Hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa speaks during a press conference to announce the launch of The Smithsonian's "Hip-Hop Won't Stop: The Beat, The Rhymes, The Life" at the Hilton Hotel February 28, 2006 in New York City. (Photo: AFP)
April 9, 2026
Hip-Hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa dead at 67
Afrika Bambaataa, the American rapper and DJ credited as one of the founding fathers of hip hop, has died.
Bambaataa, born Lance Taylor in New York to Jamaican and Barbadian parents, reportedly passed away Thursday after a battle with cancer. He was 67.
He gained fame as one of the defining artists during the early days of hip-hop for his DJing house shows and block parties, and enjoyed mainstream success with his album Planet Rock in 1984.
He was also one of the founders of the conscious hip-hop group, Universal Zulu Nation.
His image was tarnished in the later years of his life by multiple accusations of sexual abuse, sex trafficking, and pedophilia against boys and young men in the 1980s and ’90s.
