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. In the same year, the YMO member
Ryuichi Sakamoto used the 808 on his solo album
B-2 Unit. In 1981, the 808 was featured on the YMO album
BGM and the single "Nobody Told Me" by
the Monitors. In 1982, the American
R&B artist
Marvin Gaye released the first US hit single to feature the 808, "
Sexual Healing". and became one of the most influential inventions in popular music.
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". In 2019,
DJMag wrote that it was likely the most used drum machine of the preceding 40 years. It was used by pioneering hip-hop acts including
Run-DMC,
LL Cool J and
Public Enemy. which
Slate described as "an explicit love letter to the device". The
Beastie Boys used a reversed recording of an 808 on their 1986 track "
Paul Revere".
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 "
body music" that "foretold the future" of music. In 1982,
Afrika Bambaataa and the
Soulsonic Force released their single "
Planet Rock", which used the 808 to create "strange, futuristic" percussion that was popular in clubs. The track influenced the development of electronic and hip-hop music
Pop The 808 has been 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 ... sketched out the domain of a new world of music". In the 1984
Talking Heads concert film
Stop Making Sense, the singer
David Byrne performs "
Psycho Killer" accompanied by an 808, stumbling against its "gunshot"-like sounds. The drummer and songwriter
Phil Collins found the 808 useful for
looping rhythms for long periods, as human drummers would be tempted to add variations and
fills. Other artists who have used the 808 include
Damon Albarn,
Diplo,
Fatboy Slim,
David Guetta and
New Order. It has been referenced in lyrics by artists including the Beastie Boys, Beck,
Outkast,
Kelis,
TI,
Lil Wayne,
Britney Spears,
Beyoncé,
R Kelly and
Robbie Williams. Its bass drum has been used as a metaphor for a heartbeat in songs by artists including
Madonna,
Rihanna and
Kesha. == Successors ==