Afrika Bambaataa Archives

Hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa was sued in August for alleged sexual abuse and sex trafficking of a minor. The lawsuit, which was filed in New York State Supreme Court on Aug. 4 and obtained by SPIN, details the alleged abuse, which allegedly took place from 1991-1995. The victim, named as John Doe in the complaint, alleges that when he was 12-years-old, Bambaataa invited him into his home gym in the apartment building where they respectively lived in the Bronx and would “would comment about Plaintiff’s muscular body and would touch Plaintiff on the shoulders, biceps, and torso.” Continuing, the suit alleges that Bambaataa would “inappropriately touch Plaintiff in his private areas" and that he “eventually encouraged Plaintiff to watch pornographic videos while in Defendant’s Taylor's apartment," which progressed “to mutual masturbation … and sodomy.” “Plaintiff became a victim of sex trafficking as Defendant Taylor would transport Plaintiff to other locations and offer Plaintiff for sex to other adult men,” the lawsuit reads. “During said encounters Defendant Taylor would watch as Plaintiff was sodomized by other adult men.” In addition to Bambaataa, Zulu Nation (which Bambaataa founded in the 1970s) is named as a defendant. The suit claims that Bambaataa's apartment was the headquarters for Zulu Nation. In a statement given to Metropolis, Zulu Nation said, “Nothing has changed since 2016 when these decades-ago accusations first surfaced. This is a personal matter for Afrika Bambaataa and his lawyers to deal with and has absolutely nothing to do with the 10-year long UZN-DOCA mission, programs, and projects which continue in the revolutionary legacy of both The Black Panther Party & The Young Lords Party to "Serve The People, Body & Soul.” SPIN has reached out to a lawyer and rep for Bambaataa for comment on the suit. In 2016, Bambaataa was accused of sexual abuse by former New York State Democratic Committee member Ronald Savage, who alleged that the DJ forced him to engage in oral sex when he was 15 years old. Three others accused Bambaata of similar sexual abuse. Following those accusations, Bambaataa went on The Ed Lover Show and denied the allegations, saying “It could be me today and you tomorrow. I completely deny all accusations that are being put against your brother, Afrika Bambaataa.”

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