Pow Wow, member of the pioneering Hip Hop electro-funk group Soulsonic Force, Dead at 64

Robert Darrell Allen, better known as Pow Wow, a member of the pioneering Hip Hop electro-funk group Soulsonic Force, led by Afrika Bambaataa, who helped establish hip-hop in the early 1980s with songs such as "Planet Rock", has died of complications from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. He was 64.

Allen started as a B-boy before transitioning to an MC with Soulsonic Force.

Alongside Afrika Bambaataa, Soulsonic Force was one of the original groups within the musical collective which comprised of DJs, rappers, b-boys, b-girls, graffiti writers, and artists, that became collectively known originally as the Zulu Nation.

The Zulu Nation pioneered the concept of promoting unity, peace, unity, social awareness, and the culture of Hip-Hop culture, which continues to inspire artists as a worldwide cultural force.

Today the music and culture-oriented organization is now called the Universal Zulu Nation and, according to their website, stands for "knowledge, wisdom, understanding, freedom, justice, equality, peace, unity, love, respect, work, fun, overcoming the negative to the positive, economics, mathematics, science, life, truth, facts, faith, and the oneness of God".

Their other well known singles are "Looking For The Perfect Beat", "Renegades Of Funk", and "Play At Your Own Risk".