{"id":31235,"date":"2025-04-02T10:56:01","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T17:56:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=31235"},"modified":"2025-04-03T13:04:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T20:04:18","slug":"more-than-a-sample-size-the-legacy-of-funk-music-in-hip-hop","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/blog\/more-than-a-sample-size-the-legacy-of-funk-music-in-hip-hop\/","title":{"rendered":"More than a Sample Size: The Legacy of Funk Music in Hip-Hop"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><sup><em>Artwork by Kristen Uroda<\/em><\/sup><\/p>\n<h4>By Ade Adeniji<\/h4>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Funk allowed Black musicians and their audiences to shapeshift and speak truth to power\u2014even while speaking in tongues. But as Stanley Nelson and Nicole London&#8217;s documentary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/we-want-the-funk\/\"><em>WE WANT THE FUNK!<\/em> <\/a>reveals, funk also ended up influencing other prominent genres like gospel (Alicia Myers&#8217; \u201cI Want to Thank You\u201d), Afrobeats in West Africa (including Fela Kuti), rock, and, of course, hip-hop.<\/p>\n<p>That last genre\u2014hip-hop\u2014is our focus on this funky trip down memory lane, as we look at some of the most iconic funk samples ever used. It\u2019s true that funk provided some of the raw material for hip-hop, but different eras and types of rap have expressed their funk in different ways, from the golden age to the present day. [See our <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/playlist\/05LMnyzdIsTTrA7jcSu2mq?si=9C_VjcH2RdqkwMARMGL0hQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spotify playlist<\/a> below.]<\/p>\n<h4><strong>The \u201980s\u2013\u201990s Boom-Bap Era <\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>\u201c<strong>Boom bap<\/strong>\u201d is just what it sounds like. The onomatopoeia signals the bass (kick) drum and snare drum that came to define rap\u2019s golden age in the 1980s to mid-\u201990s, especially on the East Coast. Some producers stuck to one sample and added drums, but others were far more ambitious, melding together a range of sounds to cement classics.<\/p>\n<p>In 1990, the Chuck D and Flavor Flav-headed group Public Enemy released \u201cFight the Power,\u201d which also became the soundtrack for that piping-hot Brooklyn summer in Spike Lee\u2019s <em>Do the Right Thing<\/em>. \u201cFight the Power\u201d taps a number of funk samples, including the drums from James Brown\u2019s \u201cFunky Drummer,\u201d and the vocals from The Isley Brothers\u2019 upbeat \u201cFight the Power.\u201d (As a note of trivia, Brown&#8217;s &#8220;My Thang&#8221; has reportedly been sampled by other songs 94(!) times.)<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mmo3HFa2vjg?si=kiH6EbdwV5zCGvVU\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/t5C1lqBR8uw\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Eric B. &amp; Rakim\u2019s \u201cPaid in Full\u201d from 1987 brings in the bass from quirky R&amp;B star Dennis Edwards\u2019 \u201cDon\u2019t Look Any Further\u201d (1984), a sample that would later be harnessed again by the likes of 2Pac, Lil Wayne, and Three 6 Mafia.<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AG-srxp8xLU?ab_channel=EricB\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CH3rx8LhrQo?list=RDCH3rx8LhrQo&amp;start_radio=1&amp;ab_channel=DennisEdwardsVEVO\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Then, of course, there\u2019s Notorious B.I.G. a.k.a. Biggie\u2019s timeless \u201cJuicy\u201d released in 1994, bringing new ears to Mtume\u2019s sensual opus \u201cJuicy Fruit,\u201d a funk track which has underpinned over 100 songs, particularly in hip-hop. Mtume might also be the first funk group ever ensnared in a rap feud.<\/p>\n<p>In Stetsasonic&#8217;s 1988\u00a0 \u201cTalkin\u2019 All That Jazz,\u201d the opening lyrics are a bouncy response to criticism from old heads worried about sampling lacking creativity\u2014specifically referencing an interview where James Mtume dismissed sampling as \u201cMemorex music\u201d and accused producers of glorifying mediocrity. But Mtume later clarified that the beef was soon squashed.<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_JZom_gVfuw?list=RD_JZom_gVfuw&amp;start_radio=1&amp;ab_channel=TheNotoriousB\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EYE5QEBOMA8?ab_channel=MtumeVEVO\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h4><strong>\u201990s West Coast Hip-Hop <\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>On the other side of the country, <strong>West Coast rap<\/strong> was also gathering steam thanks to its deep funk heritage. Early \u201990s L.A.-area group Above the Law moved from boom bap to a new style it defined as gangsta funk, or g-funk, in the hit featuring 2Pac \u201cCall It What U Want,\u201d (sampling Funkadelic\u2019s \u201cFreak of the Week\u201d) recorded in 1992. The group was headlined by Gregory \u201cBig Hutch\u201d Hutchison, the nephew of Motown legend Willie Hutch\u2014proving that funk runs in the blood.<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OBZLrydSJ1o?list=RDOBZLrydSJ1o\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LpQbTD6g0Ug\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Around the same time, a young Dr. Dre released the groundbreaking album <em>The Chronic<\/em> (1992), which brought g-funk into the mainstream as singles like \u201cLet Me Ride\u201d (Parliament&#8217;s \u201cMothership Connection\u201d) and \u201cNuthin&#8217; But a &#8216;G&#8217; Thang\u201d featuring Snoop Dogg (Leon Haywood\u2019s \u201cI Want\u2019a Do Something Freaky to You\u201d) transported the entire world to a California with endless sunshine and pimped-out cars\u2014but also one where danger was never far behind.<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cKu3_3mp1U8?list=RDcKu3_3mp1U8&amp;start_radio=1&amp;ab_channel=Dr\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3f4vaog6mvs?ab_channel=1mistaGROOVE\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>2Pac and Dre\u2019s \u201cCalifornia Love\u201d (sampling Joe Cocker\u2019s \u201cWoman to Woman,\u201d Zapp\u2019s \u201cDance Floor,\u201d and Ronnie Hudson &amp; The Street People&#8217;s \u201cWest Coast Poplock\u201d) sent the West Coast even higher and cemented signature sounds like the talkbox, which Roger Troutman passed along to L.A. rap producers like DJ Quik and Battlecat.<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/omfz62qu_Bc\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tkHEULQUuuE\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>G-funk is often described as minimalistic, but there is a funky politics to be found, too, including on Warren G\u2019s \u201cDo You See\u201d (1994), which mashes up Junior\u2019s whimsical \u201cMama Used to Say\u201d (1981) and Gil Scott-Heron&#8217;s fiery spoken-word track \u201cBicentennial Blues\u201d: \u201cWhy should the blues be so at home here? Well, America provided the atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EoezCLhQFaE\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gAWnb1yxr5M\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Six hours north, up Interstate 5, artists like Too Short, Spice 1, and Ant Banks minted their own brand of Bay Area funk called mobb music, which has similarities to g-funk, but often with a deeper bassline. And funky Oakland collective Digital Underground\u2019s \u201cHumpty Dance\u201d (sampling Parliament\u2019s \u201cLet\u2019s Play House\u201d) still gets play to this day.<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PBsjggc5jHM?list=RDPBsjggc5jHM&amp;start_radio=1&amp;ab_channel=TommyBoy\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5MwElIvxZ44?ab_channel=Parliament-Topic\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/to.pbs.org\/3HGYGgD\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-28252\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Signup-for-the-Independent-Lens-Insider-1-1-600x45.png\" alt=\"Sign up for the Independent Lens newsletter\" width=\"933\" height=\"70\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Signup-for-the-Independent-Lens-Insider-1-1-600x45.png 600w, https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Signup-for-the-Independent-Lens-Insider-1-1-1280x96.png 1280w, https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Signup-for-the-Independent-Lens-Insider-1-1-768x58.png 768w, https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Signup-for-the-Independent-Lens-Insider-1-1-1536x115.png 1536w, https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Signup-for-the-Independent-Lens-Insider-1-1-2048x154.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 933px) 100vw, 933px\" \/><\/a>\n<h4><strong>Assorted \u201990s\u2013\u201900s Hip-Hop Hits<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Funk also found its way to other hip-hop subgenres, including <strong>new jack swing<\/strong>, a funky brand of R&amp;B with a twist. Female performers like Mary J. Blige, TLC, SWV, and Janet Jackson held this genre down. SWV\u2019s \u201cAnything\u201d and its many remixes (sampling Freedom&#8217;s \u201cGet Up and Dance\u201d) found their way to film soundtracks like <em>Above the Rim<\/em>, executive produced by Death Row impresario Suge Knight\u2014sending hip-hop\u2019s popularity even higher.<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dEuzjd7TWp8\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1sCkeSkT4Ys\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Chicago rapper Da Brat\u2019s\u00a0 unabashedly funky 1994 album Funkdafied is also emblematic of that era. And the following year, Adina Howard\u2019s \u201cFreak Like Me\u201d (Bootsy&#8217;s Rubber Band\u2019s \u201cI&#8217;d Rather Be With You\u201d) mixes sexy and funky with some of the best synths ever used in R&amp;B\/hip-hop.<\/p>\n<p>In the South, artists like Outkast (&#8220;Funky Ride&#8221;) and Scarface (&#8220;Hand of the Dead Body&#8221;) also tapped into funk influence for their hits, and New York producers like Erick Sermon were quite clear about how funk influenced their songs. Sermon even said that his 2001 megahit \u201cMusic&#8221; with archived vocals from Marvin Gaye, happened after he bought a copy of Gaye&#8217;s album <em>Midnight Love &amp; the Sexual Healing Sessions<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>We would also be remiss not to mention Will Smith\u2019s many forays into hip-hop, including the \u201cMen in Black Theme,\u201d which heavily sampled Patrice Rushen\u2019s \u201882 R&amp;B cut, \u201cForget Me Nots.\u201d<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fiBLgEx6svA\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/k5wXaPh2mEQ?ab_channel=PatriceRushen\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h4><strong>The Present Day<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>As hip-hop looks back on more than five decades, funk remains deeply entwined in the genre as ever\u2014so much so, it\u2019s sometimes taken for granted. Kendrick Lamar\u2019s 2015 album<em> To Pimp a Butterfly<\/em> includes the single \u201cKing Kunta,\u201d which references James Brown and is influenced by a previous generation of funky rap (Ahmad\u2019s \u201cWe Want the Funk\u201d and DJ Quik and Mausberg\u2019s \u201cGet Nekkid\u201d). And just as Compton OG Quik brought DeBarge in on some of his songs, Compton\u2019s Lamar walks in these same footsteps with Ronald Isley of The Isley Brothers singing on \u201cHow Much a Dollar Cost.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Funk, indeed, is still always on the mind.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bonus:<\/strong><\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iD7ukTFW1fE\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HQq_Ubw9gOk\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Play our accompanying Spotify playlist:<\/strong><\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/playlist\/05LMnyzdIsTTrA7jcSu2mq?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em><strong>Ade Adeniji<\/strong> is a culture writer based in Los Angeles and New York. He has written for outlets including <\/em>WIRED, VICE, Rolling Stone, SPIN, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, The Guardian,<em> and <\/em>CBS News<em>. He blogs about film and television on his own website, <a href=\"https:\/\/adeadeniji.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">adeadeniji.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Artwork by Kristen Uroda By Ade Adeniji Funk allowed Black musicians and their audiences to shapeshift and speak truth to power\u2014even while speaking in tongues. But as Stanley Nelson and Nicole London&#8217;s documentary WE WANT THE FUNK! reveals, funk also ended up influencing other prominent genres like gospel (Alicia Myers&#8217; \u201cI Want to Thank You\u201d), [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":31554,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1357,939],"tags":[2345,2343,2344],"topic":[1250],"class_list":["post-31235","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beyond-the-films","category-lists","tag-hiphop","tag-music","tag-playlist","topic-music-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>More than a Sample Size: The Legacy of Funk Music in Hip-Hop - Independent Lens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From the golden age of rap to present day, look at (and listen to) some of the most iconic funk samples ever used in hip-hop, and watch WE WANT THE FUNK! 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