Afrika Bambaataa
24 articles
Audio interviews
Interview by Simon Witter, Rock's Backpages audio, 1984
The hip-hop and Electro Funk pioneer talks about the Zulu Nation, Shango, Soulsonic Force and more.
File format: mp3; file size: 28.2mb, interview length: 33' 50" sound quality: ***
Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 29 September 1998
Ruza "Kool Lady" Blue talks about moving to New York, working for Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood; getting into club promotion, and meeting Afrika Bambaataa and the Rock Steady Crew; going up to the Bronx and the Disco Fever club; starting her night at Club Negril, then moving to the Roxy; the diversity of the scene; hip hop exploding, and Bam and 'Planet Rock'; the importance of the DJs rather than the MCs; taking Trevor Horn up to the Bronx, and the Rock Steady Crew playing the Royal Variety Performance and meeting the Queen!
File format: mp3; file size: 48.1meg, interview length: 50' 06" sound quality: ***
Interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 6 October 1998
The "Master of Records" tells the story from the first parties in the Bronx River Projects throught to 'Planet Rock' and beyond: Kool Herc and the breaks; gang culture and the Zulu Nation; hip hop's Jamaican roots; Kraftwerk, and Bam's eclecticism; the evolution of the MCs, and the downtown-uptown connection.
File format: mp3; file size: 65.8mb, interview length: 1h 11' 50" sound quality: ****
List of articles in the library
Bucking the Bronx with the B-Boys
Report by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 6 February 1982
"B-BOYS, ARE you ready, are you ready, are you ready?" ...
Review by Edwin Pouncey, Sounds, 31 July 1982
ALREADY WRITTEN about in rival publications but well worth another mention here to remind you of their greatness. ...
Report by Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, 14 April 1983
Ever wondered where Wham! and Malcolm McLaren got their ideas from? Or how rapping and scratching actually started? The answers lie in the Bronx — a borough ...
Afrika Bambaataa: Bambaataa Of The Bronx
Interview by Mark Cooper, No. 1, 31 March 1984
The Grandmaster of hip hop lectures Mark Cooper on the meaning of the Funk ...
Interview by Chris Roberts, Sounds, 14 April 1984
CHRIS ROBERTS raps to Morgan Khan about the Streetwave sensation. ...
Tommy Boy and Afrika Bambaataa: Afrika and White
Interview by Mick Sinclair, Sounds, 17 April 1984
ALONG WITH the equally outstanding 'The Message', 'Planet Rock' sprang hip hop into being something of more force and substance than was made evident by ...
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Beat Street (Atlantic 780 154-1)
Review by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 30 June 1984
Film break ...
James Brown (and Afrika Bambaataa): Sex Machine Today
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 1 September 1984
WHAT DO you think of when you think of James Brown? A stretcher case raddled with emotional pain dragging himself back from endless encores of ...
Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force: Pink Elephant, Luton
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 13 October 1984
THE CABBIE, waiting in the foyer, hadn't been too impressed. Now it was different when Demis Roussos and Johnny Mathis played here. Sounded just like ...
Afrika Bambaataa: Play It Again Bam
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 20 October 1984
Leader of the Zulu Nation. Godfather of hip-hop. Overlord of funk. Black youth guru. Creator of the most influential record of the Eighties. All this ...
Profile and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 19 July 1986
Out of the subway and into the charts, hip hop is stronger than it's ever been, with dazzling new talents like LL Cool J and ...
Afrika Bambaataa: The Funky Cassandra
Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 19 February 1988
Adam Sweeting spreads Bambaataa's word for Planet Earth ...
Special Feature by Mark Dery, Keyboard, November 1988
THE RAW POWER OF CHEAP TECH CRASHES HEAD-ON INTO INNER-CITY DEFIANCE AND DESPAIR ...
15 Years of Hip Hop: Back in the Days
Retrospective and Interview by Frank Owen, Vibe, December 1994
Most of what you know about the old school is wrong. ...
Interview by Kris Needs, Muzik, September 1996
In the beginning, there was ARTHUR BAKER. And without him, dance music wouldn't be what it is today. For starters, we wouldn't have had 'Planet ...
Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 28 September 1996
This week Vibes hops across to the Emerald Isle to hook up with one of the founding fathers of modern dance, the fabulous ARTHUR BAKER ...
Who Put The Bleep In The Boom-Chi Bleep?
Overview by Pat Blashill, Details, December 1996
PAT BLASHILL TRACES THE HISTORY OF ELECTRO, THE UNSUNG SOURCE OF RAP, TECHNO, AND TRIP-HOP ...
Six Machines That Changed The Music World
Guide by Pat Blashill, Wired, 5 January 2002
EVER SINCE Sam Phillips stuffed some wads of paper into an amplifier, inadvertently creating the fuzzed-up, overdriven electric guitar sound on Ike Turner's 1951 rave-up ...
Afrika Bambaataa/Slum Village: El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles
Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2002
HIP-HOP'S PAST and present converged at the El Rey Theatre on Thursday, and the results were predictably erratic. The first act, Slum Village, is a ...
How Clubbing Changed The World
Essay by Greg Wilson, Rock's Backpages, 14 September 2012
LAST MONTH I was over in Chicago chilling out in my hotel room ahead of my first gig in the city, at Smart Bar, a ...
Afrika Bambaataa and Mark Ronson: Uptown and Downtown Funk Masters
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 27 October 2015
The pair remember two influential generations of hip-hop dance parties ahead of being honoured next month for their contributions to New York City's club scene. ...
see also Arthur Baker
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