Release · 1982-06-03 · New York City [40.71, -74.01]
Planet Rock (1982 single)
Released in June 1982 and credited to Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force, "Planet Rock" fused the Bronx party aesthetic with electronic synthesizers and a drum machine, drawing openly on the sound of Kraftwerk. The result helped invent electro and reshaped dance and hip-hop production for years. It showed how readily the borough's music could absorb the machines of European art-pop.
Evidence1
- MusicBrainz: Planet Rock (release group)MusicBrainz
musicbrainz.org/release-group/ef56f58a-8dfd-39ea-8a79-7f69d4fcd87c
accessed 2026-06-04
Connections2
collaborates with → Afrika Bambaataa
influences → Cybotron — "Clear" (single)
Afrika Bambaataa's 'Planet Rock' (1982) is a foundational electro record, the genre Wikidata dates to 1980 and files under electronic dance music built on synthesizers and drum machines. That machine-funk template fed directly into the Detroit electro of Cybotron, whose 'Clear' shares the same Roland-driven, robotic aesthetic on the road to techno. The cited sources confirm 'Planet Rock' as electro and the genre's synthesizer-and-drum-machine foundation that the Detroit records extended.