Fans of Hip Hop were thrown for a loop last month when former New York State Democratic Committee Member and author Ronald Savage made some serious claims regarding Afrika Bambaataa in his latest book Impulse, Urges and Fantasies. According to the New York native, the “Planet Rock” creator molested him several times as a teenager. During an interview with Star97 Host Star and New York Daily News, Savage went into great detail about the allegations. Troubling moments include Bambaataa fondling himself and the former music executive and politician alongside ordering him to perform oral sex on an older Zulu Nation member. Since then, three more men have come out with similar stories regarding Bambaataa. One of the alleged victims, Hassan Campbell, called him a “pervert” who “likes little boys.” Hearing Savage’s claims is as much of a sock to the stomach as the media storm regarding Bill Cosby’s handfuls of rape accusations. Sir Kevin Donovan, the man who founded the Zulu-Nation, possibly had one damaging skeleton in his closet?
Let’s be clear here, Bambaataa is innocent until proven guilty. However, George Zimmerman was as well. According to Savage’s fairly in-depth interview with the Daily News, the publication is in possession of phone recordings with high-ranking Zulu Nation officials offering Savage a sit-down with Bambaataa and compensation. If one isn’t guilty of anything, why go the lengths of offering the alleged victim money and most importantly, not file a lawsuit for character defamation? Those questions are neither here nor there, but it’s interesting watching the Hip Hop response fall in line with the ignorance many have regarding the topic of sexual abuse of minors.
Child molestation has made its way into the Hip Hop conversation occasionally over the past several years. Early last year, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s most eccentric member, Bizzy Bone was fairly open during an interview on Live With Steve Lobel about his past being sexually abused by his mother’s ex-husband and the America’s Most Wanted episode it inspired. R. Kelly walked out of a Huffington Post interview months later during an album press run after being questioned about his fan’s conflicted emotions about the sex tape allegedly featuring the “King Of R&B” urinating on a 14-year-old girl. Considering his stance within the culture, he still manages to be a highly regarded figure within the culture despite media scrutiny. Top-tier artists from Chance The Rapper and Lil Wayne to Ty Dolla $ign and Tinashe have all done collaborations with him recently. Should we forget the whole Aaliyah marriage fiasco? Then there was the fact that many were more interested in Tyga’s rumored relationship with a transsexual than his involvement with a then 17-year-old Kardashian. A 14-year-old would even later accuse the “Rack City” rapper of sending her uncomfortable text messages.
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Erykah Badu found herself drawing the ire of longtime followers this week after making statements in agreement with a New Zealand high school principal calling for young girls to have longer skirts as not to distract male teachers. This, of course, opened a conversation about victim blaming that’s prevalent when it comes to child predators. What Badu said became a microcosm of a larger issue. Some sided with the neo-soul Queen, others wholeheartedly disagreed. Meanwhile, a study conducted by Black Women’s Blueprint found that before black girls reach the age of 18, sixty percent of them have experienced sexual abuse. With those staggering statistics, longer skirts probably aren’t the answer.
There are also more sinister notions that come from Bambaataa’s allegations. DJ Vlad releasing a video of Hip Hop’s founding father disputing Lord Jamar’s homophobic stance in conjunction with the news cycle was an irresponsible low-blow. Reinforcing homosexual stereotypes in the midst of a serious child molestation allegations is pandering to the lowest common denominator. Psychologists have already disproven the link between homosexual lifestyle and pedophilia as statistical facts show that most male child molesters of boys view themselves as heterosexuals.
Between Badu’s strange stance and Savage’s claims against Bambaataa’s, it’s time for Hip Hop to start having real conversations on sexual abuse just like we do white supremacy, police brutality, drug use and everything in-between. Yes, it’s an uncomfortable subject, but not as uncomfortable as those who have to live with those traumatic memories. Separating one’s art from ideas and actions are one thing, not holding people accountable is another.
