Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force

Afrika Bambaataa (born April 17, 1957) (born Kevin Donovan) is a DJ and community leader from the South Bronx, who was instrumental in the early development of hip hop throughout the 1970s. Bambaataa is often considered the first rapper. The Soulsonic Force (also referred to as Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force) are an American electro-funk and hip-hop ensemble led by Afrika Bambaataa who helped establish hip-hop in the early 1980s with songs such as "Planet Rock". They were also influential in the birth of the electro movement in America and helped pave the way for modern dance music styles such as electro-funk. In 1982, Soulsonic Force and Afrika Bambaataa released a single called "Planet Rock". The song borrowed musical motifs from German electro-pop, British rock, and African-American disco rap. All the different elements and musical styles were blended together; and in doing so, offered hip-hop as a new vision for global harmony. The song became an immediate hit and stormed the music charts worldwide. Their most well-known songs are "Planet Rock", "Looking for the Perfect Beat" and "Renegades of Funk" (which is one of the earliest political-conscious rap songs, alongside Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five's "The Message"). Soulsonic Force feature on the title track of the Freestylers' debut album We Rock Hard. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.