by Native Instruments

10 legendary beats featuring huge 808s

808 drum machine.

Four decades since its launch, the TR-808 drum machine might be more relevant than ever. Though it was initially a flop, the 808 went on to shape some of the greatest music of our times, from rap and electro to techno, house, and beyond. And its influence is still felt: whether it’s booming kickdrums or crisp claps and hi-hats, thumping techno or spiky footwork, 808s are all around us in modern music – made easily accessible by modern 808 VSTs.

So, what is it that makes the 808 sound so good? This 808 Day, we’ll look at this iconic drum machine, explaining how it’s been used in ten of the best tracks from the past four decades. We’ll explain the context behind the hits and examine some production tricks used to make the best 808 beats. Above all, 808 Day is a chance to celebrate the sound of one of the great iconic instruments in electronic music.

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What is the best use of the 808?

The 808 has been used in inspiring ways by many of the greatest producers of the last 40 years. But when this unusual drum machine was first released, it wasn’t obvious how to get the best out of it. Roland thought the 808 would be used for making demo tracks – to be replaced later by a real drummer. The idea didn’t catch on, and the highly synthetic-sounding 808 sold poorly compared to other drum machines – like the LinnDrum – that offered samples of acoustic drums.

But this weakness became a strength as adventurous producers began to use the 808’s electronic sound to unlock new creative pathways, from hip-hop to house. Rap producers value the 808 for its booming kickdrums (these kicks are often what’s meant when people refer to “808s”). Electro producers, meanwhile, use the 808 to create snappy, syncopated beats, and pop artists have relied on 808 beats to give heartfelt songs an electronic edge. Each use shows a different side of this versatile, iconic instrument.

What songs use the Roland 808?

Some of the best-loved songs of the past 40 years feature the TR-808, from rap classics like Africa Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock” to pop ballads like Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing,” taking in house and techno, speaker-busting trap, and more. The 808 is so widely used that we often don’t even notice it. This 808 Day, we’ll explore ten must-know songs that use the Roland 808, explaining how the drum machine is used, and shedding light on some production tricks to help you get the best 808s.

What song has the best 808?

There are many “best” 808 beats, depending on the kinds of music you’re into. If you’re looking for the heaviest trap 808s, you might find them in a Future track like “I Serve The Base.” For classic hip-hop, it could be T-La Rock’s “It’s Yours.” The best club track featuring 808 beats might be A Guy Called Gerald’s “Voodoo Ray,” or maybe Plastikman’s “Spastik.” We’ll look at all of these tracks (and more) in detail below, dissecting their use of the 808 and trying to explain the key to their success.

10 must-know beats featuring huge 808s

1. T-La Rock and DJ Jazzy Jay – It’s Yours

Manufactured from 1980–1983 (before it was discontinued due to poor sales), the TR-808 was there at the birth of hip-hop. “It’s Yours” was released in 1984 on seminal label Def Jam, and had a big impact on rap’s future direction. Producer Rick Rubin programmed a skeletal but heavy beat using the 808’s sharp synthetic snare and syncopated claps. Crucially, he turned up the kick drum decay to create a long, weighty tone that feels more like a bassline than a staccato drum hit. This one idea birthed a million booming 808 basses – a sound that’s still widely used in rap today.

2. Cybotron – Clear

While hip-hop producers were experimenting with the 808’s booming kicks, electro innovators were approaching the drum machine in a different way. They used the 808’s crisp sound to build snappy rhythms to get bodies moving. In fact, electro partly got this idea from somewhere else: the first electro track, Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock” (1982), got its infectious beat when producer Arthur Baker tried to re-programme the drums from Kraftwerk’s “Numbers” on an 808. With those sharp 808 snares hitting on the 2nd and 4th beat, a new genre was born.

Cybotron took electro one step further in our pick, from the following year. This Detroit duo were also inspired by Kraftwerk, re-creating the ascending synth line from “The Hall Of Mirrors” for their foundational hit “Clear.” They combined these synths with spooky pitched-up vocals and an 808 beat that’s cold, hard, and propulsive. When the 808 was first released, its synthetic sound was seen as a turn-off. Now it was the main attraction.

3. Marvin Gaye – Sexual Healing

We’ve heard how the 808 was used in the cutting-edge music of its time – but what about mainstream pop? Marvin Gaye was already ten albums into his career when he discovered the machine. Having just split from his long-term label Motown, Gaye was looking for ways to make music without a major label budget. The result was 1982’s “Sexual Healing”: a sensuous ballad underpinned by 808 drums, and one of Gaye’s most beloved hits.

The 808 can be heard in all its glory at the start of the song. Listen to the details in the drum programming: the syncopated beat is embellished with subtle snare fills, and clever use of the 808’s accent feature breathes life into the hi hats. “Sexual Healing” was an early high profile use of the 808, and demonstrated that this futuristic machine could sound soulful, too.

4. Loose Ends – Hangin’ on a String

British act Loose Ends were part of an ‘80s soul revival alongside the likes of Sade, combining vintage influences with bold modern production. On their biggest hit, 1985’s “Hangin’ On A String,” the 808 is key to bringing this classic-feeling song into the future. The beat is tough and crisp, built around snares and claps layered together for extra punch. But it’s the details that really make it: those bouncy descending toms, and the iconic 808 cowbell panned to one side. As with “Sexual Healing,” it’s a beat you’d gladly listen to on loop. And many did: this song made Loose Ends the first British band to top the US Billboard R&B Chart.

5. Plastikman – Spastik

As well as the boom of rap and the snap of electro, the 808 also excels at making propulsive techno and house rhythms. Pioneers in these genres were early 808 adopters. In Detroit, the famous Belleville Three (including Juan Atkins of Cybotron) made heavy use of the 808 and its successor, the 909. Techno originator Kevin Saunderson later credited the swing function on these drum machines for giving his music its infectious groove. Over in Chicago the 808 was no less important for house music – see, for example, the mighty saturated drums in Lil Louis’s smash hit “French Kiss.”

One of the most memorable 808 beats in techno was dreamed up just over the border from Detroit in Ontario, Canada. Minimal techno pioneer Richie Hawtin often used the 808 in his influential Plastikman project, and he pushed the machine to delirious new heights on 1993’s “Spastik.” This drums-only track is one long 808 work out, built around rapidfire snare and clap patterns with filtering and delay applied to trippy effect. Over the steady thud of the 808 kick, Hawtin tweaks and layers drum parts over eight hypnotic minutes. It’s a distillation of 808 magic.

6. A Guy Called Gerald – Voodoo Ray

Over in the UK, producers were paying attention. They heard what US artists were doing with the 808 and started to add their own spin. In 1988, US-inspired club music exploded in the UK during the “Second Summer of Love.” The 808 was so popular in the rising acid house movement that one of its key groups, 808 State, was named after the machine. (Check their 1988 track “Flow Coma” for a classic piece of 808-driven acid house).

Perhaps the greatest use of the 808 in acid house comes from group member Gerald Simpson after he went solo. “Voodoo Ray” shows how the 808’s warm, fizzing sound can induce psychedelia on a dancefloor. The kick and claps are straight, but the toms and other percussion bounce across the beat, creating complex syncopations with a 303 synth line and stuttering chord stabs. It’s a simple trick, but it works wonders.

7. Charanjit Singh – Raga Bhairav

Charanjit Singh might be less well-known than other artists on this list, but he’s equally deserving of a place in the 808 canon. Singh was a Bollywood composer who, in 1982, decided to capitalize on the popularity of disco by setting traditional Indian ragas to a driving beat. He used an 808 for the drums and a Roland TB-303 to play the hypnotic ragas. In the process, he created a sound that’s uncannily close to acid house – five years before Phuture’s “Acid Trax” kick-started the genre in the US.

When Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat got wider attention thanks to a reissue in 2010, many commented on how prescient the music was. Singh also makes great use of the 808, shaping simple but irresistible 150bpm grooves that showcase the drum machine in all its chunky glory. This unique record demonstrates that producers were discovering the radical potential of the 808 all over the world – even if they went unnoticed at the time.

8. Outkast – The Way You Move

The 808 shaped rap from the ‘80s on, but it wasn’t the only drum sound in town. As sub genres took shape, preferences diverged. In New York, producers would often draw for a sampled breakbeat. But Southern rap kept its focus on drum machines. Genres like Miami Bass and artists like Memphis’s Three 6 Mafia elevated the boomy 808 kick drum to an artform.

We can get a sense of the 808’s influence on the genre in this later hit by crossover icons Outkast. Released in 2003, “The Way You Move” combines lighter soul influences with weighty Southern rap production. Though it doesn’t actually feature an 808 kick, Big Boi makes sure to namecheck the iconic sound: “But I know y’all wanted that 808 / Can you feel that B-A-S-S, bass?”

9. Future – I Serve The Base

Few modern producers have a real 808 in their studio. The 12,000 units that Roland made before discontinuing the machine are now coveted collectors’ items selling for thousands of dollars. But the sound and spirit of the 808 are all around us. Nowhere is this more obvious than in trap, the behemoth rap genre that dominated the airwaves in the 2010s.

We can hear the “808 spirit” in this gritty drug slinging anthem from trap figurehead Future. Though it doesn’t exactly use 808 sounds, the track’s staccato snares, hissing hi hats, and minimalistic production ethos all pay homage to the instrument. Above all, you can hear the 808’s influence in the bass: a fat sub tone that’s halfway between kick and bassline, and optimized to get speakers rattling.

10. RP Boo – Speakers R-4

Footwork shows us another way to use 808s. Not quite the booming bass of rap, the sharp snap of electro nor the thumping propulsion of house and techno, this hectic dance genre twists 808 drums into exciting new shapes.

Footwork went global in the 2010s, influencing producers worldwide. But it was actually developed in Chicago as far back as the late ‘90s. Like many footwork producers, producer RP Boo didn’t have access to an 808. Instead he used (and still uses) the Roland R-70, a drum machine that included a bumper pack of Roland drum sounds, including 808 and 909 samples. He uses these classic sounds to great effect on “Speakers R-4,” where 808 kicks combine with sharp claps and spoken vocals to create an angular groove experience like no other. It’s an original spin on 808 beat programming, and it gives us hope that the 808 might be used in whole new ways in the future.

Start using 808 beats in your productions

In this article, we’ve run down some of the greatest tracks made using the TR-808 drum machine. We’ve looked at weighty hip-hop, energetic electro, soulful ballads and driving techno. In the process, we’ve learned how this unique drum machine can be used in countless creative ways.

The 808 isn’t just a relic from the history books. It’s never been easier to include 808 sounds in your productions, whether through top quality samples, modern software drum machines, or innovative synthesis. Now you know how to make creative 808 beats, why not try using them in your own productions? Native Instruments offers numerous VSTs that can be used to make great 808 beats.

Explore 808 VSTs

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