Taking the same approach to hip-hop that funk maverick
George Clinton took to his own projects,
Afrika Bambaataa created the
Time Zone project in the early '80s as another outlet for his projects. Despite the different name, their singles were essentially just
Bambaataa productions, with various collaborators like
Bill Laswell and
James Brown included on certain tracks. Their first release was "Wild Style," a breakdancing single that employed the futuristic synth lines and tight funk instrumentation that he had pioneered on the massive "Planet Rock" 12". Next came the six-part "Unity" single, in which
James Brown delivered verses while
Bambaataa, bassist
Doug Wimbish, guitarist
Skip McDonald, and drummer
Keith LeBlanc put together one of the funkiest beats of his career. The last '80s
Time Zone project was World Destruction, a rap/punk crossover that utilized
Public Image Ltd.'s Album lineup -- producer
Bill Laswell, organist
Bernie Worrell, guitarist
Nicky Skopelitis, and drummer
Aiyb Dieng -- to deliver
Bambaataa's angry duet with singer
John Lydon. Although the track was a groundbreaking effort,
Bambaataa retired the
Time Zone name for almost ten years. In the fall of 1995, a number of
Bambaataa's late-'80s/early-'90s singles and several new tracks were put together on Warlocks and Witches, Computer Chips, Microchips and You, a compilation credited to a new all-star version of
Time Zone. Featuring many members of
Bambaataa's Zulu Nation as well as several outside collaborators, it did share the same apocalyptic message and
P-Funk-inspired music that made the original
Time Zone singles so powerful, but it had a hard time connecting with rap audiences and proved to be the last release to use the
Time Zone moniker. ~ Bradley Torreano