Editing Roland TR-808 (section)

== Uses and influence ==
{{Listen
|pos=right
|filename=Sexual Healing sample.ogg
|title=Marvin Gaye – "Sexual Healing" (1982)
|description="[[Sexual Healing]]" (1982) by [[Marvin Gaye]], an R&B song that helped popularize the 808
}}

Before its release, Roland rented an 808 to the Japanese group [[Yellow Magic Orchestra]] (YMO), who used it at a 1980 performance of "1000 Knives" at the [[Budokan]].<ref name="Kikumoto" /><ref name="Shamoon">{{cite news |last1=Shamoon |first1=Evan |date=31 July 2020 |title=How Yellow Magic Orchestra Launched the 808 Revolution |url=https://articles.roland.com/yellow-magic-orchestra-808-revolution/ |access-date=11 February 2025 |work=Roland Articles |publisher=[[Roland Corporation]]}}</ref> In the same year, the YMO member [[Ryuichi Sakamoto]] used the 808 on his solo album ''[[B-2 Unit]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McNamee |first1=David |date=November 2016 |title=Dance moves: Riots in Lagos and the birth of electro |url=https://thelongandshort.org/creativity/dance-moves-electro-techno |access-date=11 February 2025 |work=The Long and Short}}</ref><ref name="Shamoon"/> Later in 1980, the 808 was used in an Indian [[disco]] album, ''Babla's Disco Sensation'', by [[Babla & Kanchan|Babla]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ghose |first1=Rana |title=Plugging In the Indian Roots of Electronic Music |url=https://artsandculture.google.com/story/plugging-in-the-indian-roots-of-electronic-music/fgXxZIcwghUvNw |access-date=11 February 2025 |work=[[Google Arts & Culture]]}}</ref> 

In 1981, the 808 was featured on the YMO album ''[[BGM (album)|BGM]]'' and the single "Nobody Told Me" by [[The Monitors (Australian band)|the Monitors]].<ref name="Valle-2014" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Mikey IQ |date=22 January 2015 |title=The Essential... Yellow Magic Orchestra |url=http://www.factmag.com/2015/01/22/the-essential-yellow-magic-orchestra/ |access-date=24 August 2017 |website=[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]]}}</ref> In 1982, the American [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] artist [[Marvin Gaye]] released the first US hit single to feature the 808, "[[Sexual Healing]]".<ref name="Anderson-2008" /> Gaye was drawn to the 808 because he could use it to create music in isolation, without other musicians or producers.<ref name="Norris-2015" />

Though the 808 was unsuccessful, it was eventually used on more hit records than any other drum machine<ref>{{citation|last=Wells|first=Peter|title=A Beginner's Guide to Digital Video|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=stvOCfhc_igC&pg=PA18|page=18|year=2004|publisher=AVA Books|isbn=2-88479-037-3|access-date=20 May 2011}}</ref> and became one of the most influential inventions in popular music.<ref name="Hamilton-2016" /><ref name="Leight-2016" /> By the time Roland discontinued it in 1983, it had become common on the used market, often selling for less than $100 ({{Inflation|US|100|1983|fmt=eq}}).<ref name="Fact-2014" /> Its ease of use,<ref name="Hamilton-2016" /> affordability and idiosyncratic sound earned it a [[cult following]] among underground musicians and producers,<ref name="Fact-2014" /> and it became a cornerstone of the developing [[Electronic music|electronic]] and [[hip-hop]] genres.<ref name="Anderson-2008" />

808 samples are common in music software, and it has inspired numerous unlicensed clones.<ref name="Beaumont-Thomas-2014" /><ref>{{Cite news|last=Warwick|first=Oli|date=8 April 2017|title=Attack of the clones: Is Behringer's Minimoog a synth replica too far?|language=en-US|work=[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]]|url=https://www.factmag.com/2017/04/08/behringer-minimoog-synth-clones/|access-date=30 November 2018}}</ref> ''[[Flavorwire]]'' wrote that the 808 is now so ubiquitous that "its beats are almost a language of their own", with sounds recognizable even to listeners who do not know what drum machines are, and so "you also notice when somebody messes with them or uses them in unusual contexts".<ref name="Hawking-2014">{{Cite news|last=Hawking|first=Tom|date=16 January 2014|title=10 great songs built around the 808|language=en-US|newspaper=[[Flavorwire]]|url=http://flavorwire.com/433944/10-great-songs-built-around-the-808/4|access-date=16 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708070817/http://flavorwire.com/433944/10-great-songs-built-around-the-808/4|archive-date=8 July 2019}}</ref> In 2019, ''[[DJ Mag|DJMag]]'' wrote that it was likely the most used drum machine of the preceding 40 years.<ref name="Jenkins-2019" />

=== Hip-hop ===
The 808 has been described as hip-hop's equivalent to the [[Fender Stratocaster]] guitar, which dramatically influenced the development of [[rock music]].<ref>{{Cite web|last1=McKee|first1=Ruth|last2=Grierson|first2=Jamie|date=2 April 2017|title=Roland founder and music pioneer Ikutaro Kakehashi dies aged 87|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/apr/02/roland-founder-and-music-pioneer-ikutaro-kakehashi-dies-aged-87|access-date=6 April 2018|website=[[The Guardian]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Baldwin |first=Roberto |date=14 February 2014 |title=Early hip-hop's greatest drum machine just got resurrected |url=https://www.wired.com/2014/02/roland-resurrects-808/ |access-date=4 January 2016 |newspaper=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Richards |first=Chris |date=2 December 2008 |title=What's an 808? |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/music_box/2008/12/whats_an_808.html |access-date=16 January 2016 |newspaper=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |language=en-US |issn=1091-2339}}</ref> It was used by pioneering hip-hop acts including [[Run-DMC]], [[LL Cool J]] and [[Public Enemy (group)|Public Enemy]].<ref name="Norris-2015" /> The 808 bass drum, in particular, became so essential that Hank Shocklee of the [[The Bomb Squad|Bomb Squad]] production group declared that "it's not hip-hop without that sound".<ref name="Norris-2015" /> ''The New Yorker'' wrote that the "trembling feeling of [the 808 bass drum], booming down boulevards in Oakland, the Bronx and Detroit, are part of America's cultural DNA".<ref name="Norris-2015" /> Even after the 808 fell out of use by [[East Coast hip-hop]] producers in the 1990s, it remained a staple of [[Southern hip-hop]].<ref name="Fact-2014" /> 

The rapper [[Kanye West]] used the 808 on every track on his 2008 solo album ''[[808s & Heartbreak]]'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Greene |first=Jason |date=22 September 2015 |title=The coldest story ever told: the influence of Kanye West's ''808s & Heartbreak'' |url=http://pitchfork.com/features/overtones/9725-the-coldest-story-ever-told-the-influence-of-kanye-wests-808s-heartbreak/ |access-date=16 January 2017 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]}}</ref> which ''Slate'' described as "an explicit love letter to the device".<ref name="Hamilton-2016" /> ''The New Yorker'' wrote in 2015 that the 808 was the bedrock of the modern "urban-youth-culture soundtrack", particularly in [[trap music]], and had influenced a new blend of dance and [[Retro style|retro]] hip-hop that "embraces and fetishizes&nbsp;... street music from the past".<ref name="Norris-2015" />

Artists pushed the limits of the 808's limited pattern storage; according to ''Slate'', "Those eight-bar units became veritable playgrounds for invention and creativity."<ref name="Hamilton-2016" /> Artists manipulated the bass drum to produce new sounds,<ref name="Hamilton-2016" /> such as on the 1984 single "Set it Off", in which the producer [[Strafe (band)|Strafe]] used it to imitate the sound of an underground [[Nuclear weapons testing|nuclear test]].<ref name="Norris-2015" /> The producer [[Rick Rubin]] popularized the technique of lengthening the bass drum decay and tuning it to different pitches to create [[bassline]]s.<ref name="Leight-2016">{{Cite news |last=Leight |first=Elias |date=6 December 2016 |title=8 ways the 808 drum machine changed pop music |newspaper=[[Rolling Stone]] |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/8-ways-the-808-drum-machine-changed-pop-music-w453714 |access-date=16 January 2016}}</ref> The [[Beastie Boys]] used a reversed recording of an 808 on their 1986 track "[[Paul Revere (song)|Paul Revere]]".<ref>{{cite news |last=Kaufman |first=Gil |date=24 May 2012 |title=Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz Talks MCA Death |work=[[MTV News]] |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1685736/beastie-boys-adam-yauch-adam-horovitz/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140523195102/http://www.mtv.com/news/1685736/beastie-boys-adam-yauch-adam-horovitz/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 May 2014 }}</ref>

=== Electronic music ===
In 1980, [[Ryuichi Sakamoto]]'s electronic track "Riot in Lagos" from the album ''[[B-2 Unit]]'' introduced the 808 to clubs. According to [[Mary Anne Hobbs]] of [[BBC Radio 6 Music]], it demonstrated a new type of "[[Electronic body music|body music]]" that "foretold the future" of music.<ref name="BBC">{{cite web |last1=Hobbs |first1=Mary Anne |author1-link=Mary Anne Hobbs |title=In praise of the 808 - 8 essential tracks to celebrate the drum machine that changed the world |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4vxylVTKQrw6Hl8kgNrFv61/in-praise-of-the-808-8-essential-tracks-to-celebrate-the-drum-machine-that-changed-the-world |website=[[BBC Radio 6 Music]] |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=9 December 2020 |access-date=3 March 2025}}</ref> In 1982, [[Afrika Bambaataa]] and the [[Soulsonic Force]] released their single "[[Planet Rock (song)|Planet Rock]]", which used the 808 to create "strange, futuristic" percussion that was popular in clubs.<ref name="Beaumont-Thomas-2014-2">{{Cite news |last=Beaumont-Thomas |first=Ben |date=14 February 2014 |title=Roland launch new versions of the iconic 808, 909 and 303 instruments |language=en |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/14/roland-launch-new-instruments-808-909-303 |access-date=16 January 2016 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The track influenced the development of electronic and hip-hop music<ref name="Hawking-2014" /> and subgenres including [[Miami bass]] and [[Detroit techno]], and popularized the 808 as a "fundamental element of futuristic sound".<ref name="Anderson-2008" /> According to ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'', "Planet Rock" "didn't so much put the 808 on the map so much as reorient an entire world of [[post-disco]] dance music around it".<ref name="Hamilton-2016" />

The British electronic group [[808 State]] took its name from the 808 and used it extensively.<ref name="Fact-2014" /> 808 State's [[Graham Massey]] said: "The Roland gear began to be a kind of [[Esperanto]] in music. The whole world began to be less separated through this technology, and there was a classiness to it—you could transcend your provincial music with this equipment."<ref name="Beaumont-Thomas-2014" /> With the rise of [[Rave|rave culture]], a precursor to [[acid house]], the 808 became a staple sound on British radio.<ref name="Anderson-2008" /> In the early 90s, the Japanese composer [[Yuzo Koshiro]] incorporated samples of the 808 in his soundtracks for the ''[[Streets of Rage]]'' games.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dwyer |first=Nick |date=25 September 2014 |title=Interview: Streets of Rage Composer Yuzo Koshiro |url=https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2014/09/yuzo-koshiro-interview |access-date=2024-01-20 |website=[[Red Bull Music Academy]] |language=en}}</ref>

=== Pop ===
The 808 was used extensively in pop. ''The New Yorker'' wrote that it triggered "the big bang of pop's great age of disruption, from 1983 to 1986", and that its "defiantly inorganic timbres&nbsp;... sketched out the domain of a new world of music".<ref name="Norris-2015" /> According to ''Slate'', it was instrumental in pop music's shift from conventional structure and harmonic progression to "thinking in terms of ''sequences'', discrete passages of sound and time to be repeated and revised ''ad infinitum''".<ref name="Hamilton-2016" />

The Argentine artist [[Charly García]] used the 808 for all percussion on his second album, ''[[Clics modernos]]'' (1983).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Daza |first=Baltasar |date=2020-07-03 |title=Cuando el mundo tira para abajo: Charly García y la historia de Clics modernos |url=https://www.latercera.com/culto/2020/07/03/cuando-el-mundo-tira-para-abajo-charly-garcia-y-la-historia-de-clics-modernos/ |access-date=2022-04-17 |website=[[La Tercera]]}}</ref> In the 1984 [[Talking Heads]] concert film ''[[Stop Making Sense]]'', the singer [[David Byrne]] performs "[[Psycho Killer]]" accompanied by an 808,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hamilton |first=Jack |date=5 December 2012 |title=Select-a-Rhythm |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2013/12/beat_box_review_drum_machine_gets_its_due_in_joe_mansfield_book.html |access-date=21 March 2018 |work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |language=en |issn=1091-2339}}</ref> stumbling against its "gunshot"-like sounds.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Zacharek|first=Stephanie|date=17 September 1999|title=Stop Making Sense|language=en|work=[[Salon (magazine)|Salon]]|url=https://www.salon.com/1999/09/16/sense/|access-date=21 March 2018}}</ref> The drummer and songwriter [[Phil Collins]] found the 808 useful for [[Loop (music)|looping]] rhythms for long periods, as human drummers would be tempted to add variations and [[Fill (music)|fills]].<ref name="Leight-2016" /> [[Whitney Houston]]'s 1987 single "[[I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)|I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)]]" makes extensive use of the 808.<ref>{{Cite news |date=21 March 2014 |title=Roland TR-808: The drum machine that refused to die |language=en-GB |newspaper=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-26651321 |access-date=19 January 2016}}</ref> 

Other artists who have used the 808 include <!--DO NOT ADD ACTS without providing a high-quality secondary source-->[[Damon Albarn]], [[Diplo]], [[Norman Cook|Fatboy Slim]], [[David Guetta]] and [[New Order (band)|New Order]].<ref name="Anderson-2008" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kreps |first=Daniel |date=15 October 2014 |title=Phil Collins, Pharrell praise 808 drum machine in new doc |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/exclusive-phil-collins-rick-rubin-pharrell-extol-808-drum-machine-in-new-doc-20141015 |access-date=16 January 2014 |newspaper=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref> It has been referenced in lyrics by artists including the [[Beastie Boys]], Beck, [[Outkast]], [[Kelis]], [[T.I.]], [[Lil Wayne]], [[Britney Spears]], [[Beyoncé]], [[R. Kelly|R Kelly]] and [[Robbie Williams]].<ref name="Anderson-2008" /><ref name="Fact-2014" /> Its bass drum has been used as a metaphor for a heartbeat in songs by artists including [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]], [[Rihanna]] and [[Kesha]].<ref name="Fact-2014" />