POLITICAL FUNK
1974
105 BPM
Eā major
Funky President
James Brown's direct response to the post-Watergate political landscape became hip-hop's most politically charged breakbeat
James Brown
"Funky President (People It's Bad)"
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Original Track
James Brown - "Funky President (People It's Bad)" (1974)
The original track containing the legendary 5.1-second drum break
Break occurs at 2:00 - 2:5.099999999999994
The History
James Brown's direct response to the post-Watergate political landscape became hip-hop's most politically charged breakbeat. Allan Schwartzberg's groove-heavy drumming created the foundation for countless conscious rap anthems and political protests in sound.
Written as James Brown's direct commentary on President Gerald Ford's early presidency after Nixon's resignation
Recorded at Sound Ideas studio in NYC in September 1974, just one month after Nixon's resignation
Eric B. & Rakim's 'Eric B. Is President' was created in Rakim's mother's basement, launching the heavy sampling era
The sample has been used in over 900+ hip-hop tracks, making it one of the most sampled breaks ever
Led to one of hip-hop's first major sampling lawsuits when James Brown sued Eric B. & Rakim
The original political message about presidential leadership transformed into a foundation for conscious hip-hop and protest music
Who Sampled It
Eric B. & Rakim
"Eric B. Is President"
Paid in Full
1986
Public Enemy
"Fight the Power"
Fear of a Black Planet
1989
N.W.A
"Fuck Tha Police"
Straight Outta Compton
1988
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
"Summertime"
Homebase
1991
A Tribe Called Quest
"Oh My God"
Midnight Marauders
1993
Kanye West
"New God Flow"
Cruel Summer
2012
Childish Gambino
"3005"
Because the Internet
2013
š” This breakbeat has been sampled 7 times in our database
Tags
political-funk
james-brown
watergate-era
gerald-ford
conscious-rap
presidential-politics
allan-schwartzberg
eric-b-rakim