Rufus Thomas was a Memphis soul institution — a Stax Records artist, a WDIA radio DJ, and one of the most entertaining performers in Southern music. "Do the Funky Chicken" was released in 1969 as part of Thomas's series of dance-craze novelty records, but beneath the playful concept was a serious rhythm section laying down a tight, greasy groove at Stax's legendary studio on McLemore Avenue.

The drum break from "Do the Funky Chicken" — courtesy of the Stax house rhythm section — found its way into hip-hop through the crates of producers who recognized that Memphis soul had a rhythmic character all its own: looser and greasier than Motown, rawer than Philadelphia International, and perfectly suited to sampling.