Hip Hop pioneer Afrika Bambaattaa recently sat down with Vlad TV to discuss the evolution of Hip Hop.
From its origins to the Golden Era, Gangsta Rap and beyond, Bambaattaa has seen Hip Hop progress and regress during its 30-plus years of existence.
“It’s very interesting to see the evolution of Hip Hop going from breakbeat parties, to sometimes violence, to happy days of the electro-funk back to the gangsta rap but it’s interesting to see how the corporations have taken control of our culture,” Bambaataa says.
“We’re calling for all Hip Hop people worldwide, especially these so-called radio stations to start playing all Hip Hop music from around the planet,” he continues.
Bambaattaa is regarded as “The Godfather” of the genre. Alongside DJ Kool Herc, Bambaattaa is credited as one of the original deejays to instill the breakbeat on the turntables.
As a founder of the Zulu Nation, Bambaattaa has been advancing and critiquing the culture since the late ’70s.
“We try our best to stay out there and keep everybody on a path of knowing about the true-school days,” he says. “For most of the people that really want to know about the true culture of Hip Hop, whether it’s Kool Herc, or Grandmaster Flash, or any of the other great pioneer Hip Hop rap groups or b-boys or b-girls but when they want to know the true factology about Hip Hop as a culture, they’ve got to come back to the Universal Zulu Nation.”
Watch the brief interview below:
Here’s what he doesn’t want to admit: those corporations, businesses, and enterprises are largely run by black people. The culture is full of millionaires and maybe one billionaire, depending on who you ask. Black people have control, and yet this shit happens. It’s just money and power, but it’s not coming from some outside force. It’s not some conspiracy. Every hood kid who made it rich runs as far away as they can from the hood (looking at you, Game,) and the moment people start running their own businesses their attitudes change. That’s just how it goes. This is what happens when a culture starts making it big and getting exposure. Another thing he won’t admit: that same culture he came up from is STILL THERE. It’s still being done. It’s just nobody is listening to it. Ain’t nobody here ever go to a KRS-One show. Fuck, most people here don’t listen to Wu-Tang, they just say the name like The Beatles but never have any songs in rotation. Nobody is to blame for this, its just how it goes. It’s an organic change and nobody seems to want to stop it.
I wouldn’t say they’re largely run by black people. Most of the Hip Hop record labels are subsidiaries of larger labels owned by white people.
In what world do you live in where black people control the corporations and businesses that run music???
bro get off the drugs with all that. the music industry is run by corporate america. thats why hip hop was a threat when it started and throughout the 90s because it was a ground movement. hip hop was a culture and lifestyle. now the corporate machine has dumbed down hip hop and youve seen the rise of the down south rap world and artists like big sean from detroit and asaps from new york. hip hop is almost dead. the music will live on but its definitly lost its oraganic feel to it. its sad. where are the voices for the people. where are the pacs, public enemys, krs ones of today. where are the real lyricists like the biggies, big l, big pun of today…..
Whatever drugs you’re on are dangerous. Blacks don’t run shit in the industry. Old rich whites and europeans run the industry. Sony, Universal and Warner by way of Viacom, Seagrams and Polygraph.
Respect to a legend
Rappers are to blame. You dont need to be a commercial rapper like Game or 50 Cent. But these rappers dont love music they love money and thats the problem. rappers are like ho’s. Besides those old bums must retire. Old rappers rapping about being akiller, pimp or drugdealer is for dumb and childish motherfuckers. Grow the fuck up and leave rap to the kids. No hate straight facts!
Rappers are not to blame because rappers do not sign themselves to record labels. The people in charge are to blame for signing terrible artists who promote violence, gangs, killings, drugs, etc.
You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about so go sit down somewhere and try again you punk bitch.
Most older emcees do not talk about that and even if they did so what, don’t listen. I don’t like most of whats put out but don’t going around complaining about it. I’m actually working on changing it. How about you ?The Age limit argument is completely unfounded with no valid points. try again
Eventually corporations take over. Where there’s money, there’s the man…
he was dying to say white man until he realized
TI pushes iggy
birdman pushes wayne, nicki, thug and quan
kanye with 2chainz
diddy has ruined every artist almost, even made biggy go pop
i can go on and on but those are the worst of the worst. all black controlled
Annnnnd…someone white pushes TI, Birdman, and Kanye. So….
You’re pretty ignorant if you don’t know that every person you named gets their walking papers from some white dude at Universal, Sony, or Warner Music Groups, lol. Such a simple mindset. You want to know why Lil Wayne’s album isn’t coming out? I’ll give you a hint, it ain’t Birdman pushing it back. The people you name are just the buffoons with the marionette strings on their back from some dude (or woman in T.I.’s case) from who they get their walking papers from).
None of the people you mentioned control anything. Saying “white” would be to generalize things. Corporations aren’t a race, they aren’t racist. They are just money hungry bastards that do not nor should they not be expected to give a fuck about a culture that they did not help create.
Corporations (i.e. corporate money) run Hip Hop. Those corporations are mostly white-owned. That is Bambaattaa’s point. He is correct. White people have been pimping black culture for centuries.
This ‘dying to say white man’ is your projected thought.
If you knew anything in the slightest about this man and could afford the simplest of research, you would know that his philosophy embraces ALL, and judges men not on the colour of their skin, but on the content of their character.
He’s right, ever since 79 Its been a gift and a curse. When niggas knew they could pay their rent of hip hop it destroyed the essence. Somewhere down the line there needs to be a balance between financial security and true hip hop integrity without succumbing to being a hoe ass 360 deal chasing rapper.
corporations own the business, while blacks supervise and mostly create the content.
Ask Chuck D how many people in Executive Positions in the PE Corporation came up with PE from the start. He has no people of color in Executive Positions. Black Owed and White Run. Fight the Power till your part of the Power. Ask Afrika Bambaataa what planet he comes from, he claims all Black came from Nibiru. Hip Hop culture was destroyed by the same self hate that promotes minority on minority crime. White America does not control Hip Hop, GREEN America does. I bet more White Kid dollars are spent on Hip Hop culture then Black kid dollars. Funny how many Pioneers SOLD their personal Hip Hop Collections to Cornel University instead of donating them to a Museum of their creation, oh wait there are currently 3 Hip Hop museums in the works. Let’s see how many of those actually get built. Why 3 different Museum Projects? because there is no UNITY in Hip Hop, Never has been. It’s all about the DOLLLAR. So please let’s start blaming Corporate America for controlling what their Investments have built.
Who is to blame??? Let’s see black people now get huge checks they deposit into their bank account. When you have millions, you make choices on how you wish to spend your money.
You can take those millions and create businesses, employ people and build the same infrastructure as the “white” people. BUT they rather spend their money on more record labels that do nothing for the community.
We can sit here and cry about how “white” people control everything but do you ever ask yourself why black people with money don’t create banks, health insurance companies like Blue Cross Blue Shield, Kaiser Permanete, or create banks to loan money to people with small business ideas….?
Instead the money goes into the strip club, overpriced bottles, cars, etc. So really they just give them all the money back.
So whose fault???
The cultural appropriation issue didn’t exactly start from whites in hip hop, when there’s been people exploiting it for decades and getting rich off this. It was us blacks promoting material wealth and the highly braggadocios content, which is actually more of a slap in the face type of music than promoting unity. So yes we’ve sold hip hop as a culture far down the line first all wee see is money and to hell with the elements, rules that have kept it in tact now its just open season and no one has the power to do anything about it.