Average White Band were a Scottish funk group — and yes, the name was intentional — who proved that funk wasn't defined by geography or ethnicity but by feel. "Pick Up the Pieces" (1974) was their biggest hit, an instrumental driven by a tight horn riff and one of the cleanest, tightest drum grooves of the decade. The track topped the pop chart, making AWB one of the few funk acts to cross over to mainstream pop success.

The break's immaculate production quality and driving groove made it a sampling favorite. Its cleanliness was an asset: the drums were recorded with a clarity that made them easy to loop and layer, and the groove's straightforward pocket sat well under vocals and additional instrumentation. Hip-hop producers valued AWB's recordings for the same reason they valued their live performances — the band played with precision and feel in equal measure.