The groundbreaking DJ and producer faced multiple allegations of child sexual abuse beginning in 2016.

Afrika Bambaataa, hip-hop pioneer, dies at 67

The groundbreaking DJ and producer faced multiple allegations of child sexual abuse beginning in 2016.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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on April 9, 2026 5:34 p.m. ET

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Afrika Bambaataa. Credit:

David Corio/Redferns

Afrika Bambaataa, the legendary DJ and producer who helped shape the sound of hip-hop in the 1970s and '80s, has died.

The artist's manager confirmed his death to ** in a statement on Thursday.

"On behalf of the entire hip-hop community, I am heartbroken to share that we have lost my brother — our legend," the Naf Management representative said. "He was more than a man. He was a movement. His spirit lives in every beat, every cypher, every corner of this globe he touched."

They concluded, "We did not just lose a legend. We lost our brother."

The musician died from complications from cancer in Pennsylvania at the age of 67, TMZ reported.

The Universal Zulu Nation, the international hip-hop awareness group Bambaataa founded, announced his death Thursday in a statement on Facebook.

"Through his vision, leadership, and unwavering commitment, he helped transform hip-hop into a powerful force for expression, community building, and social change," the statement read. "His influence extended far beyond music — impacting generations of artists, DJs, dancers, and cultural leaders across the globe. As we reflect on his life and contributions, we recognize that his legacy is permanently embedded in the foundation of hip-hop history and will continue to resonate for years to come."

Afrika Bambaataa.

Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis/VCG via Getty

Born Lance Taylor in the Bronx in 1957, Bambaataa was best known for his early hip-hop work, most notably his 1986 album, *Planet Rock*.

The musician faced multiple allegations of child sexual abuse beginning in 2016. He denied all wrongdoing but eventually lost a civil case in 2025 after failing to respond to a New York lawsuit.

Bambaataa began spinning records at parties in a community center gym when he was around 10 years old. He was a member of the Black Spades gang, and experienced a radical transformation after winning a trip to Africa in an essay contest during his senior year of high school. The trip prompted him to change his name to Afrika Bambaataa Aasim, and upon returning to the United States, he founded the Bronx River Organization, a group that emphasized creative expression as an alternative to gang violence.

"I was a pushy person to go and do what I had to do. Where I couldn’t get things done, I had my elders in the community to help me get things done,” the musician told the *Chicago Tribune* in 2011. "We learned to become entrepreneurs at a very young stage in life, trying to get the party, trying to get equipment, trying to get beverages, trying to get things (to) happen, trying to get to the next place. So, big learning."

The musician was proud of his vast record collection, which he said differentiated his DJing style from his contemporaries on the early hip-hop scene. "Other DJs would play they great records for 15, 20 minutes, we was changing ours every minute or two," he said in a 1998 interview with Frank Broughton. "I couldn’t have no breakbeat go longer than a minute or two. Unless it’s real crazy funky that we just want the crowd to get off."

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After teaming up with Tom Silverman's Tommy Boy Records, Bambaataa's breakthrough recording was 1982's "Planet Rock," an electro single riffing on Kraftwerk's songs "Trans Europe Express" and "Numbers" that he recorded alongside his ensemble the Soulsonic Force. The track served as the namesake for his eventual 1986 album, which assembled the song with later singles like "Looking for the Perfect Beat" and "Renegades of Funk."

In 1988, he released the album *The Light*, which featured Boy George and UB40 as guest musicians. He followed that with the 1991 album *The Decade of Darkness*, which featured the hit single "Say It Loud (I'm Black, I'm Proud)."

Bambaataa was also a founder of the Universal Zulu Nation, a creative organization revolving around hip-hop culture that eventually counted artists like Queen Latifah, Ice Cube, Q-Tip, Ice T, and Fat Joe among its ranks.

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In 2016, Bronx activist Ronald "Bee-Stinger" Savage accused Bambaataa of sexually abusing him in 1980 when he was just 15. The musician denied "*any* and *all* allegations of any type of sexual molestation of *anyone*" in a statement to *Rolling Stone*. Three more men later accused Bambaataa of sexual abuse shortly thereafter.

The Universal Zulu Nation removed Bambaataa as its leader after the accusations became public, and further allegations emerged in subsequent years, including one from French rapper Solo. However, Savage later recanted his accusation in 2024, explaining that the DJ thought he was an adult due to a fake ID.

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