Kool & the Gang's "N.T." appeared on their 1971 album Live at the Sex Machine, and it captures the band in their early, pre-disco incarnation — raw, jazzy funk played with the intensity of a live performance. Before "Celebration" and "Get Down on It" made them pop stars, Kool & the Gang were a hard-blowing jazz-funk outfit, and "N.T." represents that grittier era perfectly.

The break's live energy and jazz-inflected groove gave hip-hop producers a different texture from studio-recorded funk. Producers who sampled "N.T." were tapping into the spontaneity and looseness of a live funk performance — something that drum machines and studio sessions couldn't replicate.