Ever since it was released, the 808 helped define genre after genre, as new generations of producers made its power their own.

First came high-stakes pop production: Yellow Magic Orchestra debuted it on stage and used it on “1000 Knives”, and it formed the backbeat of Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” in 1982:

That same year, New York’s Afrika Bambaataa tapped into something new – with the 808 driving Kraftwerk beats against funk grooves and hip-hop MC lyrics, “Planet Rock” had a unique recipe that gave birth to dance music as we now know it:

Then sampling came along, the 808 fell out of fashion, ended up in pawn shops, got picked up by hungry young artists – and the rest is history. Juan Atkins added “the first 808 in Michigan” to Cybotron’s funk futurism in “Clear”:

Egyptian Lover made it the pulse of “Egypt, Egypt”:

It formed the fabric of UR’s “The Final Frontier” and Hashim’s “Al Naafiysh” – and it put the hard swing into “Pacific State”, the first hit by Graham Massey’s new project, which he’d named 808 State:

More recently, the 808 has continued to inspire tracks like Future’s 2015 trap hit “March Madness”.

It’s an icon that’s not going away any time soon.

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808-Day celebration – dive into videos, history, sounds, and more
The Roland TR-808 gets celebrated each year on the 8th of August. Here’s a roundup on some interesting articles we’ve gathered.
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