Ronald “Bee-Stinger” Savage is strolling again accusations towards Afrika Bambaataa, who he accused of sexual abuse when he was 15 years previous.
AllHipHop notes the 2 have been pictured collectively at an occasion for the Zulu Nation, which Savage supplied context to the second. “By no means underestimate the facility of God when he intervenes in an affair he units all the pieces straight,” Savage mentioned.
Savage said Bambaataa sexually abused him when he was a teen. The 2016 assertion was a part of a sequence of bombshell statements towards Bambaataa. Talking with Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmurk, Savage said he doesn’t see the legend as a pedophile.
“Bambaataa shouldn’t be a pedophile and, in my eyes, he was doing one thing that was consensual with somebody that he thought was of age,” he mentioned. “I want, again in 2016, I remembered in regards to the pretend ID. I wasn’t fascinated by that I had forgot about that I used to be in deep melancholy and nonetheless coping with the trauma as an grownup. I need to apologize for the little child that didn’t know anyone and simply wished to be down with this factor known as Hip-Hop so I pretended to be older.
“That is one thing that came about 35 to over 40 years in the past. This man has by no means been convicted of something. Let it go. I wanted to set the file straight [and get] my closure.”
You’ll be able to hear the total interview under and browse extra right here.
Final 12 months, Afrika Bambaataa and his function because the co-founder of the Common Hip Hop Museum sparked some controversy, with an advocacy group demanding the defunding of the lately constructed museum due to the Hip Hop pioneer’s sexual abuse allegations.
This week, a gaggle known as Hip Hop Stands With Survivors launched a letter calling NYC Mayor Eric Adams to halt all taxpayer funding funneled into the UHHM and fireplace the group’s Govt Director, Rocky Bucano. The letter additionally requires all firms, reminiscent of Microsoft, to finish their monetary relationship with the UHHM.
The letter says, “We anticipate his resignation or for the board to vote him out of the museum’s management and for the museum to sever all ties with Bucano, Bambaataa, and the Zulu Nation.”
In 2019, the State of New York donated a $3.5million grant to the museum. It’s scheduled to open someday in 2023 or 2024 to rejoice Hip Hop’s fiftieth anniversary.
The protest has been taken to the streets, with a right away response coming from Mayor Adams.
“The Common Hip Hop Museum assured the administration that they lower ties with the Common Zulu Nation and that Afrika Bambaataa has not had a job on the Common Hip Hop Museum since 2016,” Adams mentioned in a press release.
Govt Director Bucano additionally launched a press release, denying that Bambaataa was ever a board member of the museum and that he was by no means a member of the Zulu Nation.
His assertion says, “The Common Hip Hop Museum and Mr. Bucano condemn all acts of acts of violence and abuse. I want to make it clear that Afrika Bambaataa has not had a job on the Common Hip Hop Museum since 2016. I and the Common Hip Hop Museum will not be celebration to any actions affiliated with the Common Zulu Nation I affirm that the Common Hip Hop Museum is dedicated to its mission to empower, educate, and uplift communities.” It goes on saying, “Whereas it’s true that Afrika Bambaataa was a founding member of the museum, he was faraway from any involvement with the museum as quickly because the allegations surfaced. He has by no means been a board member, advisory board member or volunteer. I’ve by no means been a member of the Common Zulu Nation nor am I an agent of the group or Afrika Bambaataa. The assertion that UHHM is a monetary entrance for the Common Zulu Nation, Afrika Bambaataa, or different Common Zulu Nation members, is irresponsible, false, and misdirected.”
Bambaataa was hit with a number of sexual abuse allegations going again to the Nineteen Seventies however has maintained his innocence.
His lawyer, Vivian Ok. Tozaki, issued a press release in 2016 saying, “Not too long ago, defamatory statements have been revealed in search of to hurt my shopper’s fame in order to decrease him within the estimation of the group whereas deterring others from associating or coping with him. The statements present a reckless disregard for the reality, have been revealed with information of their falsity, and are being made by a lesser-known particular person in search of publicity. Beneficial cultural sources, reminiscent of Afrika Bambaataa’s good identify and time, ought to by no means be used to help a mediocre particular person’s asinine quest for social media recognition and superficial acquire.”
