We’re sad to report that the Afrika Bambaataa show with DJ Intel at the Mid tonight has been cancelled due to Bambaataa falling ill and needing to be hospitalized.
We’re told that he is okay and should recover soon.
That said, it looks like my first time seeing one of the founding fathers of hip hop spin a live DJ set will have to wait, but in the meantime, I’d like to share with some great quotes from a Chicago SunTimes interview he did with Thomas Conner.
The quotes shed some excellent light on our community of groove and live hip hop and dance club culture experiments and if you’ve experienced a live Bambaataa set before, tell us all about your experience in the comments below!
Here are the quotes as Bambaataa explains his approach to getting fans to groove to the music:
“I can’t stand it when the audience just stares at you,” he says. “I tell these promoters, ‘I’m coming to DJ. It’s about the audience and the party. People are gonna dance, so be ready.’ … Dancing brings out the inner self of people, lets certain things go. You’re stressed out, got problems at home, hard times at work — the vibration of the music does many things to many different people. Has throughout history. We’re never more human than when we’re moving to music. Dogs run, birds sing, bees work. Humans do all that, but only humans dance.”
And as Conner reports, this is how Bammbaataa uses all genres of music to get the community of groove going during his live set.
“This way I can have a variety of so much different music I can spring on any audience I play for. … It helps me take people on a journey. The last gig I was at, I said, ‘I want you to dance like your mom and pop used to.’ I started throwing ’60s records. People went crazy. Once you’ve got ’em, you keep ’em going. I jump back to a style they enjoy today, then hit ’em with James Brown. I play stuff even from the ’30s and ’40s, stuff I didn’t even know I had. Whatever the moment presents.”
Yes, on Live Fix, we love to explore and celebrate hip hop and as of this posting the Bambaataa show hasn’t been rescheduled, but we’ll be sure to let you know when it is. Most of all, we wish him a most speedy recovery!