American rapper and DJ Bambaataa has died at the age of 67.

The "pioneer of hip-hop", rapper and DJ Afrika Bambaata died at the age of 68. This was reported on April 9 by The Guardian newspaper.

"Today we celebrate the passing of one of the founders of hip-hop culture. <...> Afrika Bambaata helped shape hip-hop's early identity as a global movement based on peace, unity, love and fun," the newspaper quoted the Hip—Hop Alliance group as saying.

It is specified that the musician died in Philadelphia at about 3:00 local time (10:00 Moscow time).

Bambaata was born in the Bronx in 1957. He played a key role in shaping 1980s hip-hop: in the late 1970s, he founded the Universal Zulu Nation collective, inspired by DJ Cool Herk. In 1982, the single Planet Rock was released, which became a club hit and contributed to the establishment of electro-funk, and in 1985 Bambaata participated in the creation of the album Sun City by the Artists United Against Apartheid project.

Bambaata continued to release albums over the following decades. Dark Matter's latest album, Moving at the Speed of Light, with all its previous singles, was released in 2004.

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