I know what you’re thinking. Oh look, it’s another so-called “conscious” rapper. Just another album full of bitching and moaning without offering any solutions. Well, take a closer look. Blitz (real name Sam Bazawule), certainly has the credentials. Growing up in poverty-stricken Ghana, Blitz experienced first-hand more social strife then most of us will ever know. At age 17, Blitz moved to Brooklyn, where he spent a year and a half before deciding to pursue an education. He enrolled at Kent State, where he quickly became a local star and founded his own record label, Reprisal Records.
Double Consciousness is Blitz’s second album after his 2004 release “Soul Rebel”
For a relative unknown, Blitz teams up with some impressive names, including Dead Prez, Jean Grae, and Wordsmith. The first standout track of the album is the explosive “War”, in which Blitz uses a rhyming style that becomes a pattern throughout the album. Blitz spits quick, powerful verses which are rarely more than half a minute long, which gives much of the album a hurried, intense feel. It’s a unique sound that works pretty well.
Blitz does the usual “conscious” rapper thing, pointing out various evils and injustices in the world. But where Blitz differs is in that he also offers hope in his lyrics and an urging for people to get involved. Blitz also shows off his story-telling skills in another standout track, “Emmitt Still”, which is one of the darker-sounding tracks on an album that mostly incorporates a more soulful sound. And did I mention Dead Prez is on the album? They contribute their talents to the best track on the album, “Free at Last”.
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But there are some cons I have to speak on. First of all, there are some tracks that could and should have been left off the album. “Need You” is a nice little love song, but sounds completely out of place on an album otherwise dedicated to politically and socially charged music. This is followed by an instrumental that seems almost as randomly thrown in. “Sankofa” is a nice tribute to Blitz’s African heritage, but is nonetheless a fairly annoying minute and a half. Another problem is that the album is just too short. Although on the official site the track listing shows a couple bonus songs, so that would help.
But these factors don’t mean this still isn’t a damn good album. Because it is. Blitz offers some excellent material here and plenty of food-for-thought. Sure, go ahead and box him into the category of another “conscious” rapper. But recognize that he operates outside that box. He ends every concert with the words, “five fingers in the air mean nothing, you and I gotta get involved.” Do yourself a favor and listen up.
