Afrika Bambaataa and his Zulu Nation are undoubtedly considered as pioneers of hip hop.
As a teenager in the mid-1970's, he fell into the Black Spades gang, but had a different interest than causing trouble.
He had a passion for buying records (he would later be known as the "Master of Records") and his tastes were very diversified from rock to r&b to African sounds to Latin, calypso, and classical. Although Kool Herc was the top DJ at the time, Bam knew he owned most of the same records as Herc so he decided to start playing on his own in 1976.
His ideological influences ran the gamut of the black political leaders of the time. He saw the film Zulu which depicted the battle between British troops and the Zulu tribe in 1879. The British seem victorious before they are overwhelmed by the numbers of Zulus who spare their lives. He took his name "Afrika Bambaataa" which meant "affectionate leader" from the movie. Bam decided to form his own Zulu Nation. He original crew was called The Organization, but after two years he changed it into the Zulu Nation. It was a break dance crew at first but then grew to include rappers, deejays, and graffiti artists.
His first recorded release was on Paul Winley Records and was called "Zulu Nation Throwdown, Part 1" in 1980.
He met Fab 5 Freddy who introduced him to the downtown music scene. As a result Bam attempted to fuse the uptown sounds he grew up on and the happenings he heard downtown.
In 1982, he was part of the first hip hop tour to Europe with Fab 5, Rammellzee, Grand Mixer D.ST. & The Infinity Rappers, Rock Steady Crew, the Double Dutch Girls, and graffiti artists Phase 2, Futura, and Dondi.
The Zulu DJ's at the time were Bam, Jazzy Jay, Grand Mixer D.ST. (who would later work with Herbie Hancock on "Rockit"), and Afrika Islam. They took over a club called the Roxy. One of their performances was caught in the film Beat Street.
During May of 1982, Bam and his group the Soul Sonic Force made up of Bam, Jazzy Jay, Mr. Biggs (Ellis Williams), G.L.O.B.E. (John Miller), Whiz Kid and Pow Wow (Robert Darrell Allen) released "Planet Rock" on Tommy Boy Records and created a new sound for the genre that mixed funk and hip hop with Kraftwerk's "Trans-Europeoan Express". By 1983, "Planet Rock" and a second single "Looking for the Perfect Beat" were blowing up all over the world.
Bam has since worked with James Brown (the first rapper to official collaborate with James not just sample his tracks), Yellowman, and UB40 and continues to stay active as both a producer and performer.
He appears in the documentary film The Show.
He appeared on a song entitled "World Destruction" by Bill Laswell who also worked with Fab 5 Freddy.
In Fall of 1999 he was featured as a guest vocalist on the UK dance group Leftfield's No.1 (UK) Album Rhythm And Stealth on the track "Afrika Shox" which peaked at No. 11 on the UK charts.
Afrika Bambaata & The Jazzy Five's groundbreaking 'Jazzy Sensation' was released in March 1981 on Tommy Boy records. It was produced by Arthur Baker and Shep Pettibone
Urban spaceman Afrika Bambaataa and producer Arthur Baker, plus musician John Robie, were the trio behind a musical revolution called "Planet Rock", Bambaataa's 1982 single with Soul Sonic Force. Following the impact of "Planet Rock", UK groups made Electro-boogie pilgrimages to Baker's studio in Manhattan: Freeze's "IOU" rocketed jazz funk into the infosphere but more significantly, New Order's "Blue Monday" launched indie dancing and sold massively on 12". Also breaking and robot dancing, the acrobatic and simulated machine dances that drew many adolescents into the alien zone of black science fiction. Bleep music was one consequence of this. Hardly adequate to describe and encompass the protozoic chaos of New York Nu Groove, Detroit Techno, Chicago House, Next came techno.
