Kevin Donovan (born April 17, 1957) better known as Afrika Bambaataa is an American DJ from South Bronx, New York, who was instrumental in the first development of hip hop culture during the 1980s. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the three originators of the way to click through break beats, 2 and he is respectfully known as the "grandfather" and the "godfather" and The Amen Ra of the Universal Hip Hop Culture as well as The Father of the Electro Funk Sound. With his adaptation of the Black Spades street gang culture in music and the Universal Zulu Nation cultural organization, he managed to make the hip hop culture expand worldwide.3 On September 27, 2007 he was nominated for his Introduction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
History
He grew up in Bronx River Projects, alongside an activist mother and uncle. During his childhood, he was very exposed to the black liberation movement and witnessed debates between his mother and his uncle, in which the contradictory ideologies of this movement were revealed. Likewise, he was under the influence of his mother's extensive record collection. Gangs or gangs in the area became the law in the absence of it, carrying out territorial struggles to gain control of the sale of drugs, assisting the community with health programs and fighting and celebrating at the same time as a way to support its members and their territory. Bambaataa was one of the founding members in the Bronx River Projects area of the street gang The Savage Seven. As a result of the explosive growth of the gang, it later became known as the Black Spades, and Bambaataa soon reached the position of warlord. As warlord, it was his job to develop the hierarchy and expand the area of influence of the Black Spades. Bambaataa was not afraid to cross areas to forge relationships with members of other gangs and form alliances with other gangs. As a result, Spades became the biggest gang in the city in terms of both members and area.
When he won an essay contest that rewarded him with a trip to Africa, his vision of the world changed. He had seen the movie Zulu in which the English actor Michael Caine acted, and he had been impressed by the solidarity shown by the Zulus in the face of adversity in the film. He changed his name from Kevin to Afrika Bambaataa Aasim, adopting the name of the boss Zulu Bhambatha, who led an armed rebellion against unfair economic practices of the early twentieth century in South Africa that can be seen as a precursor to the anti-apartheid movement. A young Afrika Bambaataa began to think about how to adapt his skills in the fight of gangs towards peace building work. In 1973 he formed the Bronx River Organization as a positive alternative to Black Spades.
Inspired by DJ Kool Herc from the West Bronx and Kool DJ Dee from the South Bronx, he also started to organize parties where breakbeats were used. He believed in the use of music, dancing (locking, breakdance) and graffiti as a vehicle to separate boys full of rage from gangs, which led him to form in 1976 the Universal Zulu Nation, the first action that united In the same organization, the 4 main branches of what was soon known as Hip Hop.5 Bambaataa is recognized for having named the new culture as hip hop. "Hip hop" was a common phrase used as a wild card by the MCs that made Rap which is a rhyming style inspired by the ancient Talking Blues, the jazz scat and the Jocks of black radio DJs like Jocko Henderson and Frankie Crocker. Bambaataa appropriated the term Hip Hop to describe the culture that was emerging (separately, Hip is used colloquially in the United States as "the novelty" and Hop would mean "an escape jump, a leak." Then it would be like an "innovative jump" "), which included the four elements: the music of the DJs, the lyricism and poetry of the MCs, the dance of the b-boys and b-girls, and the art of graffiti.
In an interview with André Le Roi, Bambaataa explains that he began to devote himself fully as a DJ after the acquisition of a portable sound system given by his mother in 1976, as a gift for his high school graduation last year. This included a Clubman 1-1 mixer (one of the first on the market with "crossfader") and 2 Technics SL-210 turntables. Later he would add a Roland RE-201 echo camera to give the magic touch to the sentences of his live MC crews, whether they are Soulsonic Force or the Jazzy Five.7
By 1981, graffiti artist Fab Five Freddy had already become popular decorating murals in Manhattan's New Wave clubs, and invited Bambaataa to place music in one of them, the Mudd Club. This was the first time that Bam had played for a mostly white audience. The parties in downtown New York attended by Bambaataa and friends like DJ Jazzy Jay and Grandmixer DST became regular to the point where he started working at larger sites, first at the Ritz, with former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren and his group "Bow Wow Wow", then at Peppermint Lounge, The Jefferson, Negril, Danceteria (4-story) and Roxy, this last helped by the promotion of the English Ruza Blu. In 1982 Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force left their band live that marked their first recording Zulu Nation Throwdown pts 1 & 2 of 1980, to present a more technological side according to the madness for the games Arcade computer. He borrowed a disturbing keyboard line from the "Trans-Europe Express" theme of German Kraftwerk electronic precursors that provided beats thanks to the Roland TR-808 drum machine patterns produced by producer Arthur Baker and synthesizer performer John Robie , author of Vena Carva. This resulted in a hit called "Planet Rock", released under the Tommy Boy Records label of the young Jewish businessman Tom Silverman, who achieved gold status and generated a whole school of "electro-boogie" rap and a genre that I would know how electro funk. At the end of 1982, Bambaataa and his followers, a group of dancers, artists and DJs, left the United States on the first hip hop tour.1 Bambaataa saw that hip hop tours would be the key that would help expand the hip hop and the Universal Zulu Nation to the planet. Additionally, it would contribute to promoting the values of hip hop that he believed were based on peace, unity, love and having a good time. Bambaataa's second electro release was "Looking for the Perfect Beat" in 1983, followed by "Renegades of Funk," both with the same Soulsonic Force. His works caught the attention of the producer and bassist of the material group Bill Laswell who signed him on the French label Jean Karakos called Celluloid Records, where Bambaataa would develop two groups on the label: "Time
Zone "and" Shango. "He recorded the single" Wildstyle "(with the participation of the French B-side, which also appeared in another work of the label with Fab 5 Freddy) by Time Zone (the name of Bambaataa projects recorded in Europe), and recorded a special collaboration with former Sex Pistols vocalist, punk-rocker John Lydon and Time Zone in 1984, entitled "World Destruction." Shango's album, "Shango Funk Theology," was released by the label. in 1984. That same year, Bambaataa and other hip hop celebrities appear in the Stan Lathan Beat Street movie, and he appears in a BBC documentary called "Beat This" where he is interviewed and presents a video for "Renegades of Funk "He also made a remarkable recording with the Father of Funk, James Brown, entitled" Unity "released on the Tommy Boy label that 1984. Bambaataa brought peace to the gangs, as many artists and gang members say" hip hop saved many lives. "8 His influence inspired many artists Outside the US borders like British rappers Hardrock Soul Movement and French rapper MC Solaar.5 Afrika Bambaataa created two rap crews: the Jazzy 5 that included the MCs Master Ice, Mr. Freeze, Master Bee, Master DEE and AJ Lesy, and his second crew, Soulsonic Force, which included Mr. Biggs, Pow Wow and Emcee GLOBE9
Afrika Bambaataa in Bogotá during the World Summit of Art, Culture and Peace in Colombia in April 2015
The same year, Bambaataa formed his own label to publish Time Zone Compilation.
