Trailblazing rapper, DJ and producer Afrika Bambaataa has passed away at the age of 68 following a battle with prostate cancer. For music-makers, his name once held reverence, but over the last decade he had become mired by some horrific allegations of child sexual abuse and trafficking.
A pivotal figure in hip-hop’s origin story, the Bronx-born Bambaataaa formed the Universal Zulu Nation at the end of the 1970s, a positive awareness group that aimed to take wayward black youths out of gangs and provide cultural experiences for them. He began hosting block parties, DJing and rapping to a growing community
