{"id":574905,"date":"2026-04-10T00:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T00:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/574905\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T00:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T00:30:09","slug":"afrika-bambaataa-dead-hip-hop-pioneer-was-67","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/574905\/","title":{"rendered":"Afrika Bambaataa Dead: Hip-Hop Pioneer Was 67"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAfrika Bambaataa<\/a>, one of the progenitors of hip-hop<\/a> whose breakthrough track \u201cPlanet Rock\u201d helped define electro-funk and influence generations of artists, has died according to friend and fellow member of the Zulu Nation, Mick Benzo. He was 67.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cTwo days ago, I spoke with Afrika Bambaataa and found him in high spirits,\u201d wrote Benzo in a social media post. \u201cToday, however, I began receiving calls about his passing. Concerned, I reached out to him but received no response. My worries deepened, and I was heartbroken to learn it was true\u2014he had peacefully fallen asleep and did not wake up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBambaataa\u2019s story goes back to the dawn of hip-hop. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn the 1970s, he began hosting block parties throughout the South Bronx that gave rise to groups including the Jazzy 5, the Soulsonic Force and the Universal Zulu Nation, an international hip-hop cultural group founded by Bambaataa. The Nation\u2019s members and affiliates through the years have included some of the most influential artists in rap<\/a> history.<\/p>\n

\n\tHis breakout hit was the 1982 \u201cPlanet Rock,\u201d a groundbreaking electro-funk hit inspired by groups like Kraftwerk, whose \u201cTrans-Europe Express\u201d\u00a0contributed a synth loop to the track.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE RELATED VIDEO:<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the mid-eighties, Bambaataa appeared as himself in the movie Beat Street. His \u201cFrantic Situation\u201d also appeared on the soundtrack. Around the same time, he was one of those who contributed to the Artists Against Apartheid album Sun City. He also collaborated with James Brown on a track titled \u201cUnity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 2016, Bambaataa was accused of molesting teen in the 1980s. Other accusations followed, which he denied. As a result, the Universal Zulu Nation disassociated itself from its founder. <\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to Rolling Stone<\/a>, Bambaataa lost a civil case last year in which he was accused of child sexual abuse after he failed to appear in court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Afrika Bambaataa, one of the progenitors of hip-hop whose breakthrough track \u201cPlanet Rock\u201d helped define electro-funk and influence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[252849,88,483,216,17204,2023],"class_list":["post-574905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-afrika-bambaataa","tag-entertainment","tag-hip-hop","tag-music","tag-novid","tag-rap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}