- Hey, LA, are you there? - Hey, Nahre, I'm here. What's up? - Hey. I wanted to ask you a question. First, listen to this. (upbeat funk music) ♪ Hey ♪ Sounds like a James Brown song, doesn't it? - Yeah. - But it's not, what is it about this that we're both hearing that makes us think of James Brown? What's going on musically that makes James Brown sound like James Brown? ♪ One, two, three, four ♪ ("Get Up" by James Brown) ♪ Get up, get on up ♪ Screams, spins, and splits all make for a great show, but what was the Minister of the New, New Superheavy Funk doing? To answer that question, we have to go back to 1964 when funk was born. (upbeat funk music) - So a lot of people say that funk started with Papa's Got A Brand New Bag in 1965. Others say it started in 1967 with Cold Sweat, but James Brown says in his autobiography that his sound really started to change in 1964 with his album Out of Sight. ♪ Got to tie your sneakers on ♪ "Out of Sight was another beginning, musically "and professionally, you can hear the band and me "start to move in a whole other direction rhythmically. "The horns, the guitar, the vocals, everything "was starting to be used to establish all kind "of rhythms at once, I as trying to get every aspect "of the production to contribute to the rhythmic patterns." ♪ You know you're out of sight ♪ ♪ Ow ♪ - Brown got away from melodies. His music was very rhythmically focused, even the tambour, his delivery style, was percussive. - Yeah. - And I think that's what made funk such a grooving, such a popular sound because even the musicians, they are not really always singing. It's more group chanting. - Yeah. - But it's not driven by a series of chords. It's driven by rhythmic interactions. - And not only was he using every instrument to add to the song's rhythmic pattern, but he was creating a whole new pattern. So most music of that era gave heavy emphasis to the back beat, on the two and the four of the measure. It sounded like this. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. (upbeat percussion music) One, two, three, four. What James Brown did was he put the emphasis on the one, on the downbeat of the measure. And that sounds like one, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. (upbeat percussion music) ♪ One, two, three, man, get funky ♪ ♪ Man, get funky, huh, man, get funky ♪ Emphasizing the one created space in the groove so that the band could add syncopation to the other beat. Syncopation is just placing rhythms or accents in places where we don't expect it. So if these are the strong beats. Three, four, one, two, three, four. Syncopation is just putting accents in between the strong beats. So sound like, one and two and three and four and (beat boxes). ("Mother Popcorn Part 1" by James Brown) ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ - So here is some of the observations that I've picked up while listening to James Brown songs. The first thing is that his voice is very unique. The quality of how he sings is almost shouting and singing, it's somewhere in between. And his melodies and phrases are more like staffs rather than long, lyrical melodies. - This is James Brown, and when doing Sound Field, y'all, make it funky (laughs). I do what I can to mimic him and to give it a real heavier rasp. So I'll growl a little bit, you know what I'm saying? - Okay. - I just wanna do my thing. You know, movin', groovin', like a love machine. Is that alright? - Yes. - Yes, sir. - (laughs) Indeed. - James would take very simplistic approaches. He would take a lyric and give it rhythm, and then, he would wrap it with his soul and dip it in funk (laughs). That was preachin', you know, when they would preach, they would (grunts). It's called hoopin'. - It's all from the black church, his influence was more the preachers than the singers per se. His phrasing, and then, again (grunts), you know, at the end. - Yep. - And the preachers, they are performing in a style that generates responses from the congregation. James Brown does the very same thing on stage. He is catering to the needs of his audience, and they understood, they identified with his performance. And that's why he remains so popular. At the same time, it is also the reason why he did not top really the pop charts. He was too much, but it was just too black. (LA laughs) - Do you remember the song that I played for LA? The one that sounded like James Brown? (upbeat funk music) ♪ Hey ♪ Well, it's pretty close, it's actually Bobby Byrd, James Brown's songwriting partner, sidekick, and hype man. Listen to James Brown calling out for Byrd on his hit song, Sex Machine. ♪ Get on up, Bobby ♪ ♪ Should I take them to the bridge ♪ ♪ Go ahead, take 'em on to the bridge ♪ ♪ Take 'em to the bridge ♪ ♪ Can I take 'em to the bridge ♪ At the hook of the song, that's actually Bobby Byrd calling for us to get on up. ♪ Get up, get on up ♪ ♪ Get up, get on up ♪ ♪ Stay on the scene, get on up ♪ ♪ Like a sex machine, get on up ♪ The use of this gospel-inspired call and response and vocal punctuations have inspired generations of hip hop artists, you can even Brown's influence in today's adlibs. ♪ In the kitchen, wrist twistin' like a stir fry, whip it ♪ ♪ In the kitchen, wrist twistin' like a stir fry, whip it ♪ ♪ In the kitchen ♪ La and I are going to write a song influenced by James Brown, and given the fact that I'm not that well-versed in funk, I'm not sure what we'll come up with, but we'll give it a try. - Okay, so Nahre, I've had this beat in my head for a long time, and if James Brown was still here with us today, this is what I would give to 'em, you ready? - Yeah. - Okay, here we go. One, two, three-- (upbeat percussion music) - Nice! - Yo, cool, cool. Do you think you could add some James Brown flavor to it? - Something that has maybe with a blues scale. - Mhm. (bright piano music) Okay. Yeah. (bright piano music) - Okay, let's try this. - I like that, no. I like it going up, yeah, going up, climb down, that's tight. - How would I articulate this to make it sound funkier? - It could be like-- - 'Cause I'm listening to the notes. - (beat boxes) Even if you added more space, like a bar of rest, you know what I'm saying? So (scats). - Oh, did you just offset it? - Yeah, it's like one, two, three, four. (LA scats) (Nahre laughs) You know what I'm saying? (funky piano music) Yeah, one and two and three and-- (funky piano music) Yeah, yeah! (funky piano music) - Okay, okay. - Yeah, that kind of vibe. Okay, so Mr. Moore, Nahre and I, we created this song that's influenced by James Brown. - Alright. - And I'd love to play it for you, and tell me what you think. (upbeat funky music) - Yeah! - Yeah? - Yes, sir. - Do you hear any-- - The funk. - Any James Brown influence in there? - Yeah, that's definitely, I would say, add some horns to that, get up on. The horns would make it pop. - Yeah, that would be the extra seasoning on it. - Yes, sir! What it is, let's make it funky! - [LA] Okay! - Let us know in the comments below what you thought of our song and some of your favorite funky tunes. Also, please subscribe. (upbeat funky music) (bright music)