Rap

Afrika Bambaataa, the influential rapper and DJ who helped shape the culture of hip-hop via his legendary Zulu Nation block parties in the South Bronx, has died.

Also known for his electro-funk records including “Planet Rock” and “Looking for the Perfect Beat,” the musician — born Lance Taylor — died Thursday “from complications of cancer,” according to TMZ. He was 68.

A Bronx native and former member of the Black Spades gang, Bambaataa was most known for establishing his activist organization Universal Zulu Nation and hosting its block parties through the late ‘70s, gatherings that helped elevate rap from a genre of music to a cultural movement. The first Zulu Nation block party was held in 1977, set against a turbulent time for New York City — one marked by a historic blackout and a series of blazes across the South Bronx. The celebrations welcomed graffiti artists, DJs, emcees and other street performers, offering former gang members a positive outlet and laying the groundwork for what would become the four elements of hip-hop: deejaying, B-boy/girl dancing, emceeing and graffiti painting.

“Rap is about the gangs and the killings that went on until rap music and break-dancing helped end the violence. It brought people together,” Bambaataa told The Times in 1985.

Bambaataa, often named alongside DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash as a founder of hip-hop, concerned himself with community-building after a prize trip to Africa for an essay competition in 1974 shifted his worldview. He told the Red Bull Music Academy in 2017 that he was greatly inspired by “seeing Black people controlling their own destiny, seeing them get up and go to their own work.” He returned home, his new name a nod to a Zulu chief, with a new rhythm to his work.

The sounds of Bambaataa’s South Bronx block parties soon reached mainstream avenues, spreading beyond the community and eventually beyond New York. In 1982, Bambaataa launched into further fame with the release of “Planet Rock,” a Kraftwerk-inspired creation from him and Soulsonic Force, a group he co-founded. By 2006, he had released more than 20 albums, including compilations, and counted James Brown, Yellowman, John Lydon of the Sex Pistols, Boy George and Bootsy Collins among his collaborators.

Bambaataa’s recording career tapered off in the aughts, but he continued working as a DJ until his death. Bambaataa, a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee, was appointed as a three-year visiting scholar at Cornell University in 2012. Years later, he faced controversy when multiple men in 2016 accused the musician of sexual assault. He denied the allegations at the time. Zulu Nation distanced itself from its founder as the allegations went public but has since remained committed to its mission of hip-hop unity.

Among the accusers who went public with their claims was Democratic Party community advocate Ronald Savage, who alleged Bambaataa assaulted him when he was 14. Savage walked back his claims in 2024, saying he met the musician at a club he had entered using a fake ID.

An anonymous accuser raised additional allegations of sexual abuse and trafficking against Bambaataa in 2021. That case ended last year in favor of the musician’s accuser after Bambaataa failed to appear for a court hearing in New York.

Balendra Shah, 35, and his three-year-old Rastriya Swatantra Party won a landslide after Gen-Z protests toppled the former government.

Balendra Shah, Nepal’s youngest prime minister, has been sworn in after his party’s landslide election victory following protests led by young people that toppled the government in September.

A rapper-turned politician, Shah was appointed prime minister by President Ram Chandra Paudel on Friday, after his three-year-old Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) won 182 seats in the 275-member parliament in the March 5 vote, the first election since anticorruption Gen Z-led protests in which 76 people were killed.

The 35-year-old wore black trousers, a matching jacket, his signature black Nepali cloth cap and sunglasses as he was sworn in at the President House, in the presence of diplomats and senior government officials.

A day earlier, the new premier, better known as Balen, released his first public statement since the historic vote with a rap song shared on social media.

“Nepal is not scared this time, the heart is full of red blood … Laughter and happiness will reach every household this time,” Shah raps in the song titled Jay Mahakaali (Victory to Goddess Mahakali).

His music video, which features visuals of large crowds cheering him during his election campaign, has racked up nearly three million views.

“The strength of unity is my national power,” his lyrics continue.

A former mayor of the capital, Kathmandu, Shah is Nepal’s first Madhesi premier – people of the southern plains bordering India – to lead the Himalayan nation.

China extended its congratulations to Nepal on the swearing-in of Shah, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday, adding it will support its Himalayan neighbour in safeguarding its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Protests had raged over a lack of jobs and endemic corruption in the country of 30 million, where a fifth of the population lives in poverty and an estimated 1,500 people leave the country daily for work abroad.

Although he did not directly participate in the protests, Shah publicly expressed support for the largely Generation Z demonstrators who led the movement.

Political instability has been an uphill challenge for Nepal, with 32 governments taking office since 1990 and none of them completing a five-year term.

The Nepali Congress party, the country’s oldest party, became a distant second group in parliament with just 38 seats. The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) of KP Sharma Oli, who was forced to resign after the Gen Z unrest, controls 25 members.

Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki led the nation through the interim period up to the parliamentary election.