Afrika Bambaata “Metal” (f. Gary Numan and MC Chat)

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Afrika Bambaataa is essentially the father of hip-hop. He’s the reason for the season, man. He was the one to bring together all the b-boys, scratchers, MCs and graffiti artists together in joyful celebration of this burden we call life. He heard Kraftwerk, mixed it up, and created some of the best jams in all of history. So when you wait until 1:30 in the morning and the dude puts on House of Pain’s “Jump Around,” it kinda hurts. I know, I get it—it’s Detroit Bar and the girls are in their halter tops doing the stripper dance but you know what? I think that if you really feel something, if it really moves you, if it’s really what you’re about, then you play to the wall and it doesn’t fucking matter because that’s the music you hear. Luckily there were also Free the Robots. They killed. Seriously. They fucked it like they meant it, and that’s no joke. A la Daft Punk, Kraftwerk, Justice—two kids with tons of electronics that somehow pulled a truckload of soul into the room. These guys, they meant it. Bambaataa? Didn’t. I dunno, maybe he wasn’t feelin it. That’s being kind. Maybe he’s over it—in which case, I think he just simply shouldn’t tour. Yeah, it was Afrika Bambaataa. But you know what? He broke my heart.

— Chesney Higgins