The Think break is a

drum break In popular music, a break is an instrumental or percussion instrument, percussion section during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a "break" from the main section (music), parts of the song or piece. A break is usually interp ...

that has been widely sampled in

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

. It comes from the 1972 song " Think (About It)" by the American soul singer Lyn Collins, written and produced by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

. The drum break was performed by John "Jabo" Starks.

Background and impact

In 1987, "Think (About It)" was featured on the 16th volume of the drum break compilation '' Ultimate Breaks & Beats'', a highly popular series among hip hop producers. That year marked the first known use of the "Woo! Yeah!" break, when the

Beatmasters The Beatmasters are an English electronic music group who gained success in the UK in the late 1980s with four top 20 hit singles. They then went on to produce and remix records for other artists, including Pet Shop Boys, Erasure and Marc A ...

, a British hip hop production trio, sampled the break for Cookie Crew's song "Females (Get On Up)". While "Females" was a minor hit in the UK, the break did not receive major airplay and attention until the following year, when it was used as the backing loop for the 1988 song " It Takes Two" by MC Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock. The song, which is almost entirely composed of sampled parts from "Think (About It)", became a platinum-selling hit. It became almost ubiquitous in

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

records during the late 1980s and early 1990s and continues to see use. In addition to the famous "Yeah! Woo!" sample, another part of the drum break has seen prominent use in songs of diverse breakbeat subgenres such as

jungle jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅgala'' ...

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

and breakcore. The sample contains a short, ad-libbed shout by one of the musicians, and is usually played at a higher speed, giving the shout a very recognizable character.

References

{{reflist Sampling (music) Sampled drum breaks James Brown 1972 compositions

Background and impact

See also

References