There is not enough that can be said about Afrika Bambaataa. He is the Godfather of hip hop and as one of the premiere pioneers of hip hop, it was only right that I add him to the "Respect Due" column. He has been so instrumental in shaping what hip hop is (or at least what it was intended to be in not what it has actually become in eyes of many) and continues to do his part to help not only hip hop, but the world. As the founder of the Universal Zulu Nation, Bambaataa swayed the youth from the gang culture he once led into hip hop. This was a socially and politically aware group that used music as its way of staying out of trouble. It looked to promote peace, love, unity, and having fun (somewhere along the lines, we seemed to have lost that). Not only was Bambaataa and the Universal Zulu Nation influential in the creation and growth of hip hop, but they named it! On Novemeber 12, 1973 (hip hop's official birthdate, from the mouth of Bambaataa himself), the Zulu Nation claimed November as "Hip Hop History Month" and claimed the culture for themselves and everybody willing to follow.

To this day, Bambaataa does what he can to help all of mankind and to further what he still considers the original motives of hip hop. In the April/May issue of The Source, Bambaataa explains the continued efforts of the Universal Zulu Nation and his latest organization Mojofiti. Mojofiti was founded to help break the language speaking barriers so that dialogue can be easily shared among people that speak different languages. His example is of victims of disasters such as tsunamis, Hurricane Katrina, or the earthquake in Haiti being able to communicate with people in other nations and pass along true/all information regarding their situation, instead of the misleading information reported by the media. Afrika Bambaataa's work, both past and present, is a testament to what hip hop was, is, and should be. So to The Godfather, we say...respect due.

Leave any thoughts or comments you may have about Bambaataa and his influence here and as always, you are free to e-mail at straightouttahiphop@gmail.com.

Peace.