"Rockit" was constructed and composed during the recording process, first at BC Studio in
Gowanus, Brooklyn, with additional overdubs at RPM Studios in
Manhattan, then Hancock's home studio in
West Hollywood, and finally at
Eldorado studio in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The production duo of
Material (bassist Bill Laswell and synth player
Michael Beinhorn) were based at
Martin Bisi's BC Studio, recording experimental,
no wave and underground club music. Hancock's 25-year-old manager, Tony Meilandt, approached Laswell to write a new track for Hancock, whose career needed a boost. To gauge this potential new direction for his career, Hancock accompanied Laswell to hear a set of popular club DJs including
Afrika Bambaataa and
D.ST spin at
Roxy NYC in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Warily eyeing the crowd, which to him looked like a riot, Hancock needed more convincing by Meilandt before he contracted with Laswell's team to deliver two tracks. Meilandt later said "Herbie was very much ready" to try a new kind of sound. At BC Studios, Beinhorn used a new
Oberheim DMX drum machine to lay down a basic beat, and Laswell brought in
Daniel Ponce to augment this with Afro-Cuban
batá drums. Ponce played the three drums one at a time during three recording passes, to make it sound like three drummers invoking a
Santería spirit. The 2-inch 16-track master tape containing rhythm parts and scratching needed to be transferred to 24-track 2-inch in order for Hancock to work with it at his home studio. Laswell and Bisi took the tape to RPM Studios in
Greenwich Village, but instead of simply transferring the format, they added some extra sounds, especially a
stab of guitar taken from a
Led Zeppelin song on the album
Coda. Using the repeat hold function of a
Lexicon Prime Time digital delay, they attempted to capture a Led Zeppelin snare drum sound, but a moment of inattention resulted in the guitar stab, which Laswell found better suited his purpose. Hancock first heard the work-in-progress in West Hollywood at his home studio, a former guest house in back of his main residence. Hancock determined that the track needed a melody line. Hancock, Laswell and Beinhorn composed one on the spot by humming out loud to each other. Then Hancock recorded his ideas on three different synthesizers, performing on them one at a time. When Hancock suggested performing some vocoder
vocal scat, Laswell and Beinhorn said they could instead
sample lyrics from a hit song, specifically the line "Rock it, don't stop it" from "
Planet Rock", which was at that time a hit for Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force. This lyric sample produced the title "Rockit". A final recording session was convened at Eldorado Studios located at
Hollywood and Vine, Hollywood, Los Angeles. To round out the
turntablist sounds, D.ST flew out from New York along with his colleague
Grandmaster Caz. Session engineer
Dave Jerden remarked to Beinhorn that Hancock appeared hopeful about the track, but that he did not realize what he had. After the brief 90-minute session, the New York contingent went to a local stereo shop to pass the time before their flight home. Carrying a cassette tape of the final mix, they listened to "Rockit" on some loudspeakers at the shop, attracting the attention of children from the neighborhood who were amazed and curious. Judging their reaction, Laswell told D.ST, "That's a hit record." ==Personnel==