Electro is a type of electronic dance music which emerged with the development of early sampling technology and the introduction of the Roland TR-808 drum machine and is closely associated with Hip Hop's formative years in the early to mid 1980s. It is not to be confused with electro house, which is commonly shortened to just "electro" in EDM circles. The electro style is defined by the 808 and 808 drum samples arranged in syncopated rhythm patterns often resembling the Funk breaks used in Hip Hop beats with simple, funky basslines. Other instrument parts are typically created with synthesizers and vocoder vocals are commonly used and delivered in a deadpan fashion to accentuate the robotic quality of the music. While many of the definitive electro tracks are, in essence, also Hip Hop, in many instances it is simply electronic Funk and can also be considered an evolutionary link between the work of electronic groups in the 70s such as Kraftwerk and Techno in the decade following. Electro's influence has long outlived its initial popularity with nearly every popular electronic dance genre at some point giving way to a hybridized electro subgenre.
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