Kool & the Gang's "Funky Stuff" (1973) is from the group's hard-funk period — years before "Celebration" and "Ladies' Night" turned them into pop stars, they were making raw, uncompromising funk instrumentals. The track is a tight, driving workout with aggressive horn stabs and a drum groove that's all business. This was Kool & the Gang at their grittiest, before the pop makeover that would bring them mainstream fame.

The break's raw energy and driving tempo made it a natural for hip-hop production. Producers who knew the group's early catalog understood that pre-pop Kool & the Gang were a completely different proposition from the group that most people knew — harder, funkier, and far more useful as sample material.