Afrika Bambaataa is an American DJ who played an important role in the movement of hip hop in the 1980s. He did his work in the Bronx, New York where he was raised.
Like many in his genre, he is of Caribbean descent and is active in politics, especially in Africa where he took his name Bambaataa after a nineteenth century Zulu chief who led a rebellion against unfair economic policies. This also inspired him to create the Zulu Nation which would channel the energy of the gangs in New York that he had influence and control over into positive things for the community at large.
Like most rappers and hip hop artists of his day, he used his music for political measures, in order to help create a better world for his people.
Afrika Bambaataa was born in 1957 in the Bronx, New York. He was a part of the Black Spades street gang in New York, but quit it to pursue music instead. One of his inspirations for music was James Brown, though he took his music in a very different direction.
In 1977, he began organizing parties and performed the function of DJ for them. He was an excellent user of the turntable and was labeled as the best DJ in the business, though others were more innovative than him. He had an incredible knowledge of music that allowed him to do all manner of musical things in his genre.
He began recording music in 1982 and produced a number of albums in his career. He formed the Zulu Nation which was a music oriented youth organization dedicated to performing music for the greater good of society rather than getting into trouble with the law.
He formed a number of dance and music groups through this youth organization which also helped him work on his rap and hip hop music and helped him become a grandfather of the genre, along with Grandmaster Flash.
His album Planet Rock was the only one to be commercially successful, though it was considered a founding album for hip hop, but his contribution to the genre was more intangible than that anyway. He created several dance and music groups, taking part in a couple of them, and influenced future hip hop and rap artists.
Afrika was nominated to be an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame of 2008. He was also featured in the Rock the Bells tour and performed at the First Annual Tribute Fit For the King of King Records, Mr. Dynamite James Brown, which came as a surprise to everyone else involved as he had shown little sign of caring prior to that point.
He continues to produce albums and work as a DJ today, as well as working with his Zulu nation.
Author Resource:-
Drew Mers is an advertising consultant to to Empire Rehearsal Studios, which rents music rehearsal studios to bands and musicians in Manhattan (New York City) and Queens.
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