Reppin' Brooklyn, NY by way of Ghana (yes, Africa) is the next generation of rebel Hip-Hop, Blitz The Ambassador. A college graduate from Kent State University, Blitz has a deep knowledge of American society and important historical events throughout the course of time.

HHNLive.com writer Quinton Hatfield sits down with Ghana born Blitz The Ambassador to discuss his hometown and its music scene, respecting the history of Hip-Hop, his up-coming album release, rebel music and much more.

Q: How did your time at Kent University help your Rap career?

BTA: It helped me understand the business side of things which I think a lot of MC's and new artists don't get. They really end up getting these deals that's wack as hell just because they don't understand the business. I'm playing a smaller game right now and am able to sell like 10,000 copies independently with each release I put out. With me understanding the business and knowing how it all works and how to sell myself is one of the biggest gains that I learned from college.

Q: That just shows how the game is 90% business 10% music.

BTA: Yeah and I don't think a lot of people really understand that concept. They go into the game thinking "Yo I can spit" and thinking that's all they got to do and they will be alright. The problem is at the end of the day nobody really cares if you can rhyme or not. The labels want to know if they can sell you. These days you don't even have artists developing no more so what you have right now is just straight up you are what your audience is. Most people are getting deals off of selling 100,000 or 50,000 on their own and if you can't do that, they don't want you.

Q: The labels can respect you more if you've moved some units on your own.

BTA: Of course.

Q: You overcame a lot of obstacles in your career. Can you talk a bit about that?

BTA: Well one of the biggest things was being labeled a "conscious" artist. A lot of cats really think that's some soft-ass rap, stopping the violence, and of course that's what I stand for as I try to be a positive. It's a tough label to overcome and show that you're more than that. I'm an artist in my own right. For me I don't see those labels. I make good ass hip-hop and anybody who listens to hip-hop from the old school to the new school or whatever school you from good music is good music, that's what I represent and that's what I do. It ain't easy doing this shit on your own. I don't have no drug money behind my music so I have to go at it hard trying to raise money. That's why I stay on the road constantly pushing my music, because that's how I eat.

Q: You're originally from Ghana. How did you end up in the US?

BTA: I'm originally from Ghana. I was born and raised there. I'm here in Brooklyn, NY, but for me I carry Ghana with me. I definitely never forgot where I'm from and a huge percentage of my music is highly influenced from my background. My background plays a huge role in the music that I write and the topics that I touch on. That's one of the things that sets me apart from a lot of these other MC's. Of course they can talk about Brooklyn, Houston, but very few artists can tell you about a foreign land. They can't tell you about a place they never been and be like "Whoa I never knew it was that crazy over here". That's why they call me The Ambassador. Blitz the Ambassador is because I'm coming from a totally different angle without even just talking about some regular street shit. I'm talking about it from a third world perspective, when you say you're broke because you can't afford the new Jordan's I'm talking about somebody that didn't eat in two days. That's a totally different kind of hustle right there so of course that's one of the things I wear as a badge of honor. Coming from Ghana and seeing what I have seen, I'm better able to communicate with those ideas being on a street or intellectual level. I'm from a third world country so of course I have seen struggle and it's easy for me to relate to what's going on in the streets.

Q: What's the hip-hop scene like in Ghana?

BTA: Well it's picking up and that's one beautiful thing about hip-hop. I was in Ghana listening to KRS-One, Rakim, Public Enemy so I'm coming from that school of hip-hop. The great thing about when we was growing up is we didn't really have too much so we appreciated the little we had. That one record, the cassette tape went around like five to ten motherfuckers. Everybody didn't have the opportunity to get each record from the U.S. or Europe so of course that really puts us in a unique situation. You had to be on your hip-hop because you were a hip-hop head. One of the great things back home is you really got used to hip-hop and that's the same thing if you go to Europe right now. You find out that guy from France, Germany, they still on that real hip-hop shit. They never stopped break-dancing, B-Boying, B-Girling, they never stopped graffiti writing and all those elements that really make hip-hop what it is. It's just sad that where this shit was really born at nobody really respects the culture no more. It's funny when you start going overseas and really see the difference. That's how it was for me back home. In Ghana if you was a hip-hop head you was a hip-hop head. It wasn't about nothing commercial, nothing underground, you just knew hip-hop, you knew the elements, and you communicated those elements. That's the kind of scene that we have there. We have cats that haven't figured out a way to talk about what their going through in Africa, you got cats talking about cash, Crystal, and it's like "Dawg how you talk about all these things when you really don't live it". Everywhere you go you will have people repping the real and people repping the fantasy life, it is no different what is going on out here compared to back home.

Q: How did the song you wrote about Emmett Till come about?

BTA: That song for me was probably one of my proudest moments as an MC. Being able to tell that story was great. The story of Emmett Till came to me when I was in college. I'm like damn near eighteen and I never heard of this dude. One of the main figures in the civil rights era nobody really talks about. I picked up a book and read it and it changed my whole reasoning about how things went back in the day and how fortunate we are to even have the kinds of freedom that we have. We had cats who were getting lynched for nothing and I think that song to me represents how far we come, how we can't take that shit for granted, because the same way it flipped it can flip back. I had to tell the story like it is. His mom had this interview I chopped up for the hook so it's like she's telling the story and I'm just the soundtrack telling a story about this kid getting murdered for nothing.

Q: I see you've been working with some other cats like Jean Grae and Pharoahe Monch. How did you get up with them?

BTA: We put a lot of shows together. I rocked with De La Soul, Talib Kweli, Mos Def. I look up to these guys a lot and without them there wouldn't even be a Blitz The Ambassador. Public Enemy made it possible for Dead Prez and Dead Prez made it possible for Blitz The Ambassador. I did a joint called "Free At Last" with Dead Prez and for me that was like a key moment. Everybody I worked with I admire as their like my bigger brothers and sisters in this game and I respect that. To even be with those cats and rock with them is a beautiful thing.

Q: I see you have a lot of respects for the vets.

BTA: Of course dawg it's all about the vets son, it's all about the pioneers of this shit. If anybody says hip-hop is dead I really can't argue with it, because any culture that don't respect their elders is dead to me. If you got millions of dollars off of hip-hop music and you don't know who DJ Kool Herc is, Afrika Bambaata, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five to me that's a problem. I'm young. I'm like that next generation so of course I got to give props to cats in their thirties who came through and did it in the nineties when we was just fans. These kids out here today have no respect for their elders and at the end of the day that's a dead generation to me. How can you not respect a dude who was writing shit when there wasn't even no sixteen bars, how can you not respect that? Then you wonder why the game is so terrible because nobody respects that. I respect Nas for making a record like "Where Are They Now' and shouting out all these people who influenced him. All these cats Nas talks about like Rakim and everybody is respect, because without Rakim we wouldn't even have a Nas. He's one of the few that can say "Yo I tip my hat to these guys", because without back in the days we wouldn't even have our favorite MC.

Q: I remember reading this one interview where JR Writer was like "Nas is Dead" and I'm like that's crazy.

BTA: Nah son you need to respect the pioneers. If you can't look back and move forward that's a problem. In Ghana we call that "Sankofa" which is looking back to move forward.

Q: Why should fans look out for Blitz The Ambassador?

BTA: Because hip-hop music needs me, hip-hop music needs the voice that's going to be great. Of course BET, MTV, they got us thinking that hip-hop is one thing. Hip-hop is a lot of different things. You had N.W.A., Sir Mix-A-Lot, Public Enemy, because motherfuckers understood that hip-hop was a whole bunch of different things. Today you got the audience thinking hip-hop is that you got to be an ignorant ass motherfucka who can't articulate his points and that to me is ridiculous. I want them to love Blitz. There are cats in the hood that work and have day jobs, not everybody in the hood is an ignorant dude and every sista in the hood is not a hoe. Who is repping them right now? That's why I got to give props to Lupe Fiasco and everybody else that's coming out trying to go a different way. We are all different individuals and that's why I feel fans gotta check for Blitz and at the end of the day, it's only so long that ignorance can rule. You are gonna have people that support the real whenever the real gets to you. Somebody's realness is being shot nine times, realness to somebody else is being able to read a book and talk about Emmett Till. For me I represent my reality and I hope there are enough people out there that can connect with my reality and say "Yo son that dude right there, I'm on what he on".

Q: Any final words for the HHNLive.com readers?

BTA: www.myspace.com/blitztheambassador or www.blitztheambassador.com Shout-out to HHNLIVE.COM for bringing out real underground rebel music and if you with me you will understand what's going on. Keep repping and reading this online magazine because it's the future of hip-hop.