Woo! Yeah!


Woo! Yeah! is a drum break that includes Bobby Byrd's and James Brown's voices which has been repeatedly used in popular music, often in the form of a loop. The drum break was performed by John "Jabo" Starks. It originates from the 1972 Lyn Collins recording "Think ", a song written and produced by Brown, and is just one of a few other frequently used breaks contained in the recording, often collectively known as the Think Break.

Background and impact

In 1987, "Think " 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, a UK hip hop production trio, sampled the break for Cookie Crew's song "Females ". While "Females" was a minor hit in the UK, the break didn't receive major airplay and attention until the following year, when it was used as the backing loop for the track "It Takes Two" by MC Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock. The song, which is almost entirely composed of sampled parts from "Think ", became a platinum-selling hit.
Today, the number of songs that have sampled "Woo! Yeah!" numbers in the thousands. It became almost ubiquitous in dance and hip hop records during the late 1980s and early 1990s and continues to see use today.

Songs that use either all or part of the song

Below is a list of songs which sample from any section of "Think ".

1980s