Average White Band - Schoolboy Crush (119 K)
Cool drum intro with sleigh bells. Used on for example 'Halftime' from Nas' first album and 'Microphone Fiend' by Eric B & Rakim, but they use the guitar line too.
Average White Band - Schoolboy Crush (119 K)
Cool drum intro with sleigh bells. Used on for example 'Halftime' from Nas' first album and 'Microphone Fiend' by Eric B & Rakim, but they use the guitar line too.
Banbarra - Shack Up (363 K)
Quite fast drum loop from a band I don't know anything about. Sampled by Stetsasonic on 'Talkin All That Jazz'. Note the whistle in the beginning of the loop on the Stetsasonic song!
Bad Bascomb - Black Grass (97 K)
This is a dirty, busy drum loop from a bunch of black guys playing bluegrass -- Black Grass! It's sort of funk with a banjo. The album is quite cool, actually (or maybe not). These drums were used on 'It's Yourz' by Wu-Tang Clan.
Melvin Bliss - Synthetic Substitution (221 K)
A classic drum loop, sampled by everyone and his mother. For example De La Soul, Wu Tang Clan, Method Man, Public Enemy, Gang Starr, NWA, and the Orb.
James Brown - Funky Drummer (564 K)
The most sampled song ever. No wonder. Used on e.g. LL Cool J's 'Mama Said Knock You Out', 'The Boomin' System' and 'Jack The Ripper', PE's 'Rebel Without A Pause' and about a million other songs. The sample is four bars plus one-two-three-four-hit it!
James Brown - Funky President (204 K)
Very common. This is used for the drums on for example 'Eric B Is President', though it's cut up a bit.
Deodato - September 13th (162 K)
A famous drum loop by the Brazilian groovemeister Eumir Deodato, who is known for his extremely funky Brazil-jazz-funk-music. Maybe his greatest hit was the version of 'Also sprach Zarathustra', the theme from the 2001 movie. He has also covered 'Peter Gunn' and the theme from Star Trek. The drums here were used on 'Won On Won' by The Cocoa Brovaz, among others. Also, this part with piano added was used by Camp Lo on 'Park Joint'.
Lou Donaldson - Ode To Billie Joe (128 K)
A favourite drum break, from the LP 'Mr Shing-A-Ling'. Used e.g. on Lauryn Hill's 'To Zion', Cypress Hill's 'Lil Putos' and Warren G's 'This Is The Shack'.
Lee Dorsey - Get Out Of My Life Woman (111 K)
Heavy drum intro that's been used a lot, for example on Wu-Tang Clan's 'Maria' and Cypress Hill's 'Hits From The Bong'. The snare drum on this one is golden.
The Incredible Bongo Band - Apache (94 K)
An old classic that has been used by for example Grandmaster Flash on 'Adventures of Flash On The Wheel of Steel'.
Bob James - Take Me To The Mardi Gras (200 K)
This is one of the big old school classics. Famous uses include 'Peter Piper' by Run DMC and 'Rock The Bells' by LL Cool J. If you listen carefully you can also hear it on 'The Punisher' by Eric B & Rakim and on 'Set Adrift on Memory Bliss' by PM Dawn (if you really want to listen to THAT one...)
Kool & The Gang - N.T. (111 K)
This famous beat comes from a long instrumental jazz funk jam on the live record 'Live at PJ's'. Sampled on Nas' 'NY State of Mind', NWA's 'Gangsta Gangsta', Warren G's 'Runnin' Wit No Breaks', Kriss Kross' 'Jump' and Blueboy's 'Remember Me' (on the intro).
Al Kooper - The Landlord (111 K)
Very good, mellow drum loop, which has been sampled by DJ Shadow for
'Hindsight'. It comes from the theme to 'The Landlord' by Al Kooper
(ex-Blood Sweat And Tears), who played organ with Bob Dylan at the time he went
electric. Does anyone know if there's anyone else who has sampled it?
Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks (77 K)
This is one heavy drum loop. John Bonham did hit harder. Beastie Boys have used this on their first album and Sisters of Mercy (!) have used it on 'Never Land'. It is also rumored that Enigma used it on 'Return To Innocence'. I doesn't seem to be that popular among hip hop producers...
Little Feat - Fool Yourself (68 K)
One of my favourite drum loops, from the LP 'Dixie Chicken' (although the rest of the album is boring rock music). Sampled on A Tribe Called Quest's 'Bonita Applebum', Fugees' 'Killing Me Softly' (although I think they sampled Bonita Applebum; there is another sound from it too.), and Mobb Deep's 'G.O.D. Part III'.
Pucho & The Latin Soul Brothers - Got Myself A Good Man (373 K)
The solos in this song are on my top five list of drum solos. They are totally mad. This is an excerpt from the first solo, and has been used by the Beastie Boys on 'The Negotiation Limerick File' from their latest album. But someone else must have used it. Mail me if you know something. Anyway, this band, led by Henry 'Pucho' Brown, is not as well known as they deserve to be, so buy their records! (By the way, the distortion is in the recording!)
Skull Snaps - It's A New Day (94 K)
A classic break by a totally unknown group, from the LP 'Skull Snaps'. Sampled by for example The Prodigy on 'Poison', Ol' Dirty Bastard on 'Hippa To Da Hoppa' and Craig Mack on 'Real Raw'.
Sly And The Family Stone - Sing A Simple Song (204 K)
This is another popular song with heavy drums and sax, but in different stereo channels. Nicely used on 'The Sound Of The Police' by KRS and on 'Mama Said Knock You Out' by LL Cool J.
Rufus Thomas - Do The Funky Penguin (201 K)
I have changed the sample here, because the old one was actually from 'Do The Funky Penguin (Part 2)', which is the b-side of the single. The new one is from Part 1, and I think it is better. The piano is almost entirely in one of the channels, so if you buy the record you can easily use it with drums only ;-) The old sample can be found here (49 K).
Anyway, this is a well-known break, and was used for instance on MC Lyte's 'Not Wit' A Dealer' and on Jeru The Damaja's 'Ya Playin Yaself' (but only the 'uh!').
Barry White - I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More, Babe (128 K)
Hard little beat that has been sampled by a lot of hip hop people, and also by Daft Punk on 'Da Funk'. Boss also sampled this song for 'Deeper', but she used a part from the chorus and not the drums ('Deeper and deeper...').
The Winstons - Amen Brother (281 K)
This is the hardest, coolest drum break around, but maybe it's been used a little too much by the drum'n'bass people. All jungle/drum'n'bass people must have sampled this some time, but it's of course been used by hip hop producers too, for example on 'Casualties of War' by Eric B & Rakim and 'Straight Outta Compton' by NWA.