disc jockey; music producer
Personal Information
Born April 10 1960, in south Bronx, New York
Career
Leader of the Zulu Nation, 1973; gave first official performance as DJ, Bronx River Community Center, 1976; recorded two cuts, "Jazzy Sensation" and "Planet Rock" with Tommy Boy Records, 1982; released first album, Shango Funk Theology, Tommy Boy, 1984; released albums on Capitol/EMI, 1988 and 1991, and a single with the Jungle Brothers on Warlock, 1990; formed own label, Planet Rock Music, 1992; moved to Profile label, 1993. Took part in documentary, Scratch, 2002.
Life's Work
One can safely assume that, though not widely known, Afrika Bambaataa is one of rap and hip-hop's pioneers. Many may believe that Bambaataa's contribution is small, but he has been in the "rap game" since its inception. He has become a sought after deejay (DJ) as well as a historian for the generations that have followed since the 1980s.
Afrika Bambaataa's personal history parallels the cultural history of hip hop, since he was there in the beginning as one of the first street DJs to achieve recording industry attention as well. Steven Hager, writing for the Village Voice, identified Bambaataa as "founder and number one DJ of the mighty Zulu Nation." Ian Pye called him "a cornerstone of black street culture" in Melody Maker in 1983.
Furthermore, at a time when rap music has become associated with gang violence and drug use in the minds of its critics, Afrika Bambaataa's voice and history remind audiences that hip-hop culture--of which rap is one facet--started as an effort to pull vulnerable inner-city youths away from the dangers of gang membership. In fact, Bambaataa was at the center of that effort, as the press has extensively documented. "Peacemaker, guidance counselor, spiritual advisor, and purveyor of the music in an adolescent, violence-ridden, and educationally-deprived context, Bam is hiphop's great facilitator," Gary Jardim wrote in the Village Voice in 1984. "Stopping bullets with two turntables isn't about sociology, it's about finding the spirit in the music and learning how to flash it."
Bambaataa was born Kevin Donovan in the Bronx River Projects in New York City on April 10, 1960. That environment offered Bambaataa both danger and cultural richness, and, for a time, he became caught up in the danger. In the 1960s the most powerful gang on the streets of New York was the Black Spades; Donovan became a member when the gang sprouted a division in the Bronx River Project, while he was still in junior high school.
Donovan was also interested in politics at this time, bracketing his gang experience in a political consciousness nurtured on the Black Power literature of the Black Panther Information Center, which he was already visiting in the early 1970s. Donovan's influence as a leader in the Bronx River Project Black Spades grew until 1975, when he decided to leave the gang after two police officers ambushed and killed one of his best friends. He threw himself into the music that already supplied a real passion in his life. "While other gang members were playing basketball or hanging out on street corners," Hager commented, "he was scouring record bins for obscure [R&B] recordings." Donovan has credited his mother for nurturing his early love of music, as well as initiating the breadth of his musical knowledge. He was, in Melody Maker's Pye's words, "fed on a healthy multicultural diet, everything from early funk, to Caribbean and African musics, by a mother with the biggest record collection on the block."
In particular Donovan was polishing his talents as a DJ. Donovan became an official DJ at a party at the Bronx River Community Center on November 12, 1976, spinning his records on a sound system that his mother gave him as a graduation present the previous year. "An independent entrepreneur armed with a portable sound system and extensive record collection, the DJ emerged as a new cultural hero in the Bronx in 1975," Hager wrote in the Village Voice.
Donovan changed his name to Afrika Bambaataa Aasim, after a nineteenth century Zulu chief. Bambaataa was among the most prominent of the new DJs, sharing the spotlight with Kool Herc, Kool Dee, and Grandmaster Flash. When the Source interviewed Flash, Herc, and Bambaataa for a hip-hop retrospective in 1993, the writer designated these three as "the founding fathers of hip-hop music," and continued, "as DJs in the '70s, these three brothers were the nucleus of hip-hop--finding the records, defining the trends, and rocking massive crowds at outdoor and indoor jams in parts of the Bronx and Harlem."
Bambaataa used his reputation as a DJ to form a largely nonviolent "gang," eventually known as Zulu Nation. Bambaataa started the Zulus as a social group at Stevenson High School before he graduated in 1975. In a 1992 interview with Louis Romain from The Source, Bambaataa explained that part of the purpose of the crew was safety. "Sometimes, you could lose your equipment. Sometimes you might get rolled on by a crew that didn't like your crew, so you had to have a powerful organization. That's why I had a lot of members in the Zulu Nation. But after that it started branching off into a big social type and awareness organization." That awareness, however, was something that admirers have credited him with encouraging.
A certain political impetus went even into the name of the group, which originated from a film called Zulu. "I thought Zulu was a great movie," Bambaataa told Melody Maker, "because for once the black man was portrayed as brave, and sensitive. The Zulus fought like warriors, but they also spared the British even though they could have wiped them out." By 1977 the Zulu Nation was spreading beyond the Bronx, and by the early 1980s Bambaataa conjectured that the membership had grown beyond a thousand.
As the Zulu Nation flourished, so did Bambaataa's reputation on the streets and at parties. Bambaataa's fame as a DJ was shaped by his ability to mix incongruous and unpredictable cuts, all the while keeping a beat that compelled the crowd to dance. Hager's description in the Village Voice of an early Bambaataa evening typifies his performance: "Bambaataa opened his show with the theme song from the Andy Griffith Show, taped off his television set. He mixed the ditty with a rocking drum beat, followed it with the Munster's theme song and quickly changed gears with 'I Got the Feeling,' by James Brown."
The Village Voice's Hager reported that Bambaataa's "knack for coming up with unexpected cuts and 'bugging out' the audience earned him the title 'Master of Records.'" His work was further enhanced by the other DJ accessories of the time: breakdance crews and MC groups, or rappers, who would rhyme along freestyle to his mixes. His groups of choice included Soul Sonic Force, the Cosmic Force, and the Jazzy Five.
In the infant years of hip-hop, record producers began slipping into the Bronx and Harlem, looking for talented DJs and rappers who might help the music industry make some money from this phenomenon. "Rapper's Delight," a single by the Sugarhill Gang, proved to be a gold mine for the Sugarhill label in 1979. "It was the single that would transform the grass-roots music movement into an entertainment industry," Eric Berman recalled in Rolling Stone in 1993.
Bambaataa released a first single, "Zulu Nation Throwdown," in 1980 on a small independent label. While not as successful as "Rapper's Delight," the record led to a 1981 contract which in return led to the 1982 release of "Jazzy Sensation" and "Planet Rock." The latter in particular, which Mark Dery described in Keyboard as "an unlikely fusion of bleeping, fizzing techno-rock, Zulu surrealism, and deep-fried funk," became "the current smash in the streets, clubs, and airwaves of NYC," as Barry Cooper declared in the Village Voice in 1982. It not only went on to earn a gold record, but also earned one of the first five 12-inch gold records ever. The single was reportedly moving off the shelves at 650,000 copies a week during its peak.
"Planet Rock" became a milestone in the evolution of pop music culture, winning a broad spectrum of listeners and dancers to its electronic, eclectic brand of hip-hop. The song achieved precisely the goal with which Bambaataa had gone into the recording studio--to make a hip-hop record that would bridge the gap between the Bronx and the then-burgeoning New Wave music. New Music mogul Malcolm McLaren, quoted by Hager in the Village Voice, responded to the album with appropriate enthusiasm: "'Planet Rock' is the most rootsy folk music around, the only music coming out of New York City which has tapped and directly related to that guy in the streets with his ghetto blaster....This music has a magical air about it because it's not trapped by the preconditioning and evaluation of what a pop record has to be."
The Village Voice's Jardim raved over "Planet Rock" and its creator in 1983. He declared that "'Planet Rock' turned rap inside out last year" and argued that "D.J.s like Bambaataa are reprogramming, reprocessing, and twisting the insides of pop music textures to find the soul beat patterns of a pancultural future." An article that appeared in Melody Maker identified "Planet Rock" as "probably the single most influential record of the Eighties, not only spawning an entire new genre of electronic funk but indirectly leading to a revolution in the way mainstream soul is conceived, recorded and mixed."
By the time "Looking for the Perfect Beat" came out in 1983, Bambaataa was on tour in Europe with other DJs and rappers. He had become central to pop music in the United States and the United Kingdom, as evidenced by mainstream media attention. Rolling Stone identified him as "a DJ who perhaps has had more influence on hip hop than anyone else." Furthermore, Bambaataa and Zulu Nation were being hailed as miraculous peacemakers of the inner city. Tim Carr, writing for Rolling Stone, described Zulu Nation as "the only inner-city society of its kind ... a tribal-oriented peace-keeping force" and Bambaataa as "a cultural commissar, a former gang leader who has broken through the turf-conscious gang mentality that once terrorized the neighborhoods."
Bambaataa released one more single with Tommy Boy, "Renegades of Funk," just before switching to the French-based Celluloid label in 1984, where he quickly put together his first album, Shango Funk Theology. His new work continued to reflect his interest in bridging musical styles, from Jamaican reggae (he recorded with reggae musician Yellowman) to English New Wave. He created two new rap crews in Shango and Time Zone, both of whom were included on the Celluloid release.
Several more adventurous opportunities for Bambaataa came up in 1984, including the chance to record "Unity" with James Brown, recognized as the father of funk. Early in 1985, Bambaataa tried his hand at mixing black American funk with white British punk on the cut called "World Destruction," which he recorded with Public Image Ltd., the outfit headed by former Sex Pistol John Lydon. 1986 marked the end of Bambaataa's association with Soul Sonic Force. He was also experiencing disputes with both Tommy Boy and Celluloid, which held up the marketing for "Bambaataa's Theme," Beware (The Funk Is Everywhere), and "World Destruction."
Only a year later Bambaataa moved again--this time to the major label security of EMI, where he recorded The Light with the Family, his umbrella name for the Zulu Nation crews that still recorded with him, and an eclectic cast of guest artists. Describing Bambaataa as "the founding figure of electro hip hop," Melody Maker listed the influences that showed up on the album: "Contributors span [pop singer] Boy George and [funk stalwart] George Clinton, Yellowman and Cabaret Voltaire's Mallinder. Every dance genre--go-go, electro-reggae, Seventies funk, hip hop, disco--tries to occupy the same space." A single from the album, called "Reckless" and recorded with the English reggae band UB40, broke the Top 20 in U.K. charts, demonstrating that Bambaataa's popularity was healthy in England, although it was ailing in the United States.
Bambaataa attempted to account for the way his career stumbled in the mid-1980s when he spoke with Andrew Smith from Melody Maker in 1991. "Suddenly I had to change and try to move in new directions," he told Smith. "It was a lot like what happened to [George] Clinton--I had to try to be on a thousand labels, [because] they were afraid of where I was heading. I got really tired of that. I was glad others were having success with stuff they'd got from me, [because] I'm a humble person, but it was frustrating, yeah. Also, I've never been afraid to speak out against the industry, and that hasn't helped."
Although Bambaataa's recording career slipped during the early 1990s, he was still an active and popular DJ. After cutting Decade of Darkness: 1990-2000 on EMI in 1991, Bambaataa decided to try a hand at his own label. He created Planet Rock Music, releasing his Thy Will "B" Funk! in 1992--just as Tommy Boy re-released the now legendary "Planet Rock" on compact disc. The label appeared to be unsuccessful, since the maxi-single "What's the Name of This Nation?" came out on Profile just a year later.
In the mid-1980s, Bambaataa had sensed the direction in which hip-hop was moving, as he told an interviewer from Melody Maker. "I feel that there's a plot to destroy hip hop coming from the record companies and government," he explained, "telling the youth to make crazy records about drugs and disrespecting women and be a clown, be a fool." Almost ten years later, when rap had become the most powerful force in the black music industry, Bambaataa saw his fears coming to life in the lyrics of some young rappers. "Today it gets sickening with the disrespecting of self," he told The Source in 1993. "To me a lot of brothers and sisters lost knowledge of self. They're losing respect of the 'us syndrome' and getting into the 'I syndrome.' You can't build a nation with an 'I.'"
Bambaataa located the problem with hip-hop music stemming primarily from the confines of a racist industry within which black artists have to work, explaining that the "white industry owns [hip-hop] now because they control all the record companies. And all our people that make money worry about Benz's and big houses and fly girls instead of being Black entrepreneurs. You need to take the business back."
Though the public haven't acknowledged Bambaataa's releases in a big monetary way, he is still working at his craft. He has continued to deejay, becoming one of the most wanted in the world. He has contributed music to films, including Vanilla Sky and produced music used by athletic shoe company Nike, for an ad campaign that showed basketball players making music with their feet and basketballs. The ads were hugely popular, and were named as one of the ten best international TV ads and one of the ten best cinema ads. Bambaataa was also named as the spokesman for shoe company, Dada's new TV ads, which included a shoe named after his form group, SoleSonicForce. He, along with Chuck D of Public Enemy, participated in the "Hip-Hop Generation--Hip-Hop as a Movement" Conference, held at the University of Wisconsin.
"Planet Rock" and "Looking For The Perfect Beat" has been included in numerous rap and hip-hop compilation albums. Rhino Records as well as Tommy Boy Records, Bambaataa's former label, have begun reissuing classic rap albums to scores of new fans. Although people today know of Afrika' Bambaataa as a popular deejay and producer, he has, in fact, helped to develop a music genre many thought was a passing fad.
Awards
The Source Hip-Hop Music Awards, Pioneer Award, 1999.
Further Reading
Books
- Contemporary Musicians, Volume 13. Gale Research, 1994.
- Rock Movers and Shakers, edited by Dafydd Rees and Luke Crampton, Billboard Books, 1991.
Periodicals- Billboard, January 27, 2001; March 31, 2001; March 9, 2002.
- Broadcasting & Cable, June 28, 1999.
- Campaign, December 17, 2001.
- Footwear News, July 30, 2001.
- Keyboard, November 1988.
- Melody Maker, June 11, 1983; April 14, 1984; October 20, 1984; July 19, 1986; February 27, 1988; November 2, 1991.
- The Nation, May 15, 2000.
- New York, May 20, 1985.
- Rolling Stone, May 26, 1983; December 23, 1993.
- Source, November 1992; November 1993.
- Village Voice, May 25, 1982; September 21, 1982; January 25, 1983; October 2, 1984.
— Ondine E. Le Blanc and Ashyia N. Henderson
