Afrika Bambaataa
Sign in to saveLance Taylor, known professionally as Afrika Bambaataa, was an American disc jockey, rapper and record producer. He was notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenced the development of hip-hop culture. Bambaataa was one of the originators of breakbeat DJing.
Music · MusicBrainz
- Type
- Person
- Gender
- Male
- Country
- United States
- Active from
- 1957
- Active to
- 2026
Discography
Member of
via MusicBrainz · CC0
Wikipedia views (30d)
41,910 totalvia Wikimedia Pageviews API
Key facts
- Born
- Lance Taylor , ( 1957-04-17 ) April 17, 1957, New York City, U.S.
- Died
- April 9, 2026 (2026-04-09) (aged 68), Pennsylvania , U.S.
- Genres
- Hip-hop electro house electronic breakbeat electro-funk
- Occupations
- Disc jockey rapper record producer
- Instruments
- Vocals turntables drum machine
- Years active
- 1977–2013
- Labels
- Tommy Boy EMI Winley Capitol DMC Planet Rock
via Wikipedia infobox
~22 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Lance Taylor (April 17, 1957 – April 9, 2026), known professionally as Afrika Bambaataa (/ˌæfrɪkə bæmˈbɑːtə/), was an American disc jockey, rapper and record producer. He was notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenced the development of hip-hop culture. Bambaataa was one of the originators of breakbeat DJing.
Through his co-opting of his street gang Black Spades into the music and culture-oriented organization Universal Zulu Nation, he helped spread hip-hop culture throughout the world. In May 2016, Bambaataa left his position as head of the Universal Zulu Nation due to multiple allegations of child sexual abuse dating as far back as the 1970s. In May 2025, he also lost a sex abuse civil case after failing to issue legal responses. While some have praised his significant impact on the hip-hop industry, others have argued that it will eventually be overshadowed by the sex abuse allegations.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Afrika Bambaataa” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.