In the alleged claims against former Zulu Nation leader Afrika Bambaataa regarding child molestation, Bambaataa has finally responded.
In a statement sent to Rolling Stone, Bambaataa says the allegations are “a cowardly attempt to tarnish my reputation” and that they will “not stop me from continuing my battle and standing up against the violence in our communities.”
“I, Afrika Bambaataa, want to take this opportunity at the advice of my legal counsel to personally deny any and all allegations of any type of sexual molestation of anyone,” Bambaataa said in the statement. “These allegations are baseless and are a cowardly attempt to tarnish my reputation and legacy in hip-hop at this time. This negligent attack on my character will not stop me from continuing my battle and standing up against the violence in our communities, the violence in the nation and the violence worldwide.”
The allegations against Bambaataa, who’s often credited with being the “Godfather of Hip Hop” and who founded the Zulu Nation to promote unity as well as Hip Hop arts, stem from former music executive and author Ronald Savage, who claims in his self-published memoir Impulse Urges and Fantasies that Bambaataa allegedly sexually abused him in 1980, inflicting “deep emotional wounds.”
Savage went on to tell the New York Daily News since the allegations first surfaced he’s not “looking for compensation from Bambaataa” but only looking for answers as to why he was “chosen” to be a victim of the alleged act.