James Brown: Most Sampled Man in the Biz
RollingStone.com probably doesn’t have enough bandwidth to compile a complete list of every song that has ever sampled James Brown’s music. The man’s music has been so widely stolen that James Brown has to pay royalties to James Brown on more than one of his songs!
“Funky Drummer” is widely considered one of most influential and important pieces of sampled music. Here’s just a small taste of the diverse artists that have used Brown’s most famous soulful beat:
2 Live Crew: “Coolin’ “
Beastie Boys: “Shadrach”
Big Daddy Kane: “Mortal Combat”
De La Soul: “Oodles of O’s”
Depeche Mode: “My Joy”
Digable Planets: “Where I’m From”
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince: “Pump Up the Bass”
Dr. Dre: “Let Me Ride”
Enigma: “Carly’s Song”
Eric B & Rakim: “Paid in Full”
Fine Young Cannibals: “I’m Not the Man I Used to Be”
GangStarr: “2 Deep”
George Michael: “Waiting for That Day”
Geto Boys: “Mind of a Lunatic”
Heavy D: “We Got Our Own Thang”
Ice Cube: “Endangered Species”
Ice T: “Original Gangster”
Kris Kross: “Jump”
Leaders of the New School: “Teachers, Don’t Teach Us Nonsense”
LL Cool J: “Mama Said Knock You Out”
Marky Mark: “Good Vibrations”
MC Lyte: “Brooklyn”
Milli Vanilli: “Girl You Know It’s True”
Mobb Deep: “Flavor for the Non-Believes”
Nas: “Get Down”
Naughty by Nature: “Ready for Dem”
New Order: “Ruined in a Day”
Nine Inch Nails: “Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)”
NWA: “F–k Tha Police”
Pete Rock & CL Smooth: “Go With the Flow”
Prince: “Gett Off”, “My Name Is Prince”
Public Enemy: “Bring the Noise”, “Fight the Power”
Redman: “Rated R”
Roxanne Shante: “Have a Nice Day”
Run-DMC: “Run’s House”
Salt-N-Pepa: “Let the Rhythm Run”
Scarface: “Born Killer”
Sinead O’Connor: “I Am Stretched on Your Grave”
Sir Mix-A-Lot: “No Holds Barred”
Slayer & Atari Teenage Riot: “No Remorse (I Wanna Die)”
Sublime: “Scarlet Begonias”
TLC: “Shock Dat Monkey”
Tupac ft Richie Rich: “Lie to Kick It”
Ultramagnetic MC: “Give the Drummer Some”
Vanilla Ice: “Stop That Train”