{
  "slug": "james-brown",
  "name": "James Brown",
  "description": "James Brown appears 8 times in our Funk, Soul, Roots, The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred, The Waxonia Desk — The Soulquarians Room, and The Waxonia Desk — Where the Accent Moved lists, placing as high as No. 1. Hand-curated, with a reason for every pick.",
  "updated": "2026-08-29",
  "url": "https://waxonia.com/artist/james-brown/",
  "appearanceCount": 8,
  "distinctRecordings": 3,
  "years": {
    "first": 1965,
    "last": 1970
  },
  "highestPlacing": {
    "rank": 1,
    "list": "Funk"
  },
  "appearsOn": [
    {
      "kind": "genre",
      "slug": "funk",
      "name": "Funk",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/funk/",
      "entries": 2
    },
    {
      "kind": "genre",
      "slug": "soul",
      "name": "Soul",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/soul/",
      "entries": 1
    },
    {
      "kind": "curator",
      "slug": "the-desk-roots",
      "name": "Roots",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-roots/",
      "entries": 1
    },
    {
      "kind": "curator",
      "slug": "the-desk-the-hundred",
      "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/",
      "entries": 2
    },
    {
      "kind": "curator",
      "slug": "the-desk-the-soulquarians-room",
      "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Soulquarians Room",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-soulquarians-room/",
      "entries": 1
    },
    {
      "kind": "curator",
      "slug": "the-desk-the-accent-moved",
      "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Where the Accent Moved",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-accent-moved/",
      "entries": 1
    }
  ],
  "tracks": [
    {
      "trackKey": "james-brown--cold-sweat",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/james-brown--cold-sweat/",
      "title": "Cold Sweat",
      "year": 1967,
      "label": "King",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The year zero record. Brown moves the accent to the first beat and stops changing chord, and everything in this list plus most of what follows it on this site is downstream of that one instruction to the band.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-roots",
          "name": "Roots",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-roots/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-the-hundred",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-the-accent-moved",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Where the Accent Moved",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-accent-moved/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/James%20Brown%20Cold%20Sweat",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=qkgIoMuaoQ0",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": 1,
      "on": {
        "kind": "genre",
        "slug": "funk",
        "name": "Funk",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/funk/"
      },
      "artist": "James Brown"
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "james-brown--funky-drummer",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/james-brown--funky-drummer/",
      "title": "Funky Drummer",
      "year": 1970,
      "label": "King",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Twenty seconds of Clyde Stubblefield alone became the most sampled bar of music in existence. Hip-hop, jungle and big beat are all, at some level, arguments about what to do with this loop.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-the-hundred",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-the-soulquarians-room",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Soulquarians Room",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-soulquarians-room/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/James%20Brown%20Funky%20Drummer",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=7dtpj8qa1hQ",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": 3,
      "on": {
        "kind": "genre",
        "slug": "funk",
        "name": "Funk",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/funk/"
      },
      "artist": "James Brown"
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "james-brown--papas-got-a-brand-new-bag",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/james-brown--papas-got-a-brand-new-bag/",
      "title": "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag",
      "year": 1965,
      "label": "King",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The hinge. Still recognisably a soul record, already audibly something else — two years from here the horn stabs stop serving the chords and start serving the drummer.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/James%20Brown%20Papa's%20Got%20a%20Brand%20New%20Bag",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=rnDEr9R0snU",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": 5,
      "on": {
        "kind": "genre",
        "slug": "soul",
        "name": "Soul",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/soul/"
      },
      "artist": "James Brown"
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "james-brown--cold-sweat",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/james-brown--cold-sweat/",
      "title": "Cold Sweat",
      "year": 1967,
      "label": "King",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Start here. Brown tells the band to put the accent on the first beat and stop changing chord, and the next sixty years of dance music become possible in about eight bars.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "funk",
          "name": "Funk",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/funk/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-the-hundred",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-the-accent-moved",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Where the Accent Moved",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-accent-moved/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/James%20Brown%20Cold%20Sweat",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=qkgIoMuaoQ0",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": null,
      "on": {
        "kind": "curator",
        "slug": "the-desk-roots",
        "name": "Roots",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-roots/"
      },
      "artist": "James Brown"
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "james-brown--cold-sweat",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/james-brown--cold-sweat/",
      "title": "Cold Sweat",
      "year": 1967,
      "label": "King",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The accent moves to the first beat and the chord stops changing. Eight bars that reorganise the next sixty years.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "funk",
          "name": "Funk",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/funk/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-roots",
          "name": "Roots",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-roots/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-the-accent-moved",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Where the Accent Moved",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-accent-moved/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/James%20Brown%20Cold%20Sweat",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=qkgIoMuaoQ0",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": null,
      "on": {
        "kind": "curator",
        "slug": "the-desk-the-hundred",
        "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/"
      },
      "artist": "James Brown"
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "james-brown--funky-drummer",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/james-brown--funky-drummer/",
      "title": "Funky Drummer",
      "year": 1970,
      "label": "King",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Twenty seconds of Clyde Stubblefield alone, and then thirty years of other people's records. The most consequential drum break in existence.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "funk",
          "name": "Funk",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/funk/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-the-soulquarians-room",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Soulquarians Room",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-soulquarians-room/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/James%20Brown%20Funky%20Drummer",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=7dtpj8qa1hQ",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": null,
      "on": {
        "kind": "curator",
        "slug": "the-desk-the-hundred",
        "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/"
      },
      "artist": "James Brown"
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "james-brown--funky-drummer",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/james-brown--funky-drummer/",
      "title": "Funky Drummer",
      "year": 1970,
      "label": "King",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The bar underneath everything above it. A generation of drummers learned Clyde Stubblefield from a sampler rather than from the record, and played him differently as a result.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "funk",
          "name": "Funk",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/funk/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-the-hundred",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/James%20Brown%20Funky%20Drummer",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=7dtpj8qa1hQ",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": null,
      "on": {
        "kind": "curator",
        "slug": "the-desk-the-soulquarians-room",
        "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Soulquarians Room",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-soulquarians-room/"
      },
      "artist": "James Brown"
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "james-brown--cold-sweat",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/james-brown--cold-sweat/",
      "title": "Cold Sweat",
      "year": 1967,
      "label": "King",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The moment the accent moved and harmony stopped being the point. Everything filed under funk since is an argument with the arrangement on this one record.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "funk",
          "name": "Funk",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/funk/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-roots",
          "name": "Roots",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-roots/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-the-hundred",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/James%20Brown%20Cold%20Sweat",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=qkgIoMuaoQ0",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": null,
      "on": {
        "kind": "curator",
        "slug": "the-desk-the-accent-moved",
        "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Where the Accent Moved",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-accent-moved/"
      },
      "artist": "James Brown"
    }
  ],
  "curates": null
}