Greatly influenced by electronica, DJ James Haidak is particularly interested in breakbeat. This groundbreaking music started in the early seventies, when DJ Kool Herc, a Jamaican immigrant in New York City, began innovating on soul and funk records in his block parties to dispel the negativity of the prevailing gang violence at the Bronx. Two other trends were borne out of this movement: hip-hop and sampling.
In this blog, James Haidak will try to explore some of the basics of breakbeat. But, before anything else, what is this so-called break? The break is generally defined in music as the instrumental portion that usually bridges or anticipates a newer song section. In breakbeat, that instrumental break (usually a percussion) is manipulated on the turntable to create an entirely new sound. This technique is called sampling.
Two 1969 recordings of the soul-funk era used in such experiments were James Brown’s “Funky Drummer” and The Winstons’ “Amen Brother.” Both have influenced not only hip-hop but also modern music by having two of the most iconic drum solos that clearly defined breakbeat. The “Funky Drummer” sample has been used by Public Enemy, N.W.A., LL Cool J, Run-DMC, and the Beastie Boys. Meanwhile, the “Amen, Brother” sample, popularly known as the “Amen break,” was first utilized in “King of the Beats” by Mantronix. The sample also became the driving rhythm behind N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton.
Aside from its inventor, DJ Kool Herc, breakbeat has other pioneers, such as Grandmaster Flash, whose “quick-mix theory” is a perfection of Herc’s technique that prolong the break by sampling two copies of the same record on two turntables, DJs Afrika Bambaataa, and Grand Wizard Theodore – the latter two both developing the style of Grandmaster Flash. Breakbeat became an essential feature in many genres of breaks music in the late 1980s. Among breakbeat categories popular in dance music at the time were: big beat, electro-funk, acid breaks, nu skool breaks, and Miami bass. A sub-genre called Florida breaks came out in the early-to-mid ’90s.
James Haidak is an up-and-coming DJ and music producer born in Washington DC. He is greatly influenced by late ’90s techno, house, and electronica. For more on James and his music, click here.
James Haidak 