One of hip-hop’s founders has been accused of partaking in illicit sexual activities with underage boys. Several weeks after the initial allegations surfaced, a few other men have made similar allegations against DJ Afrika Bambaataa (Bam). Although the allegations have yet to be proved, the news dropped like a bombshell, catching many off guard.
While being interviewed by shock jock Star on Shot 97 earlier this month, Ronald Savage, a.k.a. Bee Stinger, accused Bambaataa of sexually molesting him when he was 13 or 14 years old and Bambaataa was about 23. Savage initially revealed the illicit acts in his 2014 self-published memoir titled, “Impulse, Urges and Fantasies: Life is a Bag of Mixed Emotions, Vol. 1.”
Savage explained to Star how the alleged sexual encounters began, the first time being when he cut school in 1980 and went to his Bronx home. He claims it occurred several more times before he stopped going around him.
“I hated myself. I don’t even know why I did that. I don’t even know how he got me to do that. It was like I was hypnotized,” Savage said. “I want him to know how much he damaged me growing up. I was just a child. Why did he take my innocence away? Why did he do this to me?”
The 50-year-old father of three now wants others to benefit from his horrid experiences and is looking to have New York State’s statute of limitations regarding sex crimes extended indefinitely. Currently it bars victims from seeking criminal charges or civil suits after their 23rd birthday.
“I think the statute of limitations is unfair for victims, they need to get rid of it. How can anyone who has not been a victim say when somebody is ready to speak about this?” Savage asserted. “It took me all of these years to speak about this. I was embarrassed. I was ashamed. People don’t understand that you are scared if you tell on this person, what are they going to do to you or your family.”
Star suggested, “If Bambaataa wants to retain his credibility, he needs to step up and talk about what happened here.”
Three more men have since stepped forward and made similar claims.
“I know what Ronald Savage is saying is true because [Bambaataa] did it to me,” explained a 50-year-old New York man who requested anonymity. “I have never spoken to anybody about this and when I did, I said ‛Holy [expletive], they finally caught up to him.’”
A 51-year-old transplanted New Yorker named Troy says he was victimized, stating, “I still have a lot of anger about this. I’ve been dealing with this for years. It’s a shame this didn’t come out earlier.”
Another of the alleged victims, Hassan Campbell, a.k.a. Poppy-39, called Bambaataa a “pervert” who “likes little boys.”
According to reports, all three accusers claimed Bam showed them pornography and then performed oral sex on them.
Campbell said Bambaataa admitted wrongdoing, apologized to him and promised to seek counseling, to open up a center for troubled youth and to step down from the Zulu Nation.
“He never did any of those things,” Campbell said. “He’s a manipulator and a liar. He’s just waiting for this chaos to blow over so he can go back to his dark, dingy hole and go back to his old ways. He needs to put down the candy and let the little boys go.”
Bambaataa’s lawyer Vivian Kimi Tozaki denied the allegations.
“Defamatory statements were published seeking to harm my client’s reputation so as to lower him in the estimation of the community while deterring others from associating or dealing with him. The statements show a reckless disregard for the truth, were published with knowledge of their falsity and are being made by a lesser-known person seeking publicity.”
The Zulu Nation also issued a statement denying the allegations, claiming they were part of a government conspiracy.
“People are taking this very seriously,” said Star. “Zulu Nation needs to demand that Afrika Bambaataa step down. If you believe Black lives really matter, you have to stand up to this.”
The Zulu Nation’s statement also claims that Star, who has posted interviews with several of Bambaataa’s alleged victims on his YouTube channel, is a “government-paid agent provocateur.” Star denied this. “It is all a diversion,” he stated. “It is a smoke screen.”
At the advisement of his attorneys, Bambaataa released a statement denying all allegations.
“I, Afrika Bambaataa, want to take this opportunity at the advice of my legal counsel to personally deny any and all allegations of any type of sexual molestation of anyone. These allegations are baseless and are a cowardly attempt to tarnish my reputation and legacy in hip-hop at this time. This negligent attack on my character will not stop me from continuing my battle and standing up against the violence in our communities, the violence in the nation and the violence worldwide.”