# Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force — Planet Rock Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force’s Planet Rock (1982) appears on 3 of our lists — Electro, Laurent Garnier — A Life in Twenty-One Records, and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred, highest at No. 1 in Electro. Every verdict, in full. - **Released:** 1982 - **Label:** Tommy Boy - **On:** Electro, Laurent Garnier — A Life in Twenty-One Records, and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred - **Updated:** 2026-08-29 - **Artist:** [Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force](https://waxonia.com/artist/afrika-bambaataa-and-the-soulsonic-force/) - **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/track/afrika-bambaataa-and-the-soulsonic-force--planet-rock/ ## What 3 lists say ### No. 1 in [Electro](https://waxonia.com/genre/electro/) Two Kraftwerk records, an 808 and a Bronx sound system. The single most generative record in this entire corpus: techno, electro, Miami bass and most of what followed all point back at it. ### Picked by [Laurent Garnier — A Life in Twenty-One Records](https://waxonia.com/selection/laurent-garnier-a-life-in-records/) Where electro begins, for me. Those enormous synthesizers carrying a rhythmic energy that lands like a rock record — I had heard nothing put together that way before. ### Picked by [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/) Two German records, an 808 and a Bronx park. The most generative four minutes in this entire corpus — techno, electro and half of pop start here. ## Analysis 11 sections, the first drop at 0:15, 4% of the way in, 13% of it spent climbing. - **Tempo:** 129.2 BPM — holds throughout - **Key:** Ab minor - **Dynamic range:** 3.1 dB — compressed hard — very little between the quiet and the loud - **Length:** 6:22 - `0:00` A · **intro**, sung — opens the record below its own average energy — playing: vocals, other - `0:16` B · **lift** (bar 9), sung — a short rise that does not resolve — a fill or a transition, not a build — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other - `0:47` B · **breakdown** (bar 25), instrumental — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: drums, other - `1:01` B · **build** (bar 33), sung — energy and brightness climbing without a break — playing: drums, vocals - `1:51` B · **steady** (bar 60), sung — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: drums, vocals - `2:46` C · **peak** (bar 90), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other - `3:00` D · **steady** (bar 97), instrumental — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: drums, bass, other - `3:20` C · **steady** (bar 108), sung — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: drums, vocals, other - `3:48` B · **breakdown** (bar 123), instrumental — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: drums, other - `4:24` E · **steady** (bar 142), sung — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: drums, vocals - `4:48` B · **outro** (bar 155), sung — the closing fall — playing: drums, vocals **Drop** at 0:15 (bar 9). A drop is a moment, not a stretch. **What is playing.** Separated into parts by a source-separation model, so each lane is the instrument it names. - **drums:** the drum kit, separated from the mix - **bass:** the bass part, separated from the mix - **vocals:** the voice, separated from the mix - **other:** everything else — synths, guitars, keys, strings Measured from the YouTube master on 2026-08-29. Section labels describe how the energy moves, not musical form. Anything we were not confident enough to state is omitted rather than hedged. ## Listen [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Afrika%20Bambaataa%20%26%20The%20Soulsonic%20Force%20Planet%20Rock) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=SqS8X-5aIns) --- Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.