Planet Rock (song)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Planet Rock" is a 1982 song by Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force. It is widely regarded as one of the earliest and most influential rap songs. Although it was only a minor hit in the US and UK, it helped change the foundations of hip-hop and dance music. It is credited with giving birth to the electro style and helped pave the way for other genres such as techno and house.
Produced by Arthur Baker, "Planet Rock" blends synthesizer and vocoder sounds with breakbeating. It was influenced both by electronic artists such as Kraftwerk and the funk musician George Clinton. It was the first hip-hop recording to use a drum machine.
Kraftwerk borrowings
The main melody of "Planet Rock" is borrowed from the title track of Kraftwerk's electronic album Trans Europe Express. Another part of the song contains elements of the song "Numbers" from the Kraftwerk album Computer World, another track which was popular on black music dancefloors in the UK and the US. The borrowings eventually resulted in an out-of-court settlement between Kraftwerk and Tommy Boy Records head Tom Silverman.
Essays
