The history of the 808, the drum machine that changed pop music

The most popular drum sound of the 1980s was discovered by accident

You know it when you hear it: the distinct snare drum of songs like Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight" or Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA." It's called "gated reverb," and it's something most people associate, for better or worse, with the sound of the '80s. This Vox explainer breaks down how it was discovered by accident, thanks to a microphone typically used for communication that picked up additional sounds.

Rock 'n' roll's history in 60 seconds

In the late 1940s, rock 'n' roll emerged from a mix of blues, country, gospel, and jazz. It gained traction through radio, rebellious icons, and evolving sound. This overview traces the genre’s roots, rise, and lasting influence—from early pioneers to the British Invasion and beyond.

Grandmaster Flash’s ‘The Message’ set the template for hip-hop composition

This 1982 single is one of the most recognizable beats in hip-hop history, thanks to some inspiration from popular disco and new wave records. The song’s bigger contribution, though, is that it pushed lyrics front and center, turning the rapper from a party-rocking master of ceremonies into a truth-telling MC.

How Apple's GarageBand changed music

Apple's preinstalled, easy-to-use software GarageBand was first released in 2004. Since then, it's changed the way artists write and record music. The program's accessibility and ease of use have allowed beginner artists to experiment and find their voice, while major artists like Rihanna, Grimes, and Bjork have used the program to record hit singles and perform live. This article from the Red Bull Music Academy explains how the basic interface reshaped an industry.

The Juke 8 was the world's first karaoke machine

Daisuke Inoue invented the machine in 1971 by combining an amplifier, microphone, and 8-track machine, though he never patented it and, as a result, never collected royalties from the billion-dollar industry.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks.

The sound of hip-hop's 'Golden Era' is thanks to a shared lexicon

The music’s “Golden Era,” between 1987 and 1994, saw producers and DJs developing more sophisticated approaches to sampling, or repurposing existing sound, by crafting elaborate collages. Many of them used the same references, thanks to a popular bootleg compilation called “Ultimate Break Beats.”

Hear how the Beatles became the most influential band on Earth, with guest Conan O'Brien.

The Ronettes' 'Be My Baby' is a quintessential 'wall of sound' record

The 1963 single features one of the most recognizable drumbeats in the world; many critics consider the song the greatest pop recording of all time. If nothing else, it's a definitive example of both the classic girl group sound and Phil Spector's ingenious 'wall of sound.'

DJ Kool Herc pioneered the use of breakbeats for hip-hop

Inspired by Jamaican dancehall culture and Manhattan's disco scene, Herc used a new style that used two turntables, seamlessly mixing and looping "breakbeats"—isolated drum breaks from funk, soul, and rock records—that kept dancers at the "back to school jam" moving. Herc's technique would be the basis for modern sampling and hip-hop's first few decades.

A brief history of dance music

Throughout history, crowded, dimly lit, sweat-filled, and loud spaces that have hosted dance music have mirrored and shaped social change. Tracing the evolution of dance and club culture from the 1950s to today reveals changes in youth culture and desires over time. Read this article to learn more about how dance floors have reflected societal movements.

How Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees New Order forged a new sound

Formed in the ashes of post-punk outfit Joy Division, the British group incorporated synthesizers and pulsating, disco beats for "Blue Monday," their early single that would come to define the 1980s sonic landscape.

Hip-hop producer J Dilla reimagined musical time

There are few names in hip-hop more revered than J Dilla, a producer who’s credited with redefining the feel of the music by playing with its timing.

Deconstructing the most popular hip-hop samples over the last 50 years

Hip-hop celebrated its 50th birthday in 2023, a genre with humble origins that now dominates playlists and charts worldwide. A major, lesser-known feature of hip-hop is its artful use of samples from older records, a technically complex method that forms the unique soundscape of each hip-hop song. To honor the anniversary, sampling company TrackLib created a half-hour video showcasing both visually and auditorily the process used in hits over the last 50 years.

The iPhone's impact in 10 charts

It's been almost 20 years since Steve Jobs first unveiled the iPhone, the device that would come to define Apple for years and change not just the smartphone industry but the world at large. 10 examples of the iPhone's impact include its all-screen touch interface and the way it led to the rise of app culture.

Listen to Jackie Brenston's 'Rocket 88,' widely considered the first rock 'n' roll song.

The history of music explained in 8 minutes

Traditional music history focuses on composers and sees music as an object. Historian Michael Spitzer focuses on music's role in everyday activity and sees it not as an object, but an activity. This brief history illuminates the fundamental role music plays in human culture, and sounds a hopeful not for music in the internet age.

A 'boombox' is the cool term for a Portable Radio Cassette Recorder

The technology debuted in the mid-1960s, revolutionizing portability of recording radio and playing music. As urban culture, especially hip hop, took advantage of the innovation, the "boombox" was born. See a gallery of old boomboxes and learn their history.

Jazz built the template for hip-hop

Hip-hop was born out of obscure samples, including many that were taken from the annals of jazz. That style was especially popular in rap's early eras, with the subgenre "jazz rap" becoming an accurate descriptor for New York groups like A Tribe Called Quest and Gangstarr.

How K-pop conquered the world

How did Korean musical acts go from unpopular and at times maligned to filling arenas and creating one of the most viral music videos of all time? This 25-minute audio documentary from BBC World Service explains how social networks, plastic surgery, and government tax breaks helped turn K-pop into the multibillion-dollar global juggernaut we know today.

Hip-hop is both a music and a culture

While the word is often used to describe the popular genre, it’s historically been used to describe the culture that sprang up around the music in 1970s New York, including breakdancing and graffiti.

Koji Kondo composed the game's iconic soundtrack with a limited palette of sounds

The game's soundtrack and effects were limited by the Nintendo Entertainment System's 8-bit hardware, which had significantly fewer sounds than a typical synthesizer. That didn't stop Kondo from writing some of the most recognizable video game music in history.

Phil Spector's 'wall of sound' revolutionized girl groups—and pop music

The method captured a room of live musicians and transmitted the sound into a basement outfitted with more speakers and microphones. That sound was then sent into the central control room, producing a massive recording that sounded unlike anything else in pop music.

The Sugarhill Gang’s ‘Rapper’s Delight’ introduced hip-hop to the masses

While it’s not technically the first hip-hop song set to record—that’s Fatback Band’s “King Tim III (Personality Jock)”—1979’s ”Rapper’s Delight” is the song that proved rap was worth putting on wax and introducing the music to a broader audience by reaching the US top 40.

Explore an illustrated history of the iPod, the Apple music player that entered listeners' pockets in 2001 and underwent several hardware redesigns before being discontinued in 2022 in favor of the iPhone.

An interactive history of Calypso, the Caribbean protest music genre

Before reggae and ska in the US, there was calypso, a protest genre developed in Trinidad and Tobago in the 1800s. This resource brings together images, descriptions, audio, and videos to teach you the origins of a massively influential musical genre.

Hip-hop gained significant popularity in the 21st century, dominating Billboard's pop chart.

The 1973 ‘back to school jam’ was the night hip-hop was born

Hip-hop began in New York’s Bronx borough with the “back to school jam,” an August 1973 dance party hosted by Cindy Campbell and her brother, DJ Kool Herc, in their apartment building’s recreation room.

The design changed video games forever

Miyamoto’s direction and Kondo’s sound showed younger generations the potential of video games, inspiring a more sophisticated form that moved far beyond the one-dimensional entertainment of the arcade era.

Daft Punk's 2006 set helped mainstream electronic dance music

Daft Punk's 2006 Coachella set wasn't just a performance—it was a turning point for electronic music. Their futuristic pyramid, dazzling visuals, and seamless live mixing captivated a packed crowd and pushed EDM into the mainstream.

How AI helped the Beatles win their eighth Grammy

It’s been decades since the legendary British rock band broke up, yet they still managed to snag a Grammy at the 2025 awards ceremony. This feat is thanks to AI, specifically machine-learning technology, to isolate and clean up different components of a late 1970s recording. This mini-documentary shows how the band's surviving members crafted “Now and Then” with the modern technology.

Record scratching, a technique that came to define the sound of hip-hop, was invented by a 12-year-old.

Jelly Roll Morton claimed he invented jazz, though experts disagree

The pianist and arranger was one of the genre's biggest names in the early 20th century, though very few believed him when he claimed he had invented the music in 1902. One of his biggest contributions to the genre was a 1938 session with ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, who recorded nearly 8 hours of music and stories that have become an essential part of the music's history.

The history of the iconic Barbie doll

The 1959 debut of the Barbie doll changed the culture of toys permanently, and its many iterations have come to reflect, in a certain way, the aspirations of women around the world. But Barbie's unrealistic looks and plastic substance have prompted...

Viral pop artists create systems of participation, not just music

Musicologist (and Swift expert) Paula Clare Harper weighs in on the factors that make music go viral. Tracks designed for shareability that feed well into content algorithms on streaming platforms are able to grow in popularity, with traditional human gatekeepers sidelined.

TikTok's algorithm has changed the way hits are made

Songs aimed at TikTok's algorithm—designed for viral dances or soundtracking common experiences—often find success on the Billboard charts. An early example was Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," which used his memes and a country-trap beat from the Netherlands to rise to the top of the Billboard charts.

The 1980s neo-pop movement put pop art back in the zeitgeist

Pop art’s legacy is perhaps best exemplified in its longevity. Long after the end of pop art’s classical phase, a neo-pop revival ushered in a new cohort of artists like Murakami, Hirst, and Koons who brought pop once again to the top. To this day, contemporary pop artists—young and seasoned—command high prices on the open market.

A timeline of computer history

The earliest computers bear little resemblance to the computing devices that most people rely on today. This timeline graphic from the Computer History Museum tracks their evolution, from the early days of bulky mainframes that only experts generally used through to the personal computing revolution and on to the modern mobile era. Readers will learn important context ahead of the next major computing platform shift.

Apple, the tech giant renowned for products like the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, started out in a garage in 1976.

Steve Jobs changed the world with Apple and Pixar

The devices Jobs introduced during his time at Apple, including the iPad and iPhone, were imitated by competitors, ultimately helping to create the numerous options consumers have today. In addition to leading Apple, Jobs also helped turn Pixar and the software startup NeXT into success stories.

Grandmaster Flash’s DJing masterclass

For some people, DJing is nothing more than pressing play on a few songs, but for hip-hop DJs, it’s a precise art form that requires real skill. Need proof? Watch this 1983 tutorial from Grandmaster Flash, one of the genre’s pioneering DJs, as he walks you through beatmatching and mixing on his spartan set-up of two turntables and a basic mixer.

The electric microphone led to a country music boom

The electric microphone provided enhanced audio and greater portability, saving the fledgling record industry and making recording outside of New York and Camden, New Jersey, possible. This proved critical for capturing early country and rock ‘n’ roll.

Explore an interactive timeline of rock 'n' roll's origins in blues, swing, country, and other genres.

Andy Warhol's presence continues to persist in pop culture

Warhol produced iconic album art for The Rolling Stones and The Velvet Underground. He also inspired rappers Jay-Z and Tyler, the Creator. Warhol’s immense influence on art and pop culture elevated him to celebrity status, and his identity and style continue to be referenced in sometimes unexpected corners of cultural consciousness.

A technological breakthrough altered how Billboard determined what was popular.

Basquiat produced an early hip-hop classic

The 1983 track “Beat Bop” features emcees Rammellzee and K-Rob rapping over a beat produced and arranged by Basquiat. Though it leans into several tropes from the early days of hip-hop, it’s also singular, with elements of dub, funk, and disco blending over its 10 minutes.

The Winstons' 'Amen, Brother' has the most famous break in music

"Amen, Brother," a once-forgotten track from gospel group the Winstons, became one of music's most sampled songs after a six-second snippet was featured on "Ultimate Break Beats."

Over time, 'rock 'n' roll' eventually became 'classic rock,' largely due to radio station trends.

Sylvia Robinson is considered ‘the Godmother of Hip-Hop’

While hip-hop was soundtracking countless parties in the early ‘70s, Robinson saw the music’s potential. She began writing, producing, and releasing some of the music’s earliest singles through her Sugar Hill Records label and helped build a place in the music industry for the young music. Robinson’s groundbreaking work led to a 2022 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1984's 'Born in the USA' was a sensation, due in part to its music videos

The album was Springsteen's most pop-focused, with blaring synths and a pumping backbeat. It was a pop culture sensation, with five singles that reached the top 10, a massive arena tour, and several iconic music videos coinciding with MTV's rise. The record would eventually become one of the best-selling albums of all time.