There are conflicting accounts of when Bambaataa began hosting parties. When he did, he vowed to use hip-hop to draw angry kids out of gangs and form the
Universal Zulu Nation. Bambaataa began hosting block parties throughout the
South Bronx, including at the Bronx River Organization. Bambaataa engaged primarily as a hip-hop artist. Much of his early fan base was centered on the hip-hop movement, as Bambaataa established numerous rap groups including the
Jazzy 5 and the
Soulsonic Force, which featured many artists who had overlapped with the Universal Zulu Nation. In 1982, Bambaataa began playing "authentically" electronic music in the form of
EBN-OZN's "AEIOU Sometimes Y", which was the first ever commercially released American single made on a computer, namely the Fairlight CMI. Inspired by
electronic music groups such as
Kraftwerk, Bambaataa realized the potential for technological advancement in music making, deciding to stop performing with a live band and instead only relying on technology on stage. That same year, Bambaataa released his breakthrough electro-funk track in the form of "Planet Rock", which featured Bambaataa, producer
Arthur Baker, and the Soulsonic Force. This single, featuring the line "party people, can you feel it?", seamlessly blended electronic sounds, drum machines, and futuristic synthesizers with traditional funk and hip-hop elements. Featuring a synth hook from Kraftwerk's "
Trans-Europe Express", as well as electronic drum patterns from their track "Numbers", Bambaataa's "Planet Rock" not only became a commercial hit in clubs and on dance floors, but also set the stage for the emergence of electro-funk as a distinct genre.
Robert Keith Wiggins, also known as "Cowboy" of
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, is credited with naming hip-hop. The term became a common phrase used by
MCs as part of a
scat-inspired style of rhyming. The term was first used in print to refer to the music by reporter Robert Flipping Jr. in a February 1979 article in the
New Pittsburgh Courier, and to refer to the culture in a January 1982 interview of Afrika Bambaataa by
Michael Holman in the
East Village Eye. The term gained further currency in September of that year in another Bambaataa interview in
The Village Voice, by
Steven Hager. In 1982, Bambaataa and his followers – a group of dancers, artists, and
DJs – went outside the United States on the first hip-hop tour. He established two rap crews: the Jazzy 5 including MCs Master Ice, Mr. Freeze, Master Bee, Master D.E.E, and AJ Les, and the second crew referred to as Soulsonic Force including Mr. Biggs, Pow Wow, and Emcee G.L.O.B.E. In 1982, Bambaataa, who was inspired by
Kraftwerk's futuristic electronic music, debuted at
The Roxy a test cassette of
EBN-OZN's groundbreaking, 12-inch white rap/spoken word "AEIOU Sometimes Y". It was the first commercially released American single ever made on a computer, a
Fairlight CMI, ushering in the era of music computer sampling. In that same year, Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force stopped performing with a live band, and began to use only technology. Bambaataa credited the pioneering Japanese
electropop group
Yellow Magic Orchestra, whose work he sampled, as an inspiration. He also borrowed a keyboard hook from German
electronic pioneers Kraftwerk and was provided the electronic
Roland TR-808 "beat-box" by producer Arthur Baker and synthesizer player
John Robie. That resulted in "
Planet Rock", which went to
gold status and generated an entire school of "electro-boogie" rap and dance music. Bambaataa formed his own label to release the Time Zone Compilation. He created "
turntablism" as its own subgenre and the ratification of "
electronica" as an industry-certified trend in the late 1990s.
Birth of the Universal Zulu Nation In the late 1970s, Bambaataa formed what became known as the Universal Zulu Nation, a group of socially and politically aware rappers,
B-boys,
graffiti artists, and other people involved in
hip hop culture. About a year later Bambaataa reformed the group, calling it the Zulu Nation (inspired by his wide studies on African history at the time). Specifically, Bambaataa watched the 1964 film
Zulu, which sparked the name for the group. Five b-boys (
break dancers) joined him, whom he called the Zulu Kings, and later formed the Zulu Queens, and the Shaka Zulu Kings and Queens. As he continued deejaying, more DJs, rappers, b-boys, b-girls, graffiti writers, and artists followed him, and he took them under his wing and made them all members of his Zulu Nation. He was also the founder of the
Soulsonic Force, which originally consisted of approximately 20 Zulu Nation members: Mr. Biggs, Queen Kenya, DJ Cowboy Soulsonic Force (#2), Pow Wow, G.L.0.B.E. (creator of the "MC popping" rap style),
DJ Jazzy Jay, Cosmic Force, Queen Lisa Lee, Prince Ikey C, Ice Ice (#1), Chubby Chub;
Jazzy Five-DJ Jazzy Jay, Mr. Freeze, Master D.E.E., Kool DJ Red Alert, Sundance, Ice Ice (#2), Charlie Choo, Master Bee, Busy Bee Starski, Akbar (Lil Starski), and
Raheim. The personnel for the Soulsonic Force were groups within groups with whom he would perform and make records. In 1980, Bambaataa's groups made
Death Mix, their first recording with
Paul Winley Records. According to Bambaata, this was an unauthorized release. The Zulu Nation was the first hip-hop organization, with an official birth date of November 12, 1977. Bambaataa's plan with the Universal Zulu Nation was to build a movement out of the creativity of a new generation of outcast youths with an authentic, liberating worldview. It was the first time Bambaataa had performed before a predominantly white crowd. Attendance for his parties downtown became so large that he had to move to larger venues, first to
the Ritz, in a show organized by hip hop pioneer Michael Holman, with
Malcolm McLaren's group
Bow Wow Wow, then to the
Peppermint Lounge, The Jefferson, Negril,
Danceteria, and the
Roxy. thus creating a new style of music altogether,
electro funk. Afrika Bambaataa was booked on the first ever European hip hop tour presented by Europe One and Fnac France. Bambaataa's second release around 1983 was "
Looking for the Perfect Beat", then later, "
Renegades of Funk", both with the same Soulsonic Force. He began working with producer
Bill Laswell at Jean Karakos's
Celluloid Records, where he developed and placed two groups on the label: Time Zone and Shango. Bambaataa recorded "Wildstyle" with
Time Zone, and he recorded a collaboration with
punk rocker
John Lydon and Time Zone in 1984, titled "World Destruction". Shango's album,
Shango Funk Theology, was released by the label in 1984. In 1984, Bambaataa and other hip hop celebrities appeared in the movie
Beat Street. He also made a landmark recording with
James Brown, titled "
Unity". It was billed in music industry circles as "the Godfather of Soul meets the Godfather of Hip Hop". From the mid-1990s, Bambaataa returned to his electro roots. In 1998, he produced a remix of "
Planet Rock" combining electro and
house music elements, called "Planet Rock '98", which is regarded as an early example of the
electro house genre. In 2000,
Rage Against the Machine covered his song "
Renegades of Funk" for their album
Renegades. The same year, he collaborated with
Leftfield on the song "
Afrika Shox", the first single from Leftfield's
Rhythm and Stealth. "Afrika Shox" also appeared on
the soundtrack to Vanilla Sky. In 2004, he collaborated with
WestBam, a DJ that was named after him, on the 2004 album
Dark Matter Moving at the Speed of Light, which also featured
Gary Numan. In 2006, he was featured on the British singer
Jamelia's album
Walk with Me on a song called "Do Me Right", and on
Mekon's album
Some Thing Came Up, on the track "D-Funktional". He performed the lyrics on the track "Is There Anybody Out There" by the
Bassheads. Bambaataa was a judge for the 6th annual
Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers. On September 27, 2007, it was announced that Afrika Bambaataa was one of the nine nominees for the 2008
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductions. On December 22, 2007, he made a surprise appearance performing at the First Annual Tribute Fit For the King of King Records, Mr. Dynamite
James Brown in
Covington, Kentucky.
Cornell University On August 14, 2012, Bambaataa was given a three-year appointment as a visiting scholar at
Cornell University. Bambaataa's appointment was made in collaboration between
Cornell University Library's Hip Hop Collection, the largest collection of historical hip hop music in North America, and the university's Department of Music. In December 2013, Bambaataa's archives, including his vinyl collection, original audio and video recordings, manuscripts, books, and papers, arrived at the Cornell University Hip Hop Collection. ==Child sexual abuse allegations==