French rapper Solo, from the group Assassin and a pioneer of breakdancing in France, has claimed to have been a victim as a teenager of American DJ and hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa, who has been accused of sexually assaulting a minor in the United States.
"Being confronted with a predator, especially someone you admire, is the hardest thing," Solo said on the French television program "Clique" on Canal+ on Wednesday, as quoted today by AFP.
The rapper was one of the few French people to be part of the early days of hip-hop in the United States, alongside pioneers such as Afrika Bambaataa.
The American DJ co-founded the Zulu Nation in 1973, an organization that stands against gang violence in New York and uses hip-hop and its movements to convey peaceful values.
In "Write My Name Down on Your List", an autobiography published in mid-November, Solo recounts having heard a scene of sexual assault on a minor during his stay in the United States, without providing further details.
"One night, Bambaataa calls me into the living room while he's watching a pornographic film. I feel uncomfortable, but I don't move. At that precise moment, I understood that it was my turn to become his toy," Solo says in the book, who says he was 17 at the time.
When asked about this episode on Wednesday, the artist spoke of "totally inappropriate behavior" on Bambaataa's part, which took "more than forty years" to recall.
"Above all, I needed personal development and support, even if it was just to acknowledge that I was a victim," he added on the show.
The rapper said he was "a thousand miles away from imagining the scale of the phenomenon" that would come to light years later, describing Bambaataa as a "sexual predator."
The Zulu Nation, made up of representatives of hip-hop and its philosophy from around the world, dissociated itself from its leader in 2016, when Afrika Bambaataa was accused of sexually assaulting a minor, which he denied.
A trial was held in 2021, but the DJ never appeared.
AFP asked Afrika Bambaataa for a reaction on his Instagram account today, but has yet to receive a response.
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