60s/70s Soul & Funk – Ready to Flip

Modern music would be unrecognizable without the contributions of iconic soul and funk artists from the 60s and 70s. Any hip-hop fan will understand that these two genres are not just remarkable in their own right but form the foundations of hip-hop culture.

60s/70s Soul & Funk Samples

This era of music—renowned for producing the likes of Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Harold Melvin, Barry White, and many more—has served as a vital touchstone for hip-hop producers.

Before going any further it’s worth delving into the origins of classic soul. Soul music emerged in the late 50s and early 60s from a merger of gospel music, rock-n-roll, and rhythm and blues. Artists like Ray Charles, Jackie Wilson, and Sam Cooke are considered some of the earliest soul stars. By the mid-60s, labels like Motown Records and Stax Records were household names.

Funk—notorious for its groovy basslines and punchy drum breaks—appears slightly later. In the mid-1960s, artists like James Brown pioneered a new form of music focused primarily on rhythm and groove rather than melody. Indeed, if soul music is notorious for its beautiful vocal melodies, funk is its danceable counterpart. It’s for this reason that many hip-hop producers sampled drum loops from funk records and melodies from soul records.

60s/70s Soul & Funk in Hip-Hop

Hip-hop fans won’t have to look too hard to find some classic instances of soul and funk sampling. Iconic producers like J Dilla, 9th Wonder, and many more are known for their sampling of both obscure and well-known soul and funk. Elsewhere, some of hip-hop’s biggest hits have sampled 60s/70s soul.


Take for instance Ayatollah’s iconic sample of Aretha Franklin on Mos Def’s “Ms. Fat Booty” or Ice Cube’s use of The Isley Brothers on “It Was a Good Day.” More recently, check out Kanye West and Jay Z’s sampling of Otis Redding on “Otis” or Kendrick Lamar’s generous sampling of Marvin Gaye on “The Heart Pt. 5”.