Afrika Bambaataa, an American DJ and producer considered one of the fathers of hip-hop, took the genre into the future by fusing it with Kraftwerk-inspired electronic music on the innovative and global hit song ‘Planet Rock’. His legacy was later tarnished by a series of allegations of child sexual abuse, which led to him stepping down from the leadership of the Universal Zulu Nation. He died at the age of 68, as reported by TMZ, due to complications from cancer.
Born to immigrant parents from Jamaica and Barbados, Bambaataa – whose real name was Lance Taylor – became known in the New York party scene in the mid-70s thanks to his sets as a hip-hop DJ. In 1973, still a teenager and a member of the musical collective Black Spades, he founded the Universal Zulu Nation, a hip-hop awareness organization that sought to distance youth from violence and channel them toward creativity.
Bambaataa’s vision of hip-hop was global and helped transform the Bronx into “the cradle of a culture that today reaches every corner of the world,” said the Rev. Dr. Kurtis Blow Walker, executive director of the Hip Hop Alliance.
‘Planet Rock’, his 1982 hit, transformed hip-hop forever and contributed to the birth of electro-funk by fusing hip-hop rhythms with the Roland TR-808 synthesizer, which produced percussion and electronic sounds inspired by the science fiction aesthetic of the time, especially the music of Kraftwerk. The song proposed a cosmic vision of hip-hop that was unheard of at the time and also influenced the development of breakdancing.
In May 2016, Bambaataa stepped down from his position as leader of the Universal Zulu Nation due to multiple allegations of child sexual abuse dating back to the 1970s. In a statement published in Rolling Stone, Bambaataa denied the allegations.
