I point back to Stevie for popularizing it in R&B and funk music, though others (around the same time, notably Todd Rundgren) had incorporated it before the "Flashlight" explosion.

There's a certain bit of "Stevie-ism" that I've talked about with synth-bass playing from the late 1970s (when his own started to change) into the early '80s that is one of my favorite things in music. It's that extra bit of "punch" put on when doing fill ins (I've learned that the portamento effect does it), like you're "mad" at the keys or something (see: "Higher Ground" and parts of "Superstition").

There's another convention that the latest Phonte/9th song reminded me of as well... it's a figure that 9th brought out of that Rose Royce record that wasn't there originally, but was a very common thing to do in the early '80s as R&B really got synth-friendly. (see: Rene & Angela's "I Love You More", the opening bits)

And then there's Lionel Richie-ism. I don't think Lionel himself played those parts, but it's an integral "Commodores" sound with the synth bass that dates back to "Machine Gun" that followed Lionel when he went solo (see: "You Are", "Serves You Right")... Motown seemed to have the monopoly on a certain bass groove that was used in the early '80s. There was actually a Prodigy (of Mobb Deep) record, a track on PRODUCT OF THE '80s, name escapes me that uses that "Lionel Richie" figure, even though I think it was played "fresh" for the record.