The Sentient Sentinel

picture provided by SoulBounce.com

After watching VH1's top 100 Hip-Hop songs I was inspired to look up more information on Baby Bam (Afrika Bambaataa) due to a comment made about him being Pagan (by Bam himself). My first thought was excitement at the thought of a Legendary Hero like Bam being a Pagan. Unfortunately, through many searches via Google I haven't found too terribly much info about it. I've found plenty of biographies and discographies about Bam that list a very impressive record of achievements and awards. I also found a few pictures of him with make-up on that is "due to him being Pagan." He has his Pagan Society (http://www.myspace.com/pagansociety1) with 2nenBladez, which is apparently a music group. Here is what their MySpace says:

About Pagan Society
PaganSociety Biography PaganSociety is the brainchild of 2nenBladez and B.A.M. Their vision from it's inception was to produce a sci-fi film musical group. Ironically the two first met on the evening of October 31 while trick or treating at a fetish costume party in Miami Florida. B.A.M. was composing music to score the film titled 1922:ZooPraXiScopE. 2nenBladez (film editor) inspired by the soundtrack decided to shoot behind the scenes footage of the production of the film with finances he raised from his practice that uses optical illusions to treat his patients with acute mental disorders and selling portraits of himself in different characters created from his illustrious imagination. After 2nenBladez convinced B.A.M. to release the music for the film to promote the forthcoming project, they came up with the idea of performing the material live dressed up as two of the stories main characters to include in the behind the scenes making of documentary of the motion picture. Relying on skills developed in their former careers - B.A.M. (theater actor, writer, character model) toured Europe during spring-summer festivals casted as the Wicked Witch of the East in his adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" and 2nenBladez (character model, sound provider, stage show producer for film trade show events, costume designer) - the two are peerless in their genre. Composing classical music with various genres rooted in electronica they conjure a fantastical performance with a controlled dichotomy that is scary yet seductive. Dark, sensual, moody, dramatic and spontaneous is how best to describe the sound of this film project now adapted for live performances. Viewers and listeners are enchanted and held in suspense by the mental stimulation put into PaganSociety's cinematic-like theatrical displays of the compositions. Though the project did not expect attention from the mainstream conciousness the first song recorded "ThePaganSystem" - 2nenBladez debut as a vocalist - coincidentally and oddly enough, wound up becoming the top 5 most requested song on Power 96's affiliate radio station and is now up for consideration by the program director for regular rotation. Indicative of how bizarre and freakish mainstream pop culture has become. Currently their brainchild PaganSociety has attracted media's attention causing emotional confusion, gossip and rumors to spread. After a photograph of B.A.M. in character was snatched off his myspace page he was accused of being "the gay rapper" even though he's not a rapper in PaganSociety. Further research into the allegations made by the public led to the discovery by the media of his connections to the group PaganSociety which led to more accusations of him being apart of a cult. If the saying holds true that 'everybody has a twin' this was one occassion that the possibility was ruled out in the public's eyes during the assessment of the situation. B.A.M. neither confirming or denying the accusations, holding out for the highest bidder, has contributed to the mystery of the project gaining them the cult status/following they desired to have for the characters and the film to be released in conjunction with launch of the website. For additional information: pagansocietybiz@gmail.com

I also read an interesting article about PaganSociety from SoulBounce.com (article found here) which quotes Merriam-Webster's online dictionary of what a Pagan is, which I also found interesting.

* Main Entry: pa·gan
* Pronunciation: \ˈpā-gən\
* Function: noun
* Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin paganus, from Latin, civilian, country dweller, from pagus country district; akin to Latin pangere to fix — more at pact
* Date: 14th century

1 : heathen 1; especially : a follower of a polytheistic religion (as in ancient Rome)
2 : one who has little or no religion and who delights in sensual pleasures and material goods : an irreligious or hedonistic person
3 : neo-pagan

— pagan adjective

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pagan

And a neo-Pagan is a noun that means "a person who practices a contemporary form of paganism (as Wicca)."

Now I'm not really sure how to feel here. On one hand you have a Hip-Hop Idol claiming to be Pagan and on the other I feel more violated than if Kathy Lee Gifford had just 'come on' to me. It appears that there is still a lot of uneducated individuals out there that are in desperate need of information. And the only people who can do it are the Pagans themselves. So a little food for thought, who knows you're a Pagan and do they even understand or know what a Pagan is? If you want to be held as an equal, you'll have to stand up for your own definition, or be defined by others.