Sugar Club, Dublin Tonight 11pm €15 01-6787188; Pavilion, Cork Tomorrow 11pm €15/€12 021-4276230
Looking for a hip-hop legend? Vou’ve come to the right place. Afrika Bambaataa’s place in the narrative about how we got from back in the day to here has long been cast in stone. That often- applied “grandfather of hip-hop” moniker is only one string to his bow, not to mention his role in assembling and directing the Zulu Nation as an alternative to New York’s street gangs for black youths.
Don’t overlook his tunes. Bambaataa’s innovative work on tracks such as Planet Rock and Looking for the Perfect Beat are early examples of how hip-hop could find inspiration in the strangest of places. His electro-funk cuts saw him use such then unlikely sources as Kraftwerk and George Clinton as jump-off points for gigantic interplanetary jams. Decades later, Bambaataa is still at work, bringing the real hip- hop flavours to the masses.
Can't see that? Catch this:A double helping of Kwes (Fri, Galway; Sat, Dublin); celebrate Fela Kuti Day at Mud (Fri, Dublin); and Prosumer helps the Stiff Kitten mark its seventh birthday (Sat, Belfast)
JIM CARROLL
