AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The musician known as Afrika Bambaataa has died. He was 68 years old. Bambaataa was a pioneer in the creation of hip-hop and electronic music. He threw influential parties in New York City in the 1970s and '80s. But later in his life, Bambaataa was accused by several men of having sexually abused them years earlier when they were children. He denied those allegations. NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento reports.
ISABELLA GOMEZ SARMIENTO, BYLINE: Afrika Bambaataa was born Lance Taylor in 1957. Growing up in the South Bronx in New York, he was involved in neighborhood gangs. He was a teenager when the beginnings of hip-hop were emerging - graffiti, breakdancing and DJing. He formed a cultural collective in 1973 that would eventually be known as the Universal Zulu Nation. As he said in a 2009 interview published on YouTube by Signed Media...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
AFRIKA BAMBAATAA: I was seeing all this that was happening before what we called hip-hop and decided to make this as a cultural movement.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: The Zulu Nation made political awareness and social action a key component of hip-hop culture. At the time, the young Bambaataa was spinning funk, soul and rock records at parties alongside legendary DJs like Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash. A new art form was developing. The DJs would isolate, loop and rearrange instrumental breaks in songs, creating space for MCs to rap over the music. Bambaataa started two rap crews - the Soulsonic Force and The Jazzy 5.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JAZZY SENSATION")
AFRIKA BAMBAATAA: (Singing) Now all the ladies in the house.
THE JAZZY 5: (Singing) The ladies, the ladies.
AFRIKA BAMBAATAA: (Singing) The ladies in the house.
THE JAZZY 5: (Singing) Come on. Let me hear you say ahh-oww (ph).
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Bambaataa's specialty was pulling deep cuts from his extensive record collection, which started as an inheritance from his mother. He spent much of his time crate digging in vinyl shops around New York City, pulling all sorts of eclectic genres into the mix - punk rock, new wave, and international electronic groups like the Japanese band Yellow Magic Orchestra and the German group Kraftwerk.
(SOUNDBITE OF AFRIKA BAMBAATAA AND SOULSONIC FORCE SONG, "PLANET ROCK")
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: In 1982, he released the groundbreaking track "Planet Rock," which pulled influences from Kraftwerk and incorporated drum machines, synthesizers and futuristic vocals.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PLANET ROCK")
AFRIKA BAMBAATAA AND SOULSONIC FORCE: (Rapping) Rock, rock to the planet rock. Don't stop. Rock, rock to the planet rock. Don't stop.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: "Planet Rock" was Bambaataa's first and only hit on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 48. But songs like this one helped set a template for how electronic music, hip-hop and funk could exist with a punk rock spirit all at the same time.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOOKING FOR THE PERFECT BEAT")
AFRIKA BAMBAATAA: (Singing) Looking for the perfect beat.
SOULSONIC FORCE: (Singing) Searching for the perfect beat.
AFRIKA BAMBAATAA: (Singing) Looking for the perfect beat.
SOULSONIC FORCE: (Singing) Seeking for the perfect beat.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Bambaataa helped produce the 1985 anti-apartheid anthem "Sun City," featuring Bob Dylan, George Clinton, Ringo Starr and dozens more. He came to be seen as one of the foundational figures in hip-hop history. In 2016, several men accused Bambaataa of having sexually abused them when they were minors. The alleged incidents dated back to the early 1980s. In an interview with Fox 5 New York in 2016, he denied the allegations.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
AFRIKA BAMBAATAA: I never abused nobody.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: But that same year, he was forced to step down from his role as head of the Universal Zulu Nation. In 2025, Bambaataa lost a civil lawsuit accusing him of having sexually abused a boy in 1991. The producer did not address the lawsuit or show up in court. Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF TIWA SAVAGE SONG, "LOST TIME") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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