Juan Atkins

USA, 1981–now

Detroit musician and one of the Belleville Three. Recording as Cybotron ('Clear') and Model 500, he named techno and set out its early Afro-futurist framing.

MusicRoots documents 2 artists who influenced Juan Atkins and 7 artists Juan Atkins influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Juan Atkins?

• Kraftwerk — Atkins has named Kraftwerk the spark of techno — 'they were so clean, so precise, so mechanical: that's what I wanted'.
• Parliament-Funkadelic — Detroit's P-Funk inheritance is the other half of techno's founding formula — the funk beneath Atkins's machines.

Which artists did Juan Atkins influence?

• The Prodigy — Early electro — Cybotron's 'Clear', Juan Atkins's foundational track — was Howlett's gateway into the sample-and-machine sound that became The Prodigy.
• Derrick May — Atkins was May's high-school mentor in Belleville — he taught May DJing and production, the founding apprenticeship of the Belleville Three.
• Kevin Saunderson — Saunderson was the third Belleville schoolmate — Atkins's mentorship made him a producer before Inner City made him a star.
• Jeff Mills — Mills's second-wave Detroit techno builds directly on the Belleville Three's foundation — Atkins's blueprint first of all.
• Moby — Moby's rave-era techno singles built on the Detroit blueprint — a lineage he has acknowledged naming Detroit techno his school.
• Aphex Twin — James's acid and techno foundations descend from the Detroit blueprint — the dance floor half of the Aphex equation.
• Ken Ishii — Atkins's founding Detroit machine-funk is part of the techno Ishii turned toward after starting in Japanese electronica.