Afrika Bambaataa, whose real name for nearly four decades was mistakenly believed to be Kevin Donovan due to a member of the Harlem Underground Band being credited on "Zulu Nation Throwdown", a song performed by Afrika Bambaataa, was born Lance Taylor to Jamaican and Barbadian immigrants, growing up in the Bronx. Joining a gang that became known as the Black Spades, the young man rose through the ranks to become one of the gang's leaders, leading the gang to become the largest in the city. After a trip to Africa, he decides to change his name to Afrika Bambaataa Aasim, inspired by a Zulu chief after also watching the film "Zulu" (1964), and abandons violence, leaving the gang and forming the association Bronx River Organization. Inspired by Kool Herc's hip-hop parties, Bambaataa begins to organize his own parties in 1976 or 1977.
During this time, Afrika Bambaataa also formed the Universal Zulu Nation, a collective of rappers, b-boys, graffiti artists and people associated with hip-hop culture, and founded several hip-hop groups such as Jazzy 5 and Soulsonic Force, composed of members of the Universal Zulu Nation. In 1980, Paul Winley Records released the single "Zulu Nation Throw Down (Volume #2)", credited to Bambaataa, Zulu Nation, Soul Sonic Force and Harlem Underground Band. The sales results didn't meet Bambaataa's expectations, and he left the label.
The credit for the beats was attributed to Harlem Underground Band leader Kevin Donovan, a fact that led to the false assumption that this was Bambaataa's real name for almost forty years, until his real name was revealed as Lance Taylor after he faced allegations of sexual abuse. In 1981, hip-hop artist Fab Five Freddy invited him to perform at a Manhattan club for a predominantly white audience: Bambaataa became popular with the new audience and his parties filled increasingly larger venues, leading him to perform with Malcolm McLaren's group Bow Wow Wow.
In 1982, Bambaataa approached electronic music by listening to Kraftwerk and decided to stop using a live band, performing exclusively with the use of technology on stage. In the same year, the artist released "Planet Rock", an electro-funk track produced by Arthur Baker and credited to Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force: the single mixed electronics, drum machines, synths, hip-hop and funk, became a great commercial success and influenced the entire genre and allowed the birth of a new subgenre, electro-funk. Bambaataa himself is credited with popularizing the term «hip-hop» to refer to the musical genre following two of his interviews published in 1982. Later, the artist was hired for the first European hip hop tour, together with the affiliated artists of his Zulu Nation, graffiti artists and crews of b-boys and b-girls.
In 1983, Bambaataa released two more singles with Soulsonic Force, "Looking for the Perfect Beat" and "Renegades of Funk", then the following year he took part in the film "Beat Street" and recorded "Unity" with James Brown, in a song that was advertised as "the Godfather of Soul meets the Godfather of Hip Hop". In 1985, he worked with several musical stars on the anti-apartheid album "Sun City", then the following year he released two albums, "Beware (The Funk Is Everywhere)", full of original material, and this compilation of previously released songs. Seven cuts, almost three-quarters of an hour of material, the production is entrusted to Arthur Baker and John Robie, as well as Afrika Bambaataa, Doug Wimbish, Fats Comet, Keith LeBlanc, Skip McDonald, Lerol Evans and Rae Serrano, the guests are Melle Mel and Trouble Funk.
The album opens with the title track. In the early 1980s, Bambaataa met Tom Silverman, owner of Tommy Boy Records, who hired him to work on some releases for his label and then decided to produce a record, relying on Arthur Baker, who had been a DJ, producer, record mixer and music journalist for a magazine owned by Silverman for a few years. In 1981, Silverman released "Jazzy Sensation" by The Kryptic Krew, whose b-side included a remix by Afrika Bambaataa & The Jazzy 5. The song was a notable success for Silverman's new label, which estimated around 30,000 copies sold. Silverman asked the group for other singles, so Bambaataa and Baker began working on a piece that paid homage to Kraftwerk. Bambaataa hired guitarist John Robie to play keyboards for his new song, and "Planet Rock" was born.
The rap group is Afrika Bambaataa's Soulsonic Force, in particular the rapper GLOBE convinces the other two members of the session, Mr. Biggs and Pow Wow, to take part in the track despite the two being against it because of the beat. Received more as a funk and electro track than hip-hop, the piece meets resistance even from local radio stations, which have no intention of broadcasting it: however, it makes its way on its own and becomes unstoppable, becoming one of the most listened to dance tracks of the season and reaching box 48 of the Hot 100, certified gold by the RIAA a few months after its release (it's not clear whether the release took place in April or June 1982).
The track becomes influential in hip-hop, inspiring several artists including Melle Mel, Run-DMC and Newcleus. The success of the song also reaches Kraftwerk, who ask to be credited and contact Tommy Boy, Silverman decides to pay the group a dollar for each record sold. The huge success of the single leads to thinking about a full album of Afrika Bambaataa with Tommy Boy, however, Silverman's label has a contract only for singles and it's not possible to renegotiate the agreements.
The second track is "Looking for the Perfect Beat". Silverman asks the guys for a new single, Baker starts working on a different track than the now widely imitated "Planet Rock", together with John Robie in production and GLOBE for the lyrics. Considered not at the same level as the previous single, released in the last days of 1982, the piece is considered one of the best singles of 1983 by critics. "Renegades of Funk" follows (later popularized by the cover of Rage Against the Machine), then "Frantic Situation", "Who You Funkin' With?" with Melle Mel, the attempt at a go-go hit with Trouble Funk ("Go-Go Pop") and "They Made a Mistake", where MC GLOBE and Pow Wow perform the last song.
Released in 1986 by Tommy Boy, this compilation is one of the best releases of the season in hip-hop, despite arriving at least three years late and the A-side being significantly stronger than the second part.
Rating: 7.5/10.
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