Planet Rock (song)

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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, house, and trance. In November 2004, the song placed at #237 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time" and #10 in the 100 Greatest Rap Songs[1].

Produced by Arthur Baker, "Planet Rock" blends synthesizer and vocoder sounds with breakbeating. It was influenced by artists such as Kraftwerk, Gary Numan and funk pioneer George Clinton. It was the first hip-hop recording to use a drum machine.

The influence of "Planet Rock" can still be heard in hip-hop genres like G-funk and in the work of producers such as The Neptunes who use electro-based sounds in their productions.

A music video was also created for the song.

[edit] Credits

• Engineer - Bob Rosa, Jan D. Burnett
• Executive Producer - Tom Silverman
• Mastered By - Herb Powers, Jr.
• Mixed By Producer - Arthur Baker[2]
• Video By - Video Mix Productions - Danny Cornyetz & Jessica Jason

[edit] Kraftwerk borrowings

The main melody of "Planet Rock" is borrowed from the title track of Kraftwerk's influential album Trans Europe Express, while the drum pattern is based on the song "Numbers" from the Kraftwerk album Computer World, another popular underground club record. The borrowings eventually resulted in an out-of-court settlement between Kraftwerk and Tommy Boy Records head Tom Silverman.

[edit] Music sample

[edit] References

• Ross, Sean (1992). In Street Jams: Electric Funk Part 1 [CD liner notes]. Burbank, CA: Rhino Records.

[edit] External links

• Song Review from All Music Guide