The Yeah Woo Break
A crucial relic in the canon of shared holy sonic objects
In 1972, James Brown produced a single for one of his backup singers, Lyn Collins, called “Think (About It)”.
If you listen to this without any context, it sounds like a perfectly fine funk song with an unusual rubato introduction. But then, at 1:22, there’s suddenly that break, followed immediately by that hook. Sing it with me, 80s kids.
WhoSampled.com lists over four thousand samples of “Think (About It)”, though be advised that this list is full of inaccuracies. In addition to the Yeah Woo break and the iconic vocal hook, people also sample many other parts of the track, like the vocals on the intro and the tambourine break at 2:21. But it’s that main Yeah Woo break that is the real magic. It’s one of the most important shared holy sonic objects in the canon, right up there with the Amen break and the Funky Drummer.
Let’s enjoy the Yeah Woo break on a loop for half an hour.
Why is this so good? I don’t have a definitive answer, but I can point to specific features that contribute to the experience. Music notation isn’t really the right tool for the job, but it’s a starting point.
You can see the microtiming by looking at the audio waveform against the sixteenth note grid in Ableton.
