Afrika Bambaataa has detailed the allegations of child molestation in a new interview with The Ed Lover Show. Earlier this month, reports swirled in the press that Bambaataa was guilty of child molestation. At the end of last month (March 31), a former Democratic Committee member named Ronald Savage accused Bambaataa of forcing him into oral sex when he was only 15 years old.
“A lot of lies,” Bambaataa said of the accusations against him. “It could be me today and you tomorrow. I completely deny all accusations that’s being put against your brother, Afrika Bambaataa.”
Later on in the interview, Bambaataa said that Savage was only trying to use “sensationalism just to gain publicity” in order to promote his 2014 novel, Impulses, Urges and Fantasies. In the novel, Savage reportedly details the assault.
Universal Zulu Nation, founded by Bambaataa, also issued a statement urging Savage to stop the lies, saying in a statement reported by SPIN, “By all accounts, Mr. Savage, please stop lying to the public and openly apologize to Afrika Bambaataa/Universal Zulu Nation and all children world wide. Not only have you disrespected morally, spiritually and emotionally, but now there are serious legal issues that come into play as well. The Universal Zulu Nation works with victims of child and sexual abuse and takes these allegations extremely serious.”
This past week, three more men detailed Bambaataa’s abuse to the NY Daily News, including Hassan Campbell, who said that Bambaataa took horrible advantage of him as a troubled child. According to Hassan, the rapper gave him a place to stay because of strife at home, a bed and sometimes even cash. Another man who wished to remain anonymous also came forward and said that Bambaataa abused him upwards of five times in 1980.
