Planet Rock: The Album by Afrika Bambaataa

Planet Rock: The Album

Afrika Bambaataa, The Soulsonic Force

2.79
Rating
21141
Votes
1
12%
2
27%
3
38%
4
18%
5
6%
Distribution

Reviews (page 7 of 7)

If this was one of the genre defining albums for Hip Hop, I wish I had a time machine so I could stop the genre from ever occuring. This is just awful, even worse than the noise it spawned.

I was searching for a reason to give this a 2 but I couldn't find one.

Another hip-hop album... What can I say? That it feels bland, uninteresting, insipid and repetitive to me? Of course, it's like listening to the same thing over and over just to end up where it all began. Nothing. This album gets me to nothing. So, did I like this? Of course not! But I knew it even before clicking play. I understand it's a musical genre that doesn't interest me the less, but I've listened to many hip-hop albums with this list and, still, I haven't found good at least any of them.

This is not music, it's cRap.

A critical darling that has not held up well. The magnitude of its impact on hip-hop seems exaggerated; but it’s hard to even care when everything about this music is so reductive and uninspiring. The title track is like millennial whoop set to an electro funk beat. If that combination sounds appealing, then you might just love this album. If not, then consider yourself warned.

I hear the influence this obviously had on subsequent hip hop music, but overall it’s not something I would be very likely to put on and listen to. 12/21. 57%

This guy’s a monster so not listening

55/1089 dated but not in the fun, endearing way that The Message was. That album was cool and nicely produced, this, however, doesn’t sound good in 2025 as much as it may have been influential at the time Go Go Pop was the best of the bunch 1 star or 16/100

1. Rock - 2 2. Beat - 1.5 3. Funk - 1 4. Frantic - 1 5. You - 0 6. Pop - 1 7. Mistake - 1

So much is happening, it feels like someone put the beats in a blender. I could make better music on GarageBand.

Et helt forferdelig irriterende album med gammeldags hip-hop, laserlyder, stemmeforvrengere og synth.

Planet Rock is a cold, mechanical mess that mistakes repetition for rhythm and noise for innovation.Despite its reputation, the album offers no emotional depth, no musical warmth, and no redeeming features.

On the one hand, the author(s) reach well beyond their intention of this list by including an "album" that is comprised of previously released singles. On the other hand, y'all. I'm will always separate the art from the artist, HOWEVER, Africa Bambaaataa has SA'd many young individuals. His actions by far surpass Kid Rock being a douche bag or Eric Clapton being a drunk racist. 1/5

J ai écouté à peine 1/2 morceau et clairement je n arriverai pas plus loin. Certes, créateur du mouvement hip-hop mais inaudible ...

planet rock - rather dated sound, and a little too sparse of a production for my tastes (3/10) Perfect Beat - banger intro, decent sound, needs less record scratches tbh, but made me move (5/10) giving up with renegades - it hurts to listen to frantic situation - decent enough, a little repetitive but catchy (6/10) funkin with - another potentially good song ruined by clashing sounds… it hurts my ears >< go go pop - amazing intro, but the rap part isn’t doing it for me… why are there snares and bottle sounds in everyyyy song?? (6.5/10) just give me the intro extended mistake - decent rap actually! still too much harsh instrumentals for me… (7/10) OVERALL: 4/10 - I’m sure it’s considered a classic for rap music, but it’s not for me… dated 80s production, clashing music, and rap that sounds meh

Comically bad

1 star because he’s a sexual offender

Crazy how hip hop has evolved, to where this is interesting mostly as an artifact. The record is pleasant enough to listen to, but the sexual abuse allegations pretty much spoil it.

Renegades of Funk is cool just because of Rage Against the Machine. Otherwise this record sounds super dated and amateurish.

Didn't feel the need to finish it...

This is so excruciatingly boring. The beats, the lyrics, nothing goes anywhere. The songs are too long as well. I hate to say it, but except for maybe “Who You Funkin’ With?” I don’t think I enjoyed anything off of here.

I was waiting for an album like this to come along. When it comes to early hip-hop, I'm glad these albums existed as a precursor to what we have today. But I really got no enjoyment out of this.

Could not relate to this album at all.

I listened to like half of this. Hated it. 80s pro rap

Groundbreaking, and super influential, and objectively very good. Not a fan of the kid-touching.

Pff, matig. Ik had één of ander psychedelisch, sci-fi rock album verwacht, maar het is gewoon hip-hop. Nogal een anti-climax. 1.2

Stopped listening after I read about the child sex abuse 0/5

Did not vibe. More dated than net curtains and paisley print wallpaper.

Sometimes, with material that has been very influential on subsequent music... I'd rather just listen to the subsequent music, as it feels more refined. Like this was the raw sonic ore that was melted down to form the much sturdier hip-hop of later musicians. Also it's very, VERY difficult to force myself to consume the artistic output of any individual who seemingly spent decades repeatedly committing one of the most heinous crimes imaginable. Yikes.

Not for me. I’ll take Rage Against tge Machine’s “Renegades of Funk” any day, but I could have done without this album.

This is hilariously terrible music, and it turns out the artist is a seriously terrible person, too. 0.5/5.0: Unlistenable

this was a tough listen. a few cool beats that drag on way too long. i spent some of that extra time reading about the artist which further soured my thoughts on the album

Not really my thing. I bet this was the hypest shit when it came out, though.

Oy vey.

I did NOT need to hear this.

Pure. Unadulterated. Trash. All synthetic music with some synthetic vocals. No talent displayed.

sorry, no. not into funk. hate that weedy synth sound

Zulu Nation!! Don’t touch children!! This was a miserable experience. Next.

I wanted to like this more than I do. I suppose it is important, but I just find it to be boring. The beats are just too unvaried. I will say it does have a unique sound, but that's about all it has going for it in my opinion. Ready to turn it off after two and a half tracks.

Me and my big mouth. Only yesterday was I saying it was ages since I got some hip hop and then right on cue this comes along. Just like buses I get two in a row but this ain’t no magic bus (clue there for what I’d rather have had) So I refer to my (too many now) previous reviews of this genre which I hate. 1/5 15/4/25

I recognized the music from being sampled so often, but as an album it just didn't work for me.

This pretty much feels like the same track going on and on and on and on… I’m bored.

Man, this is definitely a dud for me. Perhaps it had a cultural impact of some sort but I'll just be ignorant enough to say that this aged like milk, just like the child abuse alleagations.

Pure Shit

I don’t know if this is good music or not, but I know I don’t like it at all.

Did not enjoy - sounds like a scrubs parody of a hip hop track & he’s a nonce.

This site/reviewers are giving waaaaay too much credit here. This is 86. The Beastie Boys were releasing Licence to I'll, a record that's lyricly and sonicly light years ahead of these guys and their 4track. Just another example of misguided reverance

What was I listening to?

Straight up doodoo.

Like really fucking shit.

Ekstremt ujævnt af en single-opsamling at være. Ærlig talt kun rigtigt første nummer som er godt.

Electro and rap have a kid. But the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

After the references to Kraftwerk, Captain Sky and Ennio Morricone, I was interested in the album despite the genre. I listened to the first track on the album. I immediately recognized the Kraftwerk samples. However, it was the kind of hip hop I don't know what to do with. After just over a minute, I'd had enough. I didn't feel like listening to any of the rest of the album either. The album may have been groundbreaking and pioneering for its genre, but I just don't like the genre. 1/5

p545. 1986. 1 star. The genesis of hip-hop, so wrong audience. Bonus point for the pilfering of Kraftwerk, but it's difficult to award anything but 1 star to kiddy fiddlers.

Kraftwerk Jumpscare anyways i dont fw kid diddlers

Some parts were pretty funky but the songs were just way too repetitive, it really didn’t hold my attention

wut? the?

PG13 movie ahh soundtrack

Ahah nah no no

The interesting thing about this album is that it's quite bad. There's very little substance and lots of amateur DJ noise. It seems that a lot of people are giving this a higher rating on account of having lived through its release as a kid, but that's a ridiculous measure. It's like me saying Katy Perry's Teenage Dream album is good. Utter delusion assisted by violently rose-coloured glasses. Obviously Afrika Bambaataa was going for something groundbreaking, and that grants it some merit – but the end product is aimless, repetitive electronic drumbeat stuff with no particularly interesting melodies, textures, or variations in energy. There's no adherence to the classic "album experience" that showcases all the strengths of a band across a miniature variety show of tracks within one or a few genres. Instead, there's just soulless noise. And sure, it pioneered the hip-hop genre – but is that really something you want to be known for? As another reviewer wrote: "In historical context this album is very important for electro and hip-hop, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's still interesting to actually listen to today." 1/5 Key tracks: Looking for the Perfect Beat

Muddy disco type of thing. A fever dream I couldn't wait to get up from. The sort of thing your sleep paralysis demon would listen to on TV at 3AM in between infomercials and softcore porn on the History channel.

Sounds very dated decades later. No good at all.

Old School Hip-Hop or New School Hip-Hop - it's still Hip-Hop and I just don't see the point.

Definitely influential and another time I would have given this a lot higher score. But I can't anymore

sounds horrible to be honest.

Weirdest album ever... bueno no, si he oido más raros pero este no me gusto mucho... por que no le entendí supongo... no se, de este si no entendí por ke estaba aquí pero ok.

It’s kinda all the same

This started off reminding me of Funkadelic, which I respect due to George Clinton, but then slowly unraveled into messy chaos, oh well... 1 Star

Leider hat mich das Album mehr als enttäuscht. Die überwiegende Präsenz von Acid- und House-Experimenten entsprach nicht meinem Musikgeschmack. Ich bedauere, dass ich meine Zeit auf das Hören dieses Albums verwenden musste. Musikalische Bedeutung: “Planet Rock: The Album” ist ein wegweisendes Werk in der Geschichte des Hip-Hop und der elektronischen Musik. Veröffentlicht im Jahr 1986, enthält es einige der frühesten und einflussreichsten Tracks des Genres. Das Album hat die Entwicklung von Electro und Breakbeat maßgeblich beeinflusst und sollte ein Meilenstein in der Musikgeschichte sein. Dies hat sich mir nicht erschlossen und so konnte mich das Album persönlich nicht überzeugen. Die experimentellen Klänge und die stilistische Ausrichtung waren einfach nicht nach meinem Geschmack und einfach nur schlecht.

I got two or three songs in and I just couldn’t 😅

Not my taste

First few minutes I couldn't tell if this was very dated retro cool or very dated terrible, then realised it's the latter.

Discount Beastie Boys with discounted value. Not my jam, and I don't get how this belongs in a list like this.

Eletro funk dos ano 80. Desnecessário!

This was a challenging listen. On the one hand, clearly influential - from the sampling to the cover of Renegades of Funk by RATM - but at the same time a lot of this didn't age well and I found the repetitive beat to get very repetitive very quickly.

Alright I'm just going to say it. I don't like classic hip-hop. It's garbage. Full stop. The elementary level rhyme scheme throughout this record makes for the most boring, predictable listen imaginable. I recognize that we needed these albums to get to the legendary albums we have now. But for god sakes this is insufferable, and what's worse is I believe it's across the board unbearable. As in, if it came out in the 80s, and is hiphop - it sucks.

What is these goofy uninspired beats I am hearing.No wonder there is a song called "looking for a perfect beat" because NOBODY AND I could find one.The raps are kinda fire i guess, but that does not save the album.People could praise this album but i can't.Maybe in a few years i could find this album listenable.

Not my personal taste

Today I learned Renegades of Funk was a cover. Interesting to see all the samples that came out of this album. 4 star knocked down to 1. Shame about the diddling young boys.

If only I could give it zero.

I just…don’t like this… I found it hard to get all the way through a song. Maybe if I could get a choreographed dance to watch while listening? Not my vibe, but I guess I can appreciate what they’re doing.

It’s wild to me how rap like this has aged so poorly as opposed to like 4-5 years later. The beats are kinda decent? Otherwise this is unlistenable.

"I love 80s rap!" - a sentence I've never heard before. The 80s beats are fun, but the rapping feels like it's in its infancy. Kinda like an educational rap teaching you about all the state capitals. I'll leave this album in the influential category rather than timeless classic.

This album + Dermadry = bad morning

Don’t like rap

definitely not my thing

Not an easy listening album. Did not enjoy

-liian lineaarinen, ei tarpeeksi kehitystä -ei omaa makua +uudenlaista

I slip into a coma somewhere around the fifteenth "listen ladies". They say my eyes stir throughout "Renegades" but they are unable to resuscitate. My rest is fitful, harangued by neon leotards and baggy pants. The light caresses me and I "Go Go Pop" straight into the fourth layer of hell for my sins. Don't let this be you. Skip this shite.

If all music was like this I wouldn't like music.

funky, but very dated

It's cool for when it was released but felt like too much going on

Skip (and: wow, that aged badly!)

Just not my thing

Ok, it's a little harsh, but i really can't listen to this music. It feel like poor vintage Run-DMC sing songy echoy raps combined with casio keyboard quality electronic beats. I did freak out not knowing that Renegades of Funk came from here (i swear by the RATM version of it), but the delivery is such a travesty here, no bonus stars are awarded. Heavy pass.

Terrible

When I talk about the kind of 80's music I really can't stand, this is it. Nothing about this sounds good to me. This album is hip-hop at its most bare and simple. And considering a lot of hip-hop found its roots in this kind of music, I am thankful it evolved in a direction other than this. The production and overall quality of this record sounds tacky and goofy to me. It leans so heavily on the idea of trying to sound modern and futuristic, and misses the mark. And most of these songs are just too long for their own good. I find it way more impressive when an artist manages to condense something interesting and thought provoking into a shorter song or album. The three positives I can give this album are that I like the rock influences that can be heard on "Who You Funkin' With?". I also like that in the lyrics of these songs, you can see how a rebellious nature and a natural tie to politics was already becoming synonymous with the genre. And lastly, Rage Against The Machine made a solid cover of "Renegades of Funk" that is probably better than any song off of this record. I knew what this was going to sound like without even having to listen to it, and I figured I wasn't going to enjoy it. I was right.

Dudes having fun goofing around with synths and drum machines and keyboards. Hard to imagine this being a massive cultural touchstone and the frontier of cool now since it sounds so corny, especially the rap - the beats sounds and samples are still pretty decent. Perfect Eddy Murphy sliding across the hood of a long car music. At this point more of an artifact than an in the rotation album.

Rap. Фу, хип хоп фу

Didn’t like it at all

Still looking for the perfect beat

Electro gets boring so fast. While I appreciate it was groundbreaking, it's not a listen for now. Combine this with ongoing revelations about Bambaataa and it's a very unappealing listen.

Early hip-hop sucks

first song is comically bad but i like the "fwoOmph" snare sound

I usually like this stuff but man this sucked

Es como un 'rap trival', con mezclas de música africana, algo así. No está bueno.

Wayyy too much vocal panning in the first song lmao. Why is every song so long? This album was never meant to exist at the same time as Spotify. Track 5 is kinda cool tho. Cover art: 6/10 it’s so bad it’s good but not bad enough to be that good

Idek what to write about this one. It was probably influential for some hip hop artists but I have no frame of reference to know how influential it was. It sounded like the type of music ur old head basketball coach played on his jock jams tape from when he balled and tried to “show you youngings what real rap is.” Probably won’t listen to this one much or dive into further but it honestly was pretty enjoyable to listen to. Also why tf were all of these like 6 min songs for no reason. 👍: go go pop, renegades of funk Guess for peder’s art rating: 10/10 or he’s wrong Update: found out license to Ill was released this same year and sounds so much better so yeah this album kinda blows.

As one of the first hip hop albums ever and possibly the first with commercial success, it goes without saying this album is extremely influential. Some of these beats were actually really cool. That’s about where the good stops for me. Everything on this just sounds SO dated. The rapping/singing wasn’t anything write home about. These songs were all so long and overly repetitive, if they were half the length, MAYBE this album could’ve been alright for me. Also a line worth noting in the last song “you know we’re doing it right and we’re doing it correct, when it comes to mc poppin we don’t give a heck” … yeah alright Heard before: heard the beat on the first song, honestly feel like I’ve heard a lot of this sampled. Best: idek MMM (there were hardly even Melodies on here) : EVERYBODY ROCK LETS GO TO THE GOGO🤭

Yuck. It's like everything I hate all at once.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Kinda boring, renegades of funk is okay buy RATM did it better

We get it you figured out how to use a sequencer

Old techno

Önskar man kunde ge minuspoäng. Det bästa var slingan de stulit från Kraftwerk.

Yet another album I looked forward to due to legacy and influence, only to be sorely disappointed. There was such a huge leap from the early hip hop of the 80s to both the gangsta and indie/underground rap of the 90s.

Musiikillisesti ehkä 2, Kraftwerk-sample hymyilyttää sopivalla tavalla. Mutta menin lukemaan artistista wikipediasta, eikä fiilistä jäänyt hiventäkään.

Bla. Erreicht mich in keinster Weise. Ich kann diesen Achtziger-Hip-Hop einfach nicht hören. Blub.

This is fucking stupid :)) 1

Tedious and headache-inducing.

Guess I’m not with the funk

Jezus wat is dit zeg!

Dit zal best wel baandoorbrekend zijn geweest voor de hiphop, maar dit is echt niet om aan te horen.

Er lopen dus mensen op aarde rond die vinden dat iedereen dit album geluisterd MOET hebben. Ik vond er precies niets aan.