The Headhunters had already made history as Herbie Hancock's band on 'Head Hunters,' the album that fused jazz with funk and sold a million copies. By 1975, drummer Mike Clark and bassist Paul Jackson were ready to step out on their own. 'Survival of the Fittest' was their debut as a standalone group, and "God Made Me Funky" was its centerpiece — a seven-minute groove workout that let Clark's syncopated drumming take center stage without the shadow of Hancock's synthesizers.

Clark's drum style on this track is a masterclass in feel. The beat swings hard while staying locked to an almost mechanical pocket, creating a tension that hip-hop producers found irresistible. DJ Premier chopped it for Gang Starr. Pete Rock layered it into the immortal "T.R.O.Y." Q-Tip built "Bonita Applebum" around its warmth. DJ Shadow used it as architecture for his sample-based opus. The break sits perfectly in that sweet spot between jazz sophistication and street-level funk that defined the golden age of hip-hop production.

Mike Clark has spoken about how the original session was largely improvised — the band locked into a groove and rode it. That spontaneity is precisely what gives the break its life. It doesn't sound programmed or calculated; it breathes in a way that makes everything built on top of it feel organic.