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Afrika Bambaataa

Born in New York, NY [The Bronx]

Afrika Bambaataa's Genre:

Old-School Rap, Rap, Electro, Club/Dance, Electronic, Urban, R&B

Biography

A seminal Bronx DJ during the 1970s, Afrika Bambaataa ascended to godfather status with Planet Rock, the 1982 hip-hop classic which blended the beats of hip-hop with techno-pop futurism inspired by German pioneers Kraftwerk. Even before he began recording in 1980, Bambaataa was hip-hop's foremost DJ, an organizer and promoter of the large block parties during the mid- to late '70s which presaged the rise of rap. After the success of Planet Rock, he recorded electro-oriented rap only sparingly, concentrating instead on fusion -- exemplified by his singles with ex-Sex Pistol John Lydon and fellow godfather James Brown. Bambaataa had moved to the background by the late '80s (as far as hip-hop was concerned), but the rise of his Zulu Nation collective -- including De La Soul, Queen Latifah, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Jungle Brothers -- found him once more being tipped as one of rap's founding fathers.

Born in the Bronx on April 17, 1957, Afrika Bambaataa Aasim took his name from a 19th century Zulu chief. Beginning in 1977, Bambaataa began organizing block parties and breakdancing competitions around the Bronx. His excellent turntable techniques and knowledge of music led many to proclaim him the best DJ in the business (though Grandmaster Flash and DJ Kool Herc were more innovative), and his record debut -- as a producer -- came in 1980 with Soul Sonic Force's "Zulu Nation Throwdown." The single was a rallying cry for the Zulu Nation, a group of like-minded Afrocentric musicians that only gained fame in the late '80s but had been influencing the rise of hip-hop crews since the late '70s.

Aside from more production credits on several later singles during 1980-1981, Afrika Bambaataa didn't become an actual recording artist until 1982. He signed with Tommy Boy records and released his first single, "Jazzy Sensation," early that year. "Planet Rock" followed in June and quickly exploded. Recorded with the help of producer/dancefloor authority Arthur Baker and assimilating the melody of Kraftwerk's "Trans-Europe Express," the single hit number four on the R&B charts (but missed the pop Top 40) and joined the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" as one of the early classics of hip-hop. (Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" followed just three months later.) In the single's wake came dozens of electro groups and recordings, though none touched the quality of "Planet Rock" -- except, perhaps, Bambaataa's own follow-up, "Looking for the Perfect Beat." Out of those electro groups came several predominant dance styles of the 1980s and '90s: Detroit techno, Miami bass, and, to a more limited extent, Chicago house.

Freed somewhat by his new-found popularity, Afrika Bambaataa began branching out in 1984, recording "Unity" with help from James Brown and "World Destruction" with John Lydon (as Time Zone). That same year, Bambaataa delivered an album debut of sorts, Shango Funk Theology, recorded as Shango with Material personnel Bill Laswell and Michael Beinhorn. A virtually LP-length single titled "Funk You!" appeared in 1985, after which Bambaataa recorded his proper album debut, Beware (The Funk Is Everywhere). He left Tommy Boy in 1986 after an album compilation of "Planet Rock" mixes, and signed with Capitol. The first album release for the label was 1988's The Light, recorded as Afrika Bambaataa & the Family, which included contributions from George Clinton, UB40, Bootsy Collins, and Boy George. Three years later, Bambaataa's third album, 1990-2000: Decade of Darkness, was released on Capitol, coinciding with his career retrospective Time Zone, released on his own Planet Rock Records. Bambaataa recorded erratically during the '90s, but returned to the mainstream in 1997 with Zulu Groove. The new millennium brought the release of Hydraulic Funk on Strictly Hype, and Electro Funk Breakdown followed in early 2001. ~ John Bush

AOL Radio Stations Afrika Bambaataa is Featured on (8)

Adam "MCA" Yauch Tribute

This is Slacker Radio's tribute to Adam Yauch, AKA MCA of the legendary Beastie Boys. Adam Yauch passed away on May 4th after a three year battle with cancer. On this station, you will be introduced to the musical DNA of MCA and the Beastie Boys. That means that you may hear some classic tracks that leave you scratching your head, but if you listen close- you'll hear the samples that made the Beastie Boys' brand of Hip Hop like no other. The music speaks to MCA's legacy more than any eulogy can. So celebrate the life and legacy of Adam Yauch here- on Slacker Radio.

Old School Rap

Yo, yo, it's Old School Rap radio taking you on a ride to when hip-hop was in its truest form. Rhymin', beatboxing and the dopest beats ever made. From Run-DMC to Snoop Doggy Dogg, you'll only hear the illest joints on this station.

SVP & Russillo Music Show

SVP & Russillo play the music they love and it’s all right here. You’ll hear music from the show while Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo take you inside the studio and share how the show decides what makes the cut. Plus… Dan “The Duke” Davis raps, visits from “The Pulse of the Nation” and other moments from the show.

Funk

The Aqua Boogie can give you More Bounce to the Ounce with the Magic Voice Box and make you Weak at The Knees! Slacker’s Funk Radio delivers top funk artists Like Parliament, Zapp and Roger, The Bar-Kays and more. Get ready for the Return of the Muthaship baby bubba!

Hip Hop

Hip Hop not only represents a genre of music, but a social culture. It’s the collective talent of all the artists that have made it what it is today. On Hip Hop on Slacker you’ll hear deeper album cuts as well as the hits, including Jay-Z, Run DMC, Kanye West, Notorious B.I.G and Common. The evolution of Hip Hop is here on Slacker.

Disco

Wildly popular in clubs and on radio from the early '70s through the early '80s, Disco on Slacker Radio revisits the divas, supergroups, one-hit wonders, producers and DJ's that made you want to dance.

The Current

The Current brings you the best authentic new music alongside the music that inspired it, from unique to universal, indie to influential, new to nostalgic. Broadcasting from the musical hotbed that is Minnesota, listen to The Current and you’ll see why we say, “Great Music Lives Here.” Find playlist, interviews and more at thecurrent.org.

Afrika Bambaataa

This station plays the best music from and music from related artists like Grandmaster Flash, Whodini, The Sugarhill Gang, Kurtis Blow, Doug E. Fresh, Eric B. & Rakim, Run DMC, Slick Rick, U.T.F.O., The Egyptian Lover and more.

All Stations

Afrika Bambaataa's Selected Discography (17)

The Light

200713 Songs

Dark Matter Moving at the Speed of Light

2004 Tommy Boy Entertainment, LLC.200418 Songs

Artists Related to Afrika Bambaataa (50)

	Grandmaster Flash	DJ Grandmaster Flash and his group the Furious Five were hip-hop's greatest innovators, transcending the genre's party-music origins to explore the full scope of its lyrical and sonic horizons.
	Whodini	Coming out of the fertile early-'80s New York rap scene, Whodini were one of the first rap groups to add a straight R&B twist to their music, thus laying the groundwork for the new jack swing movement.
	The Sugarhill Gang	Though the Sugarhill Gang inaugurated the history of recorded hip-hop with their single "Rapper's Delight," a multi-platinum-seller and radio hit in 1979, the group was cooked up to cash in on a supposed novelty item.
	Kurtis Blow	As the first commercially successful rap artist, Kurtis Blow is a towering figure in hip-hop history.
	Doug E. Fresh	The first human beatbox in the rap world, and still the best of all time, Doug E. Fresh amazed audiences with his note-perfect imitations of drum machines, effects, and often large samples of hip-hop classics.
	Eric B. & Rakim	They never had a mainstream hit of their own, but during rap's so-called golden age in the late '80s, Eric B.
	Run DMC	More than any other hip-hop group, Run-D.M.C. are responsible for the sound and style of the music. As the first hardcore rap outfit, the trio set the sound and style for the next decade of rap.
	Slick Rick	Slick Rick foreshadowed and epitomized the pimpster attitude of many rappers during the late '80s and early '90s, with gold chains, his trademark eye-patch, and recordings that were no less misogynistic -- "Treat Her Like a Prostitute," for example, became an underground hit in 1988, though it was justly criticized for its view of women.
	U.T.F.O.	U.T.F.O. was a Brooklyn, NY-based rap group, comprised of the Kangol Kid, Doctor Ice, the Educated Rapper, and Mix Master Ice.
	The Egyptian Lover	One of the most innovative producers of the old-school/electro era, Egyptian Lover's Greg Broussard recorded a parade of singles during the mid-'80s that proved influential for decades.
	Kool Moe Dee	A member of one of the original hip-hop crews, Treacherous Three, Kool Moe Dee later became a solo star in his own right in 1986 by teaming with a teenaged Teddy Riley (later famed as the king of new jack swing) on the crossover hit "Go See the Doctor.
	Big Daddy Kane	Emerging during hip-hop's massive creative expansion of the late '80s, Big Daddy Kane was the ultimate lover man of rap's first decade, yet there was more to him than the stylish wardrobe, gold jewelry, and sophisticated charisma.
	Boogie Down Productions	Boogie Down Productions was one of the most important and influential hip-hop groups of the latter half of the '80s.
	Digital Underground	While hip-hop was consumed by the hardcore, noisy political rap of Public Enemy and the gangsta rap of N.
	Biz Markie	Biz Markie's inclination toward juvenile humor and his fondness for goofy, tuneless, half-sung choruses camouflaged his true talents as a freestyle rhymer.
	LL Cool J	Hip-hop is notorious for short-lived careers, but LL Cool J is the inevitable exception that proves the rule.
	DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince	To many present-day listeners, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince are best-remembered for launching the superstar music/acting career of the latter, now known by his real name of Will Smith.
	EPMD	On the surface, the sample-reliant productions and monotone rapping styles of Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith had little to recommend them, but the duo's recordings as EPMD were among the best in hip-hop's underground during the late '80s and early '90s.
	Public Enemy	Public Enemy rewrote the rules of hip-hop, becoming the most influential and controversial rap group of the late '80s and, for many, the definitive rap group of all time.
	Rob Base	Best-known for his 1988 platinum hip-hop classic "It Takes Two," Rob Base (with DJ E-Z Rock) rode his hit onto R&B radio stations as well as dance clubs, providing a touchstone for the style known as hip-house.
	Naughty by Nature	Naughty by Nature pulled off the neat trick of landing big, instantly catchy anthems on the pop charts while maintaining their street-level credibility among the hardcore rap faithful; one of the first groups to successfully perform such a balancing act.
	Newcleus	Although they recorded only two albums, Newcleus contributed one true electro classic in "Jam on Revenge (The Wikki-Wikki Song)," which has been immortalized on hundreds of hip-hop mixtapes and often included in even techno DJs' sets.
	A Tribe Called Quest	Without question the most intelligent, artistic rap group during the 1990s, A Tribe Called Quest jump-started and perfected the hip-hop alternative to hardcore and gangsta rap.
	Black Sheep	Remembered for a couple of striking singles and their membership in the Native Tongues family of groups, Black Sheep also recorded one of rap music's most entertaining debuts, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing.
	Chubb Rock	Weighing in at 250 pounds, Chubb Rock (born Richard Simpson) often evokes images of a hip-hop Barry White (whom he dueted with on And the Winner Is.
	De La Soul	At the time of its 1989 release, De La Soul's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, was hailed as the future of hip-hop.
	MC Shan	According to legend, MC Shan (b. Shawn Moltke) got his big break in 1983 when the future boss of Cold Chillin' Records caught Shan trying to steal his car.
	Mantronix	Over and above their standing as one of the best and most innovative groups from hip-hop's golden age, Mantronix provided rap music with its first man-machine, Kurtis Mantronik.
	Queen Latifah	Queen Latifah was certainly not the first female rapper, but she was the first one to become a bona fide star.
	Stetsasonic	One of the first rap groups to use a live band, Brooklyn's Stetsasonic formed in 1981 and were also among the first to promote a positive black consciousness that found its ultimate expression in the so-called daisy-age sounds of De La Soul and the Jungle Brothers.
	Heavy D	Hip-hop's original overweight lover, Heavy D parlayed an eminently likable persona and strong MC skills into a lengthy career in music, television, and film.
	N.W.A	N.W.A, the unapologetically violent and sexist pioneers of gangsta rap, are in many ways the most notorious group in the history of rap.
	2 Live Crew	No rap group (save, perhaps, N.W.A) has stirred more controversy or provoked more heated debate than the 2 Live Crew.
	Tone-Loc	Tone-Loc (born Anthony Smith) soared from obscurity into pop stardom in 1989 when his hoarse voice and unmistakable delivery made the song "Wild Thing" (using a sample from Van Halen's "Jamie's Cryin'") a massive hit.
	Geto Boys	Though the controversial subject matter of gangsta rap wasn't much of a barrier to popular success during the '90s, the Geto Boys' recordings proved almost too extreme for widespread exposure.
	Dana Dane	New York-born rap singer Dana Dane combined light-hearted rap with a love of fashion. While his recordings, including "Cinderfella Dana Dane," "A Little Bit of Dane Tonight," and "Tales From the Dane Side," established him as a powerful rapper, his tastes in clothing inspired him to open IV Plai Boutique.
	Salt-N-Pepa	By the late '80s, hip-hop was on its way to becoming a male-dominated art form, which is what made the emergence of Salt-n-Pepa so significant.
	Sir Mix-A-Lot	Inextricably linked with his pop culture touchstone "Baby Got Back," Sir Mix-A-Lot parlayed a gonzo tribute to women with large buttocks into hip-hop immortality, even despite his failure to score another hit of its magnitude.
	Ice Cube	Ice Cube was the first member of the seminal California rap group N.W.A. to leave, and he quickly established himself as one of hip-hop's best and most controversial artists.
	Gang Starr	The most influential MC-and-DJ tandem of the 1990s, Gang Starr set new standards for East Coast rap with a pair of early-'90s touchstones, Step in the Arena (1991) and Daily Operation (1992), whose appeal has only grown over the decades.
	Brand Nubian	The Five Percent Nation of Islam was a popular inspiration for numerous thinking-man's rap groups during the early '90s, and Brand Nubian was arguably the finest of the more militant crop.
	Kid 'N Play	Among the first groups to tame rap's hardcore mentality into a positive, message-oriented music suitable for teens and mass audiences, Kid 'n Play debuted in 1988 with the platinum album 2 Hype, which the duo later spun into a deal involving films and a Saturday-morning cartoon show, the first involving a rap act.
	MC Lyte	MC Lyte was one of the first female rappers to point out the sexism and misogyny that often runs rampant in hip-hop, often taking the subject head on lyrically in her songs and helping open the door for such future artists as Queen Latifah and Missy Elliott.
	DJ Quik	One of the premier West Coast gangsta rap artists of the early '90s, DJ Quik was a rapper as well as a producer whose career carried on well into the next decade, as he put his career aside and began working primarily as a beat-maker.
	J.J. Fad	J.J. Fad (Just Jammin' Fresh and Def) made history in 1988 when they became the first female rap group to be nominated for a Grammy for their pop-rap hit "Supersonic.
	Ice-T	Ice-T (born Tracy Morrow) has proven to be one of hip-hop's most articulate and intelligent stars, as well as one of its most frustrating.
	Cypress Hill	Cypress Hill were notable for being the first Latino hip-hop superstars, but they became notorious for their endorsement of marijuana, which actually isn't a trivial thing.
	Too Short	Born in Los Angeles, but an Oakland resident by the age of 14, Too Short was the first West Coast rap star, recording three albums on his own before he made his major-label debut with 1988's gold album Born to Mack; his next four all went platinum.
	3rd Bass	3rd Bass was one of a still-small number of white hip-hop artists to achieve wide acceptance in the larger community.
	Full Force	Full Force rose to prominence in the mid-'80s, writing and producing popular R&B hits for Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam before embarking on a moderately successful solo career that ultimately led them back to production work in the late '90s.