Clyde Stubblefield's Funky Drummer Break

James Brown / Clyde Stubblefield · 1970

“James Brown calls out "give the drummer some" and Clyde plays the most-sampled drum break of all time.”

1970, James Brown is recording In the Jungle Groove. He calls out for a solo, Clyde Stubblefield gives him eight bars of pure funk pocket. Public Enemy's Fight the Power is built on it. Run-DMC. LL Cool J. Sinéad's Nothing Compares. NWA. The break is hip-hop's drum kit. Stubblefield never received a publishing royalty. He died in 2017.