{"id":384931,"date":"2026-04-10T11:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T11:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/384931\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T11:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T11:46:10","slug":"american-rapper-and-dj-dies-aged-67-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/384931\/","title":{"rendered":"American rapper and DJ dies aged 67 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The American rapper and DJ Afrika Bambaataa has died aged 67. The musician died in Philadelphia at about 3am local time due to complications from cancer<\/a>, TMZ reported.<\/p>\n

The Hip-Hop Alliance, a group headed by musician Kurtis Blow, wrote: \u201cToday, we acknowledge the transition of a foundational architect of hip-hop culture, Afrika Bambaataa. As the founder of the Universal Zulu Nation, Afrika Bambaataa helped shape the early identity of hip-hop as a global movement rooted in peace, unity, love, and having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group also acknowledged the allegations of child sexual abuse made against the singer.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, we recognise that his legacy is complex and has been the subject of serious conversations within our community. As an organisation committed to truth, accountability, and the preservation of hip-hop culture, we believe it is important to hold space for all voices while continuing to uplift what empowers and protects the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bronx native played a key role in shaping hip-hop in the 1980s, notably with the 1982 hit Planet Rock. He collaborated with a range of artists including John Lydon, George Clinton and James Brown.<\/p>\n

Born Lance Taylor, he formed the hip-hop collective Universal Zulu Nation in the late 1970s, inspired by \u201cfather of hip-hop\u201d DJ Kool Herc as well as the solidarity of the Zulu people of southern Africa.<\/p>\n

In 1982, Bambaataa began playing electronic music as part of the group Ebn Ozn. He was inspired by European electronic groups such as Kraftwerk<\/a>, the German band that he famously sampled in Planet Rock. The single became a club hit, and helped to establish electro funk as a genre.<\/p>\n

In 1985, he helped to create the landmark album Sun City as part of Artists United Against Apartheid, a group of musicians who teamed up to protest apartheid in South Africa. Other musicians involved included Bob Dylan, Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Joey Ramone, Run-DMC, Lou Reed and Bonnie Raitt.<\/p>\n

Bambaataa continued releasing albums throughout the following decades. In 1986, Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force\u2019s Planet Rock collected his previous singles, and found him collaborating with hip-hop artists such as Melle Mel and Trouble Funk. He released his final album, Dark Matter Moving at the Speed of Light, in 2004.<\/p>\n

In later life, the musician was accused of child sexual abuse and trafficking. In 2016, multiple Bronx men accused Bambaataa of molestation. The musician denied the accusations in a statement, saying they \u201care baseless and are a cowardly attempt to tarnish my reputation and legacy in hip-hop at this time\u201d.<\/p>\n

A man who said he was a former bodyguard for Bambaataa, Shamsideen Shariyf Ali Bey, said: \u201cI\u2019ve walked in on stuff where I say: \u2018What the f**k is going on.\u2019 He travels with late teens. Those are the ones he takes overseas with him. When I went with him on tour in the states, I would stay in one room and he would have boys in the room with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

In May 2025, an anonymous plaintiff accused Bambaataa of four years of sexual abuse which started in 1992 when the plaintiff was 12 years old. The musician lost the civil case by default after he failed to appear in court. \u2013 Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The American rapper and DJ Afrika Bambaataa has died aged 67. The musician died in Philadelphia at about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[165,146,85,46,409],"class_list":{"0":"post-384931","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-cancer","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}