“What month is this?” one of the Universal Zulu Nation MCs asked as Afrika Bambaataa manned the turntables Sunday afternoon. “This is Hip-Hop History Month!” Auditorium Shores thus received a lesson not only in hip-hop history, but in how a master works his craft.
As the man born Kevin Donovan in the South Bronx 58 years ago took Fun Fun Fun Fest’s Blue stage mid-afternoon, he made new music on the spot, chopping recorded history into a stew pot and creating fresh masterpieces from prime ingredients. Three Zulu Nation MCs exhorted the crowd, bringing audience members forth to dance and breakdance and dance as the wheels of the steel wizard behind them worked his day-one mixology.
For the first 20 minutes, a steady groove emerged from vintage beats by Bernard “Pretty” Purdie, Clyde Stubblefield, and John “Jabo” Starks. Then the Godfather arrived, Bambaataa composing a new James Brown track from classic bits and pieces. What followed was a torrent of classic funk: Earth, Wind & Fire, Parliament’s “Flashlight,” the Ohio Players’ “Fire,” Cheryl Lynn’s “Got to Be Real,” and “Play That Funky Music.”
By the time House of Pain’s “Jump Around” hit the P.A., the party was in full force, frothing like those basement jams at which Bambaataa helped father hip-hop in the Seventies.
At close, Charlie Watts’ “Honky Tonk Women” cowbell and traps rang sans guitars, only Mick Jagger’s vocal remaining, in a live Rolling Stones remix. Bambaataa bid adieu by leading the assemblage in an a cappella “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).” Minds were blown, booties shaken, and artistry both preserved and redefined.
This article appears in November 6 • 2015.
