KRS-One Is Still Defending Afrika Bambaataa, Tells Anyone With a Problem to 'Quit Hip-Hop'
The charges against hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa are very serious.
Four men, who are now adults, have accused Bam, real name Kevin Donovan, of sexual misconduct from over two decades ago. All four claim that Bambaataa molested them in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Bambaataa has since called the charges “false” and told the Ed Lover Show the allegations are "a lot of lies, and it could be me today and you tomorrow. I completely deny all types of accusations. You need to ask the question... what is the hidden agenda behind this?”
KRS-One, who is a longtime friend and supporter of the Zulu Nation co-founder, has been ambiguous since the charges were brought forth until recently when unearthed video surfaced of the Boogie Down Productions member’s Q&A in Birmingham, England. In the video he makes his stance more clear, which is making more people more angry.
“When you’re talking about Afrika Bambaataa, first of all, you’re talking about the person who invented hip-hop,” KRS-One said. “Not participated in it. There was no hip-hop before Afrika Bambaataa. Let’s start there. So anyone who has a problem with Afrika Bambaataa should quit hip-hop.”
Uhhh. What? He continued this sentiment during an interview with N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN on their Drink Champs podcast. Then he said the allegations, whether true or not, should not have any affect on Bambaataa’s hip-hop legacy.
“For me if you keep it hip-hop, nothing can be taken away from Afrika Bambaataa,” he explained. “Nothing. Just keep it hip-hop. But if you want to dig into dude’s personal life and accusations that’s being made and so on… Personally — me personally — I don’t give a f**k. Personally. Look, if somebody was harmed or whatever, y’all gotta deal with that sh*t. Deal with it. That don’t stop hip-hop. That don’t stop what you did for hip-hop. It don’t take away none of it. History is history. But deal with that. That’s personal.”
He said more than that, but it’s kind of concerning us more and more, so we’ll leave you with that. You can listen to all of KRS-One’s public comments about the rape charges Afrika Bambaataa is facing below.