When ruthless New York City street gangs ran wild through the rotten apple jungles the man we know today as, Afrika Bambaataa, was not yet known as the “Master of Records.”
Before the positive Zulu Nation force was formed, Bambaataa was the godfather of another movement—the notorious Bronx River gang, The Savage Seven (a.k.a. The Black Spades). After a visit to Africa, the infamous hip hop legend had an epiphany, which eventually sparked his name change to Afrika Bambaataa Aasim, and a brand new outlook on life, violence, and his community.
Always known for his avid record collecting, Bambaataa eventually started spinning records after catching inspiration from another renowned hip hop legend, DJ Kool Herc. In 1972 Herc was most known for his block parties where he would take James Brown funk records and repeatedly play the breaks for people to dance to. Bambaataa noticed that he had many of the same records and started to have his own Bronx bashes with former members of the Black Spades gang and other members of the community.
As Bambaataa’s name began to bloom around his neighborhood he decided to form an organization. Originally called Bronx River Organization, Afrika would put on DJ performances at his local community center with other urban artists: breakdancers, rappers, graffiti artists, and other DJs. The popular ‘organization’ would later blossom into one of the most celebrated and recognized urban coalitions to ever exist—The Zulu Nation.
Over the years Afrika Bambaataa turned into a household name in New York City. Winning numerous DJ battles, throwing infamous parties at large venues, and introducing various genres of music (Go-Go, Salsa, Reggae) as well as popular pro-black speeches (Malcom X, Martin Luther King Jr.) over music during his DJ sessions. However, it wasn’t until 1982 and a re-worked record, “Trans-Europe Express” by Kraftwerk, that Afrika Bambaataa became a household name on a global scale.
With the help of Tom Silverman, John Robie, Arthur Baker, the Soulsonic Force, and a funky sample from a European dance giant—the planet was rocked. “Planet Rock” went gold within only a few months and continues to sell to this very day with the help of various remixes. This track, along with Afrika’s continual use of drum machines and funky computer sounds, is said by many to have changed the face of hip hop, R&B, and black music as a whole. “Planet Rock” alone helped materialize many other popular genres of music, such as: Freestyle, House, Electronica, Bass, and other forms of Techno. The track also stands as the most sampled piece of hip hop music of all time.
After the success of the electro-funkified hip hop hit, Bambaataa decided to spread his music and the hip hop culture around the world and became the first hip hop artist to ever hold a European concert in Paris, France. From that day forward Afrika Bambaataa has remained one of the most prominent voices and leaders of hip hop culture and is also recognized as a humanitarian and a renowned provocateur of peace and cultural roots.
Since 1980, Afrika Bambaataa has made or has been featured on over 35 albums. On September 27th of this year it was announced that Afrika Bambaata was one of the nine nominees for the 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductions.
If there was a hip hop Mount Rushmore, without a shadow of a doubt, Afrika Bambaataa’s head would be one of the four granite formations. So for the new generation of hip hop lovers remember to respect his name, as well as his contributions to the culture, and the world of music as a whole. He is truly a legend, and without him our planet would have never been rocked.
