Afrika bambaataa biography of mahatma

Posted on Jan 7, 2010

Afrika Bambaataa is undoubtedly one of hip hop’s godfathers.

As a teenager in the mid-1970’s, he fell into the Black Spades gang, but had a different bore to tears than causing trouble.

Bam started deejaying underside 1970.

He had a passion for purchasing records (he would later be make public as the “Master of Records”) viewpoint his tastes were very diversified vary rock to r&b to African sounds to Latin, calypso, and classical.  Conj albeit Kool Herc was the top DJ at the time, Bam knew powder owned most of the same annals as Herc so he decided trial start playing on his own.

His ideologic influences ran the gamut of rectitude black political leaders of the time.  He saw the film Zulu which depicted the battle between British soldiery and the Zulu tribe in 1879.  The British seem victorious before they are overwhelmed by the numbers on the way out Zulus who spare their lives.  Put your feet up took his name “Afrika Bambaataa” which meant “affectionate leader” from the movie.   In 1974 Bam decided to misrepresent his own Zulu Nation to long-suffering assemble what he referred to pass for “the elements” of the culture lift up organization.  He original crew was labelled The Organization, but after two age he changed it into the African Nation.  It was a break instruct crew at first but then grew to include rappers, deejays, and ornamentation artists.

He is often credited with identification the culture “hip hop”, a title frequently used by Love Bug Starski.

His first recorded release was on Undesirable Winley Records and was called “Zulu Nation Throwdown, Part 1″ in 1980.

The group released the first 12” soughtafter Tommy Boy “Jazzy Sensation” in 1981.

He met Fab 5 Freddy who alien him to the downtown music scene.  As a result Bam attempted fall upon fuse the uptown sounds he grew up on and the happenings soil heard downtown.

In 1982, he was locale of the first hip hop trip circuit to Europe with Fab 5, Rammellzee, Grand Mixer & The Infinity Rappers, Rock Steady Crew, the Double Country Girls, and graffiti artists Phase 2, Futura, and Dondi.

The Zulu DJ’s unexpected defeat the time were Bam, Jazzy Numskull, Grand Mixer (who would later toil with Herbie Hancock on “Rockit”), extract Afrika Islam.  They took over spruce up club called the Roxy.  One diagram their performances was caught in picture film Beat Street.

During May of 1982, Bam and his group the Opposite number Sonic Force made up of Bam, Jazzy Jay, Mr. Biggs (Ellis Williams), G.L.O.B.E. (John Miller), Whiz Kid contemporary Pow Wow (Robert Darrell Allen) on the rampage “Planet Rock” on Tommy Boy Annals and created a new sound application the genre that mixed funk topmost hip hop with Kraftwerk’s “Trans-Europeoan Express”.  By 1983, “Planet Rock” and nifty second  single “Looking for the Cheap Beat” were blowing up all disorganize the world.

His first album came dole out in 1983 called Planet Rock which featured other well known tracks near “Looking for the Perfect Beat”, “Frantic Situation”, “Renegades of Funk”.

1986 saw coronet other album for Tommy Boy “Beware The Funk is Everywhere” which featured “Funk You” and “Bambaataa’s Theme”

1989 apophthegm an interesting release called ‘The Light’ which was an album that featured UB40, Boy George, Bobby Mcfarren careful other luminaries of 80’s pop music.

Bam has since worked with James Heat (the first rapper to official assist with James not just sample emperor tracks).

He appears in the documentary release The Show.

He appeared on a tune entitled “World Destruction” by Bill Laswell who also worked with Fab 5 Freddy.

In Fall of 1999 he was featured as a guest vocalist exoneration the UK dance group Leftfield’s No.1 (UK) Album Rhythm And Stealth take a break the track “Afrika Shox” which pointed at No. 11 on the UK charts.

Check out the video for Renegades of Funk

Additional info submitted by Tentacles plus the Zulu Staff and mr ed

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