Advocacy organization Hip-Hop Stands with Survivors has filed an FCC complaint against New York radio station Hot 97 and Funkmaster Flex over comments the DJ made about Afrika Bambaataa, who has been accused of multiple allegations of child molestation.
On August 17, Bambaataa, the seminal hip-hop figure and Zulu Nation founder whose real name is Lance Taylor, played a DJ set on Funkmaster Flex’s show. It was a rare public appearance for Taylor, who’s facing an open civil case for child sex trafficking. He hasn’t done many public performances since being accused of molestation by Zulu Nation member Ronald Savage, Hassan Campbell, and others in 2016.
“The station was reckless with allowing this man in there as a guest when he has an open case of the most horrific nature,” Leila Wills, co-founder of Hip-Hop Stands with Survivors, tells Rolling Stone. “Bambaataa is alleged to have sold a 12-year-old for money to adult men to take advantage of. He has not defended himself, so Flex and HOT97 cannot protect him.”
During the radio show, Flex referenced former music executive Ronald “Bee Stinger” Savage’s recent recanting of his accusations that Taylor molested him. “It seems that there’s a discrepancy that has been cleared up with Afrika Bambaataa and the young man Bee Stinger,” Flex said. “It seems that the pedophile word that was being used, Bee Stinger is now saying that Afrika Bambaataa is not a pedophile.”
Wednesday’s statement from Hip-Hop Stands with Survivors, though, notes that the DJ “announced on public airwaves that Afrika Bambaataa had been ‘cleared’ of being a pedophile. He also stated that ‘Afrika Bambaataa’s [sexual] preference is not illegal.’ … Knowingly or unknowingly, Flex used the people’s airwaves, maintained by the people’s tax dollars, to participate in a current disinformation campaign launched by Bambaataa loyalists in 2023.” Wills tells Rolling Stone that despite Savage’s recanting, there are still 12 other people that have accused Taylor of abuse that Flex didn’t reference on air. (When reached for comment, a rep Bambaataa did not address the complaint but wrote, “You can contact us when you want to make better Interview about The Godfather Of Hip Hop Culture.”)
Savage had previously stated that Taylor molested him in 1980 when he was 15; at the time, Taylor called the accusations “baseless” and cowardly.” On August 13, Savage told AllHipHop that he met Taylor in a club he had illegally entered with a fake ID. “Bambaataa is not a pedophile and, in my eyes, he was doing something that was consensual with someone that he thought was of age,” he said. “I wish, back in 2016, I remembered about the fake ID.” In 2016, a phone call leaked of Zulu Nation member Mickey Bentson angrily telling Savage, “You are trying to destroy a brand” with his accusations. Since then, Savage and Taylor have seemingly reconciled and recently took a picture together. Their reconnection formed the basis of Funkmaster Flex’s recent assertions.
“I don’t care whether or not Afrika Bambaataa prefers men or women or both. I don’t care,” Flex said during his radio show, “Yes, we do care if the word pedophile is used but obviously according to … AllHipHop that spoke to Bee Stinger, he’s saying that’s not the case.” In 2016 a former security guard of Taylor’s claimed that the musician had molested “hundreds” of children over the years. And in 2021, hip-hop legend Melle Mel told VladTV that “everyone knew” about Taylor’s reputation with young boys.
Taylor has denied all the accusations, and has not responded to the civil suit, which was filed in 2021 and alleges, “from 1991, when the Plaintiff was merely 12 years old, to 1995, the Plaintiff was repeatedly sexually abused and sex trafficked at the hands of the defendant.” The John Doe is currently awaiting a default judgment. (Doe’s lawyer and a rep for the FCC declined to comment. Hot 97 and Funkmaster Flex did not immediately reply to requests for comment.)
The Zulu Nation initially called the accusations against Bambaataa a “government-sponsored media attack,” but later put out a statement removing him as leader and announcing “ALL accused parties and those accused of covering up the current allegations of child molestation have been removed.” But months later, a Zulu Nation conference call leaked where Taylor defiantly refused to step down, declaring, “If y’all worried about if Bambaataa still here, get the fuck out.”
Hip-Hop Stands with Survivors is asking for Hot97 and the DJ to “pay a substantial fine for disinformation and distortion and be investigated for payola and bribes from Bambaataa and the UZN, and reckless disregard for the truth.” They also demand that they “issue an apology to all of the men who have accused Bambaataa of molestation and all survivors of sexual abuse” alongside “written and oral retractions of Flex’s illegal, distorted and misleading statements” every day for the next two weeks.
“It was extremely cruel and irresponsible of Flex and HOT97 to hoist Bambaataa up as being innocent and ‘cleared’ of being a pedophile when the man hasn’t even bothered to defend himself in court,” Wills tells Rolling Stone. “The last eight years have been trying for the other survivors. They are not sitting idly by while these people run this pathetic disinformation campaign. They are empowered, and they are taking action.”
