Sound Field

- This drum beat right here, changed hip hop forever.

(rhythmic drum beats) Knowin' what I know and while the Black band's sweatin' And the rhythm-rhyme rollin' Don't call it a comeback, I been here for years I'm rockin' my peers, puttin Number one for fun Not a gun, that's done And get done by none The other act, Not just hip hop, but it changed pop, rock, and dance music, too.

This time, won't you save me This time, won't you save Cannot ever find, something safe not done on The drug fits the face The drug fits the face The drug fits the face The drug fits the face - The drum break from Funky Drummer by James Brown, has been the basis for songs across genre, making it one of the most popular samples of all time.

But, there are millions of drum beats to sample out there.

So, we wanna know why do so many artists choose this one?

(Funky Drummer by James Brown) In fact, when it was released in 1970, Funky Drummer didn't even crack the Top 50 charts.

It wasn't until 15 years later that the drum beat started appearing in hundreds of songs.

- So, was it all a coincidence or was Clyde Stubblefield's drumming just that good?

This story is about how a 20 second drum loop, became one of the most popular sounds in music history.

(rhythmic drumming) - L.A. and I are going to take what we've learned, and make our own song, using the "Funky Drummer" beat.

But, before we do that, we wanna discover what made this beat so special in the first place.

- As Quest Love said, in the 2011 interview, Funky Drummer has done miracles for hip-hop, adding, "When you talk about the most perfect beat, it's not even that 'Funky Drummer' wins in a technical aspect.

But in an artistic aspect, it's hands down the most perfect beat you can loop.

Everyone I know as a producer, that's gotten their starting hip-hop production, they all have their story about the first time they heard 'Funky Drummer'."

(rhythmic drumming) The story of "Funky Drummer" starts with The Funky Drummer, himself, the late Clyde Stubblefield.

Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the self-taught Stubblefield served as Brown's drummer from 1965 to 1971, and appeared on tracks like "Cold Sweat," "Say It Loud-I'm Black and I'm proud," and of course, "Funky Drummer."

To learn more about Clyde Stubblefield, I talked to Joey B.

Banks, a drummer from Madison, Wisconsin who was mentored by Stubblefield, himself.

How did you meet Clyde Stubblefield?

- When I was 15 years old, I started hanging out and doing local jam sessions in the Madison area.

I just sat in and jammed, and he was there, and he approached me, and he's like, "you got it, you got it, man.

You got it.

You keep going.

You keep doing what you're doing.

You know, he always, from that point on in my life, he was just, kinda, an advocate, you know, for a young black drummer, you know, 'cause there was only like two of us in the whole city of Madison.

What made Clyde Stubblefield so special as a drummer, and what should people remember about his drumming?

- I think his biggest influence, obviously, was the originality of his music.

I mean, his beat was, like, before him, nobody had ever heard anything like his beat.

And, I think his pocket, which is unparalleled, is just, you know.

Most of the recordings you hear with James Brown, there's no, we're not using click tracks.

He's just, it's just solid, on the mark.

Everybody, he would come in, lay down his drum tracks, the band would come in, lay down their track after.

That's how Clyde worked.

- "Funky Drummer" was made on November 20th, 1969, at Cincinnati's King Studios, towards the end of an exhausting tour.

Clyde Stubblefield was only 18 at the time, and said his part was something he put together to just pass time away.

In fact, even as the beat grew in popularity, Stubblefield wasn't the biggest fan.

He described it in a 1994 interview as, "boring, really boring," and "so simple, so blah."

Still, the 22nd solo toward the end of "Funky Drummer," would be immortalized for decades to come.

But, why?

- To understand how "Funky Drummer" became so popular, we need to talk about the beginnings of hip-hop music.

(funky hip-hop music) It all started in New York City, during the 1970s, specifically in the South Bronx, where people got together at block parties to listen to music and dance.

And, the music was led by an MC on the mic, and a DJ on the turntables.

DJs, like Kool Herc, and Grandmaster Flash, would play funk and soul records for the crowd.

They quickly learned that the drum breaks were the most danceable parts of a song.

So, they innovated by playing the same record, on two turntables.

That way the DJ could rewind one record, while the other played, to create an infinite drum loop.

DJs began crate-digging for funk and soul records with danceable drum loops.

And, because the loops were instrumental, it gave space for MCs to rap on top of the beat.

When hip-hop artists began recording their own songs, this practice continued, and sampling became one of the foundations of hip-hop music.

To get a better understanding, I sat down with Vandy C, a DJ and producer from New York City, who got his start during the 1980s.

- The original hip hop producers most would DJ, and that is because the DJ knew how to control the crowd, musically So, I think from a DJ side, if I'm looking at the music to make a beat, I'm listening to the track, but I'm not just listening to the beat.

I'm listening to maybe the guitar.

I'm listening to other parts, because as sampling came in, we might take the beat from this, the shout James Brown said from the very beginning, the guitar riff.

As we listen and go, "oh, that riff!"

and then we'll pull that riff out, and then, you know and then you're just basically making this gumbo of what your creativity will offer.

And, then you put it together.

- James Brown knew that artists were looking for drum breaks to sample, and in 1986 he released a compilation album of his old tracks called, "In The Jungle Groove."

On the first side of the record, was "Funky Drummer," and on side two, was the "Funky Drummer" drum solo, looped for three minutes.

That same year, three hip-hop songs were released that sampled the Funky Drummer loop, "It's a Demo," "South Bronx," and "Eric B. is President."

Until there's no rhymes left I hurry up because the cut will make 'em bleed to death But, he's kicking it This changed everything, and the "Funky Drummer" break became a go-to for hip hop producers looking for a steady groove.

- Let me ask you about, like, Funky Drummers specifically.

So, it's one of the most sampled songs in hip-hop history, which, you know.

- Yeah.

- how did you find it?

- I found it the way that Most DJs found beats, and that is, in our parents record stash.

That's how it started.

If anybody tells you anything else, they're lying.

- By the end of the nineties, the drum break had been sampled by artists in other genres, too.

Like, Sinead O'Connor, My family and George Michael.

Yeah, freedom Freedom, freedom Funky Drummer became a popular tool for artists making break-beat dance music.

Producers would speed up the break, like in this song by Aphex Twin.

(Popcorn by Aphex Twin) It was even used in the theme song for the Power Puff Girls.

(The Powerpuff Girls Theme Song) It's important to mention, that some people mix up "Funky Drummer," with another popular drum sample called the "Amen Break."

That break comes from the 1969 track, "Amen, Brother" by the soul band, The Winstons.

("Amen, Brother" by The Winstons) Both breaks were featured in the compilation album "Ultimate Breaks and Beats."

When sped up, in some dance music tracks, the two breaks can sound similar.

("Atlantis" by LTJ Bukem) Why do you think "Funky Drummers," specifically, became so popular from, like, a beat-led sample standpoint?

- "Funky Drummer" works, because of the way he's using the space.

It's not a whole bunch of drums going on, and not a bunch of parts going on, but the ghost notes, the ghost notes add so much flavor to whatever's happening.

You know, it's, like, that special little seasoning on top or, you know, it's the sprinkles, or it's the whatever, that, just, that, it's the Emeril Lagasse, "bam," right?

(rhythmic drum beats) I wanna break down what makes the solo what it is.

First, the left hand.

Questlove said in an interview, Stubblefield "has a marksman's left hand unlike any other drummer in the 20th century," adding, "the thing that defines him, that sets him apart from other drummers are his grace notes, which are sort of, like, the condiments of what spices up the main focus."

The main focus is the snare hits on two and four.

The ghost notes are played in between those main hits, on two and four.

Here's the groove without any ghost notes.

(harsh drum beat) Now, here's the groove with the ghost notes.

(rhythmic drumming) The other thing about the beat, is that it's bare.

Hi-hat (taps hi-hat), kick (plays bass drum), snare (taps snare drum).

That's all he's playing.

That open space, is why so many artists have sampled it, because it offers so much room to play around with.

Third, and lastly, his repetition.

He doesn't deviate from the pattern and maintains it for eight bars, following the instructions Brown gave him.

You don't have to do no soloing, brother Just keep what you got, don't turn it loose, 'Cause its a mother - What do you think made Clyde Stubblefield's drumming like, a really good match for hip-hop.

- As much as Clyde made hip-hop, hip-hop made Clyde, if that makes sense, in terms of the timing.

Because, what happened in my estimation is had it not have been for the grassroot DJs pursuing beats, his transcended the regular beats, so all of a sudden, it was like the cheat code to move a crowd is to hit his beat, you know what I mean?

So, "Funky Drummer" became bigger than just the beat itself.

It became, like, this movement.

- According to Who Sampled, "Funky Drummer" has been sampled over 1,700 times.

But, even though Clyde's Stubblefield laid the groundwork for all of this music, he didn't get the credit he deserved.

The reality is, he never saw any royalties from the songs that sampled his drum part, because he wasn't credited as a songwriter.

James Brown was.

Although Stubblefield tried to capitalize on his resurgence in hip-hop, with solo albums like, "The Revenge of the Funky Drummer," he would never be able to truly live off the success of his beloved drum break.

But, that doesn't mean that artists influenced by Stubblefield and his work, didn't look out for him where they could.

Shortly after Prince passed away in 2016, it was revealed that the "Purple Rain" icon paid about $80,000 in the drummer's medical costs.

As Stubblefield had survived cancer in 2000, and coped with kidney diseases since 2002.

- What mattered most to Stubblefield wasn't the money, but being credited and recognized for his work.

- See, I'm the world samplest, number one samplest drummer, so, hey, I haven't got a penny for it yet though, but.

(Clyde laughs) - My dude is super humble, super kind, loved everybody.

Signed his autographs, "Clyde Stubblefield, peace and love."

I mean, he was, just, a genuinely good guy, and in some ways, good to a fault.

- Although Stubblefield passed away from kidney failure in 2017, his legacy as a drummer, still lives on, with "Funky Drummer" continuing to be an integral part of that.

The drum break still gets sampled, with everyone from Nicki Minaj, to Ed Sheeran's "Shirtsleeves" using Stubblefield's drum part.

My shirtsleeves, under your eyes There's even a documentary in the works, about Stubblefield's impact, called "Give the Drummer Some," which he was able to be a part of before he passed.

In 2011, Stubblefield got on stage with Chuck D and the Roots, to perform "Fight the Power" on the Late Night Show.

- Please welcome Chuck D, Clyde Stubblefield, and Eclectic Method, The Copyright Criminals.

(audience cheers) - Normally, Chuck D would rap over a sample, but that night, he had the real Funky Drummer by his side.

Let me hear you say fight the power - Eclectic Method.

- Now that we've learned about "Funky Drummer", L.A. and I are going to attempt to make our own song, inspired by the Funky Drummer sample.

Okay, this is the approach that I would take.

I feel like we could totally take, like do you listen to Pink Pantheress, or do you know who she is?

- Uh-uh.

- Okay.

Pink Pantheress is like this, she blew up on TikTok, she's like a UK German-based pop girly.

She's very talented.

She's, like, a songwriter and has a very gentle, floaty voice.

(Pink Pantheress song plays) (Linda laughs) - I can, I want to do a a funky drummer, slash Pink Pantheress, slash house-type vibe.

- Yeah.

(funky drum beat) Cut off the light Call, call the law Cut off the lights Call, call the law - Without Stubblefield, it's safe to say that hip-hop wouldn't be what it is.

(rhythmic drumming) His drumming provided the foundation for a genre, that still continues to borrow from him.

And, even though he never truly had the chance to reap the reward of that, there's no denying the mark he left behind.

- Before you go, I wanna let you know about "Fight the Power How Hip-Hop Changed the World, A new PBS series, hosted by hip-hop legend Chuck D. It's about how hip-hop became a global movement that spoke truth to power.

Check out the link in the description below, and let them know Sound Field sent you.