds of Afro-Beat, Highlife, Jazz, and Motown. From an early age he played djembe in local drum circles and dance troupes. “Live music was always a part of my life,” says Blitz. “It’s hard to find a Ghanaian kid who wasn’t part of some band.” But when his older brother introduced him to Public Enemy’s classic album, It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, he was changed forever. “I had never heard young Black people express themselves in that way before,” recalls Blitz.

After moving to the U.S. to attend college, Blitz continued to hone his musical skills, and grew a large following in Ohio as undergrad at Kent State University. After graduation, Blitz moved to New York City and began to record, Stereotype. This live-instrument-laden, musical exploration, is Blitz’ sonic manifesto. “I set out to change the way hip-hop approaches live instrumentation, to create synergy between all of the sounds on my personal playlist.” Drawing from his diverse musical background, he dove into the project with the explicit intent of pushing the boundaries of Hip Hop music. In the process of recording the album, Blitz formed the band, The Embassy Ensemble, a musical collective of classically trained artists who grew up on Hip Hop. After three long years of recording, Blitz took the album to several. Getting the run around one to many times, Blitz decided go it alone. “One day I just said, ‘Fuck it’,” recounts Blitz. “I was tired of record labels telling me I had to be like somebody else. So I came home and wrote, Rememebering the Future,” Blitz explains. This epic, track illustrates Blitz’ refusal to be a Stereotypical rapper. The chorus of the song is, ‘I am who I am / and you can never change me / Reaching for the sun / remembering the future.’

Tanya Morgan

Tanya Morgan

Tanya Morgan is a rap group.  And that seems apparently clear after their soon-to-be-classic sophomore album, Brooklynati (May 12 – Interdependent Media) started earning them Native Tongue comparisons from the likes of Billboard, Vibe, Spin, and XXL Magazine.  “Tanya Morgan are like the sons of De La Soul — soulful, stressed, effortlessly smart flows, intricate production, the whole package,” SPIN Music Editor Charles Aaron says of the up-and-coming rappers — high praise, indeed. Tanya Morgan’s 2009 album, Brooklynati, received Best of Year list honors from AllMusic, eMusic and PopMatters while Time Out NY Music Editor, Steve Smith, chose Brooklynati (Listen/Download) as his #1 Album of the year across all genres.


Hailing from both Brooklyn and Cincinnati, Tanya Morgan formed on the message boards of Okayplayer.com in 2003 when Don Will, Ilyas and Von Pea were all solo artists swapping demos and new verses with each other for feedback.  The three MCs decided to collaborate for a one-off project and settled on the name Tanya Morgan – an inside joke to trick hip-hop crate-diggers and sample-searchers into thinking the record was an old-school soul singer.  After their debut album, Moonlighting, was endorsed by the likes of ?uestlove in 2006 and was received enthusiastically by fans, Tanya Morgan decided to keep working together and maintain the name.  After nearly 6 years as a group, the name just means expect the unexpected, and that is exactly what fans have come to love and respect about Tanya Morgan as a rap group.


Tanya Morgan has already had a great start to 2010, completing their first headlining tour of the US which included several smash appearances at SXSW in Austin, TX. They also headlined 4 dates in the UK (London, Cardiff, Ipswich and Penzance) which were all a smash success. Group member Don Will just released a solo album called Don Cusack in High Fidelity (March 23rd) – based on the cult classic film of the same title – to rave reviews. Members Von Pea and Donwill also released a project called The Sandwich Shop, which has them rapping nimbly over production laid by The Roots, taken from their nightly gig on the TV talk show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.


DOWNLOAD The Sandwich Shop
Tanya Morgan Myspace


Billboard.com Video Premier “Bang & Boogie”


TANYA MORGAN – BANG + BOOGIE DIRECTED BY BERMAN FENELUS from ALL AREA CREW on Vimeo.

“So Damn Down” Music Video in Rotation on MTV Jamz, MTVu, and MTV2:

The Bamboozle Festival: Tanya Morgan played The Bamboozle May 1, 2010, a major music festival in New Jersey headlined by Drake, Paramore and Ke$ha, among others.


Touring: Tanya Morgan completed a 10-city headlining tour of the East Coast (US) in March. We also have opened shows for Drake (February 10) and Fabolous (December 09) in recent months, and performed in several shows at SXSW, including the URB.com 20th Anniversary Show. In May 2010, Tanya Morgan completed their first tour overseas, with 4 very successful shows in the UK.


Tanya Morgan Endorsed / Co-Signed by Talib Kweli (video):


Brooklynati, Best of 2009: Tanya Morgan’s Brooklynati received Best of 2009 list honors from AllMusic, eMusic and PopMatters while Time Out NY Music Editor, Steve Smith, chose Brooklynati as his #1 Album of the year across all genres.


Donwill: Don Cusack In High Fidelity (solo album):



Click Here to Read His NY Mag Q&A
Check out the 4 Star Review In URB Magazine