Afrika Bambaataa, the hip-hop trailblazer who founded Universal Zulu Nation and helped shape music, dance and fashion, was reported dead on April 9 at 68. News of his death was confirmed in a Facebook video shared by Hassan Campbell.
Bambaataa was born in New York City in 1957 and rose to prominence for transforming his community and influencing culture far beyond it. At the time of writing, his cause of death had not been made public.
His legacy had long been shadowed by sexual abuse allegations that became public in 2016. Former music executive and politician Ronald Savage accused Bambaataa of molesting him in the late 70s when he was between 12 and 13 years old, though Savage later walked back the allegations and said Bambaataa did not know he was underage when they allegedly had sexual relations.
Campbell said in 2016 that he was also allegedly abused by Bambaataa, and said the rapper was kicked out of Universal Zulu Nation as a result. In a 2023 interview with VladTV, Campbell said the alleged abuse began when he looked up to Bambaataa and saw him as a father figure. He alleged that Bambaataa made inappropriate comments to him and other underage boys, followed him into bathrooms, left the door of his room open with pornography playing and kept books containing naked pictures of people one would not expect.
Campbell used the Facebook video to announce the death with a blunt message, calling Bambaataa “the greatest child predator who ever walked this earth,” and saying, “He is a pervert” and “He likes little boys.” Bambaataa denied the sexual abuse allegations, calling them baseless and “a cowardly attempt to tarnish [his] reputation.” With his death, the unanswered question is not whether he influenced hip-hop — he did — but how history will weigh that influence against the accusations that followed him to the end.
