The hip-hop DJ known by Afrika Bambaataa, born Lance Taylor in 1957, has passed away, per a report from TMZ. He was 67 at the time of his death. His cause of death was reported as being complications relating to cancer. His death comes after his long musical career was brought to a halt with allegations of sexually abusing multiple boys and sex trafficking.

Early in Bambaataa’s career, Pitchfork reports that he gained traction in New York’s early hip-hop scene through the block parties he would host in the Bronx. He may be best-known for the song “Planet Rock”, a song created in 1982 created with Soulsonic Force and a Kraftwerk sample.  The song reached a peak of number 48 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Bambaataa worked with a plethora of other artists throughout his life. Some of those artists include Miles Davis, Bruce Springsteen, Bono and Run D.M.C. 

In 1973, Bambaataa co-founded Universal Zulu Nation, which was a hip-hop awareness organization. The organization’s slogan was “Peace, Love, Unity, and Having Fun.” However, in 2016, allegations against Bambaataa contradicted his organization’s slogan, as he was accused of alleged molestation by political activist and former music industry executive, Ronald Savage. Savage claims the allegations happened multiple times when he was only 15 years old in 1980, when Bambaataa would have been about 23 years old. 

More allegations from multiple other men followed the ones made by Savage. As a result, Bambaataa was removed from his role at Universal Zulu Nation. He went to court over the allegations just last year, and ended up losing via a default judgment due to his failure to enter a legal response. In this 2016 case, a John Doe alleged he was sex trafficked by Bambaataa between 1991, when Doe was only 12, until 1995.