POP & SOUL STYLE

Funk drum patterns.

Busy sixteenths, ghost notes and everything landing on the one, set by James Brown's drummers in the late 1960s.

72 grooves
1967–2014
5 landmarks

The Funk timeline

17 of 17 grooves

1967
Landmark
Cold Sweat Open Cold Sweat in a new tab
James Brown
Root: often called the first funk record; all weight on the one, a late snare in bar one, and the first give-the-drummer-some
1969
Landmark
Cissy Strut Open Cissy Strut in a new tab
The Meters
Zigaboo Modeliste's syncopated New Orleans second-line funk; critics heard his drums as the lead voice
1969
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)Open Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) in a new tab
Sly & the Family Stone
Greg Errico's sparse backbeat leaves room for Larry Graham's slap bass; later sampled for Rhythm Nation
1970
Landmark
Funky Drummer Open Funky Drummer in a new tab
James Brown
Root: Clyde Stubblefield's improvised ghost-note groove and eight-bar break, one of the most sampled recordings ever
1970
Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine Open Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine in a new tab
James Brown
Jabo Starks with Bootsy and Catfish Collins: the new J.B.'s lock a minimal, insistent one-chord groove
1973
Landmark
What Is Hip?Open What Is Hip? in a new tab
Tower of Power
Co-written by drummer David Garibaldi: a tight, busy sixteenth-note groove under Tower of Power's horns
1973
Jungle Boogie Open Jungle Boogie in a new tab
Kool & the Gang
George Brown's raw drums under chanted hooks and horns; later sampled for Madonna's Erotica
1974
Pick Up the Pieces Open Pick Up the Pieces in a new tab
Average White Band
A crisp, tight pocket behind a horn-led instrumental that reached No. 1 in the US
1974
Fire Open Fire in a new tab
Ohio Players
Siren-led hit with a heavy, straight funk backbeat; No. 1 on both the Hot 100 and the soul chart in 1975
1977
Brick House Open Brick House in a new tab
Commodores
Sung by drummer Walter Orange over a steady mid-tempo funk backbeat; a Commodores signature
1978
One Nation Under a Groove Open One Nation Under a Groove in a new tab
Funkadelic
P-Funk at its most danceable: a rolling open groove that held the soul chart's top spot for six weeks
1980
More Bounce to the Ounce Open More Bounce to the Ounce in a new tab
Zapp
Slow, raw electro-funk bounce that inspired Genius of Love and was sampled by EPMD, Ice Cube and Biggie
1981
Super Freak Open Super Freak in a new tab
Rick James
Straight, punchy punk-funk beat under a looping bass riff; the riff later became U Can't Touch This
1982
Outstanding Open Outstanding in a new tab
The Gap Band
Laid-back mid-tempo boogie-funk groove; a No. 1 R&B single from Gap Band IV and a long-running sample source
1986
Landmark
Kiss Open Kiss in a new tab
Prince and the Revolution
Skeletal drum-machine funk with no bass: the kick runs through a non-linear reverb to fill the low end
1986
Word Up!Open Word Up! in a new tab
Cameo
Mid-80s Cameo, which had swapped live drummers for drum machines: tight, spare programmed funk
2014
Uptown Funk Open Uptown Funk in a new tab
Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars on live drums layered with LinnDrum programming: an 80s-style funk revival that topped charts