Cars have impacted much of how we live today, from urban design to drive-thru dining. And in the world of music, they weren’t just a flashy prop for music videos. The car has been at the center of a movement, led by black and brown communities, impacting all music we hear today. But it wasn’t alone – a new and unexpected player to the music game helped make it all happen.

Cheddar Explains

Why Music Today Is So Bass Heavy 

have you ever noticed how much base dominates all the popular music we hear today? All the way from Yea to tay it wasn't always like this base has come a long way and it's with the help of cars that it has. But the car is only a support character. The unlikely real hero of this story began really as a toy to most before changing the music game forever. It all started in 19 seventies Kingston Jamaica at a time when the folk roots made way for music that was defined by base, you know, reggae and dub dance for and rock steady music to move your body and nothing moved bodies like the subway developed in the late sixties subwoofers speakers for the extra low frequencies 20 to 200 hertz Like this. Leave a time code in the comments when you start to hear the bass At any rate you're gonna feel it first. And that feeling actually came to theaters back in 1974 for the disaster movie earthquake. Since then it's never left the cinema experience. Disco, reggae dub and early hip hop took subwoofers from earthquakes to full on body shakes. Sound engineers for the Jamaican sound system through Stone Love movement actually modified their subwoofers to make an even base ear sound. That deeper bass along with a few Jamaican DJs made their way over to the US just as a flourishing Auto Aftermarket was experiencing a golden age of customization. Low riders of the chicano barrios of east L. A. Kicked off the car counterculture? As early as the fifties cruising the streets decked out with outrageous hydraulics. The contest for the biggest sound quickly took off in cities from the west coast to the east showcased by bass heavy hip hop and dance music. Yeah, I mean that base frequency is is almost everything. It's the rhythmic bed of of the music. Right? And without that rhythmic bed, you don't have this dance music. Even when the bass drum sounds filling the clubs and streets were deep, sharp thud in the right direction. DJs longed for something more, something that would last and waiting. In 1980, our hero readies for its debut introducing the eight oh eight, 808. The Roland Tr eight oh eight Rhythm composer is a drum. Since originally designed more for demo songs than commercial releases. The brainchild of music engineer. Extraordinaire, Don luis and Takahashi. It was a total flop commercially when it came out. Nobody loved. And they stopped production just three years later. But before it was gone, lost to history. A man named Joe with an 8:08 of his own made an ad in the village voice Man with drum machine. $20 a session party people. Yeah. Planet Rock dropped in 1982 earning gold status and capturing the true potential of the 808 for DJs and producers for decades to come short. One drummer Marvin Gaye used it for sexual healing, but why is the drum treated like this? Holy grail? The bass drum sound had an adjustable decay. The producers could stretch and make the base frequency really stand out, rattling the subwoofers before fading. It might seem simple enough by today's standards, but in the eighties it was like electro sorcery Planet Rocks. Use of the 8 to 8 made a mark everywhere from LA's hip hop scene to ditch The eight away only intensified the battle for the biggest bass. And in 1983, the International Auto Sound Challenge Association was formed, giving people an opportunity to actually compete for the best sound system. They hollowed out their trunk to make room for the biggest serious system possible. Even if it meant the car was drivable. You don't need an explainer to tell you how important cars are for the American culture. But when you stuff 1964 Chevy impala with a super heavy sound system, it becomes a powerful tool for individuality and personality, pimp my ride. Anyone so much of hip hop culture in every element of hip hop is about being seen. That car going by playing the bass right? I got the biggest speakers in the trunk and I got the low end louder than anybody else's low end. But even without our hero, the 808, the car continues to influence how music is heard in the HBO documentary. The defiant ones dr dre himself said when I do a mix, the first thing I do is go down and see how it sounds in the car. Decades later, the 808 is still wildly popular. No really Missy Elliott, Destiny's Child and of course is 2008 Preval platinum Trailblazer 8 to 8 and Heartbreak, which used the machine extensively in the record and out of Atlanta came a style encapsulated by it's 808. Sub base made for testing systems and blasting from car windows. Good eight away trap is like fight starting, you know, like before the lyrics even start Right as hip hop is crowned most popular genre trap reaches its pinnacle and just keeps rising mixed and enjoyed with cars in mind. And even though the 8-8 bass drum sound has evolved over the years, it's still very much all about the base riding. This one actually got me thinking a lot about how all those cars rolling down the street, blasting base so hard that it vibrates my floorboards. I'm not about to call it a blessing for two a.m. But I get it right. The pride, the passion, that legendary body shaking Sub Base found a home in the back of a car and together they've been unstoppable