Monday, September 14, 2026

Planet Rock: The Album by Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force

Let’s start with the good stuff. This is a genre defining album that takes the icy electronic music of Kraftwerk (reproduced in the studio rather than sampled) and melds it with a danceable beat to create something genuinely new and exciting. It’s good to see that the members of Kraftwerk get individual writing credits on this, which earns this album a star.

The bad is that Bambaataa was not only a sexual predator of the very worst kind for many years, but that his crimes were ‘hip-hop’s best kept secret’ and covered up, with whistle blowers and victims being silenced by the rich and powerful. Enough is enough.

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