Artist:Afrika Bambaataa
Song:Planet Rock
Album:The Dance Album
Though he faded quickly, Afrika Bambaataa's 1982 single Planet Rock was very important in the early development of hip hop. Bambaataa has had recent notoriety due to sexual abuse allegations. That doesn't diminish the importance of Planet Rock. He was born Lance Taylor Apr. 17, 1957 in The Bronx, NY. His parents were from Jamaica and Barbados. His mom had an extensive record collection and she was a political activist. Bambaataa was in the gang The Black Spades. He was a warlord and did a lot of recruiting. An essay contest win earned him a trip to Africa. He also watched the 1964 film Zulu. And the solidarity shown by the Zulus inspired Taylor to change his name to Afrika Bambaataa and his group was called Universal Zulu Nation. He got into hosting parties to recruit new members. Supposedly Bambaataa was the first to use the term Hip Hop. He formed a couple of groups with DJs, rappers and dancers. Soulsonic Force was the group that recorded Planet Rock in 1982. The featured DJs were Mr. Big, Pow Won and Emcee G.L.O.B.E. Bambaataa signed with Tommy Boy. Planet Rock came out of Bambaataa and producer Arthur Baker's mutual admiration of the German electronic music icons Kraftwerk. They created an electronic backing track and Emcee G.L.O.B.E. wrote the song lyrics. Guitarist John Robie was responsible for the hard edge of the song. Planet Rock was a big R&B and dance hit. It reached #48 on the Billboard Hot 100. Bambaataa was only under contract to Tommy Boy for singles. So there was no album until 1986. You can get it on this Charly Records budget comp. Though Bambaataa would never s core another big hit, Planet Rock is considered today as an important building block of hip hop. BTW, it's not unusual for rappers to score one big hit and disappear. Bambaataa recorded for Tommy Boy and EMI but he had faded into obscurity by the early 90s. His name would resurface in 2016 with child abuse allegations. Though Bambaataa denied the allegations at first, he eventually acknowledged them and left Universal Zulu Nation. Apparently his behavior was widely known in the neighborhood. I guess it's what is called an "open secret". Due to statute of limitations, Bambaataa cannot be prosecuted. We may see civil lawsuits. Bambaataa is through. And it's not like he had made important music other than Planet Rock. But that record is important. Here's the video for Planet Rock by Afrika Bambaataa.
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