WORDS FROM BAMBAATAA

He is known by a number of titles, 'Godfather Of Hip-Hop', 'Master Of Records', 'Greatest DJ On Earth' - etc etc.... Now while a number of teenage buckwild shorties who score with one hit record inflate their own egos to ridiculous levels through their own blunt-smoke induced gauge of talent, he is a man who truly deserves the above titles and more. However, if one word can accurately describe Bambaataa Aasim, more regularly known as Afrika Bambaataa, it is intelligence.

This is a man who could very easily be living in a multimillion dollar ivory tower, content with his life and focused purely upon money. But not Bambaataa. He recognises that a great deal of ignorance exists within society, and he constantly strives to educate the misguided, indoctrinated masses. Taking his previous experiences as a gangbanger, he redirects the lessons of the streets into a positive and knowledgeable form. Serving as a source of inspiration and wisdom, he uses a philosophy of not misguiding youth, simply highlighting the facts and allowing people to draw their own conclusions. He does this from the same South Bronx streets he ran 25 years ago with the notorious Black Spades.

The main thing that always strikes me about Bam though, is his genuine approachability and how humble he is about his achievements. He always speaks to you as an equal and he'll always hug you like a brother when he sees you. Compare this to the behaviour of 95% of the current hip-hop community and you begin to understand the difference between men and boys, and you start to see where infiltrators began to fuck up our culture with that policy of 'divide and conquer.'

The very fact that you are able to buy and read this magazine means that you owe a debt to Bambaataa, whether you acknowledge the fact or not. Now it's crunchtime. Read the following and peep out your response. If you can understand and open your mind to the bigger picture, contact the Zulu Nation. If you have difficulty, check your head and ask yourself if you consider yourself to be long term with hip-hop or whether you are treating it as a fad. Remember, knowledge is infinite, and there is no power greater than the power of the mind, but it's up to you as an individual to use it.