Say So

Wild Cherry

Play That Funky Music1976

Wild Cherry's 1976 hit sits at the crossroads where funk, soul, and disco collided on the radio. Written and produced by lead singer Rob Parissi, the track became an anthem for that specific moment when white rock bands could credibly claim funk credibility. The song's appeal—its infectious groove, horn sections, and call to get on the dance floor—directly influenced the disco-funk fusion that Rick James would perfect on "Super Freak" just five years later. Though Wild Cherry disbanded by 1979, their one massive hit proved that funk's vocabulary had spread far beyond its Black roots, making it a universal language. This track shows how a single group's commercial breakthrough could reshape what radio considered acceptable in dance music.

Earth, Wind & Fire

Boogie Wonderland (with The Emotions)1979

Earth, Wind & Fire's "Boogie Wonderland" sits at the heart of disco's peak, two years before Rick James would bring funk's swagger into the 1980s with "Super Freak." Founded in Chicago in 1969, the band merged soul, funk, and jazz into a sound that earned them six Grammy wins and a dynamic horn section that defined the era. On this 1979 collaboration with The Emotions, they delivered pure dance-floor energy—a track that became one of their classic hits and remains a staple of the disco canon. The song's infectious groove and layered arrangement show how funk and soul could fuel the disco machine, setting the stage for the genre-blending moves James and later artists like Future would explore.

Rick James

Super Freak1981

"Super Freak" picks up where Wild Cherry's 1976 call to get funky left off, but Rick James strips away the bubblegum pop appeal and doubles down on pure funk swagger. Released in 1981 as part of his album *Street Songs*, the track sold over three million copies and became James's signature sound—a lean, synth-heavy groove built on his flexatone and Oscar Alston's bass line. Drummer Narada Michael Walten keeps the pocket tight while Daniel LeMelle's saxophone adds a knowing wink. The song's cultural reach extended decades forward: MC Hammer sampled "Super Freak" for "U Can't Touch This" in 1990, leading to a lawsuit James won. Between the disco experiments Earth, Wind & Fire would perfect on "Boogie Wonderland," James proved funk could thrive as pure, unapologetic attitude.

Michael Jackson

P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)1982

"P.Y.T." sits between Wild Cherry's 1976 funk anthem and Prince's 1986 minimalist funk-pop, showing how Jackson updated disco grooves for the '80s. As track 8 on *Thriller*—the best-selling album of all time with 65 million copies sold—this song proves Jackson's range beyond ballads. Quincy Jones and James Ingram wrote and produced the track with a sharp production team: drummer Leon 'Ndugu Chancler, bassist Louis Johnson, and guitarist Paul Jackson Jr. created the locked-in groove that made funk accessible to pop radio. Jackson's vocal delivery—playful but controlled—guided listeners through a song about attraction with the same precision he applied to every element. The track anchors Jackson's shift from soul singer to pop architect.

Prince

Kiss1986

Prince's "Kiss" bridges Mos Def's lyrical precision and Michael Jackson's pop-soul polish, but it does so on Prince's own minimalist terms. Released in 1986, the track strips away everything except a skeletal rhythm, Prince's vocals, and a single guitar line—a deliberate rejection of excess that became the song's signature move. Prince, the pioneer of the Minneapolis sound, combined funk, soul, rock, and R&B into something that felt both urgent and sparse. The song's restraint proved radical for its time; by selling over 100 million records worldwide and being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 on his first eligibility, Prince proved that less could be more. "Kiss" shows how funk doesn't need layers to hit hard—just confidence and groove.

A Tribe Called Quest

Verses from the Abstract (feat. Vinia Mojica & Ron Carter)1991

"Verses from the Abstract" bridges the gap between Doja Cat's pop-rap future and Digable Planets' jazz-hip-hop blueprint that would follow two years later. A Tribe Called Quest, formed in Queens in 1985, brought jazz instrumentals into hip-hop at a time when the genre wasn't doing it. This 1991 track features Ron Carter on double bass—a session musician who'd played with John Coltrane—and saxophonist Vinia Mojica, grounding Q-Tip's verses in live instrumentation. The Native Tongues collective members made conscious rap sound smooth and intelligent without sacrificing flow. By treating hip-hop as a canvas for real jazz players, they proved rap could be intellectually ambitious and musically sophisticated, directly paving the way for Digable Planets' Grammy-winning approach.

Digable Planets

Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat)1993

Building directly on A Tribe Called Quest's fusion of jazz instrumentation with thoughtful rap verses, Digable Planets took that blueprint further in 1993. The Brooklyn-based trio—Ishmael Butler, Mary Ann Vieira, and Craig Irving—released "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" as the lead single from *Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)*, sampling both The Honey Drippers' "Impeach the President" and 24 Carat Black's "Foodstamps" to create a laid-back, jazz-soaked sound. The track won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 36th Grammy Awards, proving that alternative hip-hop could compete at the highest level. This success set the stage for the Bay Area boom-bap explosion that followed with Souls of Mischief's "93 'Til Infinity" later that year.

Souls Of Mischief

93 'Til Infinity1993

Released the same year as Digable Planets' "Rebirth of Slick," Souls of Mischief's "93 'Til Infinity" took a different path through West Coast underground rap. Where Digable Planets chased a sleek jazz-hop sound, the Oakland group—members A-Plus, Tajai, Opio, and Phesto—built something looser and more sample-driven. A-Plus cranked up a Billy Cobham drum break on an SP-1200 sampler at extreme speeds, creating an elastic backbone that still sounds alive today. The track arrived in September 1993 from Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco, anchoring their Hieroglyphics crew's mission to keep Bay Area rap rooted in funk and soul. It pointed directly toward Mos Def's more lyrically dense "Mathematics" six years later, showing how West Coast producers could honor jazz's complexity without losing hip-hop's swagger.

Da Brat

Funkdafied1994

Released June 28, 1994, "Funkdafied" marked a massive leap forward from earlier rap records by grounding itself in soul grooves. Producer Jermaine Dupri sampled The Isley Brothers' 1983 hit "Between the Sheets," connecting Da Brat directly to funk-soul lineage while maintaining hip-hop's sharp edge. The track hit number one on Hot Rap Singles and number six on the Billboard Hot 100, earning platinum status within weeks. Da Brat became the first female solo rap artist with a platinum-selling album, proving that blending R&B warmth with rap confidence could dominate mainstream charts. This success paved the way for later artists like Rod Stewart to revisit soul's sensual appeal, showing how rap had permanently altered how pop and soul artists approached groove and rhythm.

Mos Def

Mathematics1999

"Mathematics" extends the Bay Area's conscious rap tradition from Souls of Mischief's dreamy 1993 landmark into the East Coast's sharper, more lyrically dense style. Produced by DJ Premier and released on Rawkus Records in 1999, the track showcases Mos Def (born Dante Terrell Smith in Brooklyn) applying mathematical precision to his wordplay—each bar builds logically on the last. Coming two years after he formed Black Star with Talib Kweli, Def had already proven himself a leading voice in conscious hip-hop. His 1999 ranking at No. 23 on The Source's Top 50 Lyricists reflected how tracks like "Mathematics" married socially aware content with technical skill, bridging the gap between the West Coast's soulful beats and East Coast boom-bap clarity.

Rod Stewart

Stay with Me2015

Rod Stewart's 1975 classic "Stay with Me" builds on the funk-driven energy Da Brat brought to hip-hop in 1994's "Funkdafied," but channels it through a blues-rock lens. Co-written by Stewart and Ron Wood of the Faces, the track features the band's raw, groove-oriented production style under producer Glyn Johns. Stewart's raspy vocals cut through a tight rhythm section that prioritizes feel over flash—similar to how Da Brat's production valued pocket and bounce. Where Da Brat sampled and recontextualized older sounds, Stewart and the Faces built their groove from live instrumentation, creating a bridge between 1970s rock confidence and the funk fundamentals that would later echo through 90s hip-hop. The song became a standard in Stewart's catalog, proving that soulful conviction works across genres.

★ Doja Cat

Say So2019

"Say So" is the starting point of this lineage, and its DNA points directly forward to A Tribe Called Quest's jazz-laced 1991 deep cut. Both tracks lean on a similar instinct: smooth, looping grooves that feel more like a late-night vibe than a radio calculation. Doja Cat co-wrote the track with Dr. Luke and Lydia Asrat, built around a disco-influenced production that helped push the song to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2020 after a TikTok-fueled remix featuring Nicki Minaj. Mixing engineer Clint Gibbs and mastering engineer Mike Bozzi at Bernie Grundman Mastering gave it that clean, warm finish that sits closer to vintage soul than modern pop crunch — which is exactly where this lineage is headed.

Clams Casino

I'm God2020

"I'm God" builds directly on Metro Boomin's atmospheric production style but strips away the vocals entirely, letting ambient textures breathe on their own. Released June 5, 2012, on Clams Casino's free mixtape *Instrumentals 2*, the track samples Imogen Heap and wraps her vocals in reverb-heavy clouds of sound—a technique that defined cloud rap's aesthetic. Where Metro paired his beats with Travis Scott and Young Thug's delivery, Clams Casino proved instrumental hip-hop could stand alone through pure sonic architecture. The four-minute piece demonstrates how producers could use post-2010 rap beats as vessels for experimental, ambient exploration rather than just backdrops for rhymes. This approach opened the door for artists like Liza to layer Japanese vocals and electronic elements into cloud rap's floating spaces, showing the genre's capacity to absorb different languages and melodic traditions.

Drake

Wants and Needs (feat. Lil Baby)2021

"Wants and Needs" bridges Future's trap foundation with the melodic aggression that Metro Boomin would amplify on "Trance" the following year. Drake, who signed with Young Money Entertainment in June 2009, had by 2021 become the artist with more number-one singles on Billboard's Rap Songs Chart than anyone else—a dominance built on exactly this kind of track. Pairing with Lil Baby, Drake trades verses over a stripped beat that lets both rappers' flows breathe. The song exemplifies trap rap's shift toward cleaner production and hook-driven songwriting, where the beat serves the vocal rather than overwhelming it. This approach directly influences Metro's later work with Travis Scott and Young Thug, where atmospheric production becomes as important as the rap itself.

Metro Boomin

Trance (with Travis Scott & Young Thug)2022

"Trance" builds on the melodic trap formula Drake and Lil Baby established in "Wants and Needs," where minimal production leaves space for vocal flow. Metro Boomin, the Atlanta-based producer best known for instrumentals with Future, Young Thug, and Travis Scott, crafts a hypnotic soundscape here that lets his roster of collaborators trade verses over atmospheric synths. The track strips trap down to its essentials—sparse drums, floating melodies, locked-in rhythm—making room for Scott and Young Thug's textured vocals to become instruments themselves. This approach directly influences the lo-fi, producer-focused sound that Clams Casino would take forward, where the beat becomes the main event and rappers serve the mood rather than overshadow it. "Trance" proves trap's staying power came from restraint, not excess.

Future

Like That2024

"Like That" connects Drake's 2021 trap blueprint on "Wants and Needs" to modern Atlanta sound, while tracing back to the funk grooves Earth, Wind & Fire perfected in 1979. Future, the Atlanta rapper born in 1983, teams with producer Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar on this track from *WE DON'T TRUST YOU*, layering trap drums over samples that echo those earlier disco-funk arrangements. The four-minute song strips trap to its essentials: locked-in rhythm and wordplay. Metro Boomin's production keeps the energy spare and lethal, letting Kendrick and Future trade bars without distraction. This lineage shows how trap evolved from funk's call-and-response structure—what made "Boogie Wonderland" infectious becomes the foundation for modern hip-hop's fastest-growing sound.

Liza

ゆびのうた2026

Liza's "ゆびのうた" builds on the atmospheric minimalism Clams Casino pioneered with "I'm God" in 2020, where sparse beats and vocal layering created intimacy in hip-hop production. Six years later, Liza takes that stripped-down approach and anchors it in Japanese pop-rap, using fingertip percussion and close-mic'd vocals to create texture. The track shares Clams Casino's preference for letting silence work as hard as sound, but channels it through a distinctly J-pop sensibility that bridges underground rap and mainstream accessibility. This sets up the genre-fluid exploration that Rin音 continues with "トトノウ" later that year, suggesting a mid-2020s moment where lo-fi production values and regional identity became more important than categorical purity in East Asian pop-rap.

Rin音

トトノウ2026

Following Liza's intimate vocal work on "ゆびのうた," Rin音 shifts the 2026 pop-rap landscape toward rhythmic precision with "トトノウ." The Munakata-born artist, who emerged as a solo voice in the mid-2020s, uses staccato delivery and tight beat alignment to create contrast within the same year's collaborative moment. "トトノウ" sets up Watson's feature-driven approach on "今日という日は," establishing a throughline where Japanese rap artists moved from introspection to social commentary. Rin音's track demonstrates how younger producers born in 1998 were reshaping domestic hip-hop conventions by treating lyrics as rhythmic texture rather than narrative anchor—a strategy that would define the branch's sound heading into 2027.

Watson

今日という日は (feat. T-Pablow)2026

Watson picks up the melodic momentum from Rin音's "トトノウ" with "今日という日は," a J-rap track that pairs Watson's Japanese flow with T-Pablow's bilingual delivery. The song's title—"This Day"—signals a thematic shift from the previous track's focus on balance toward celebrating the present moment. Composers Koshy crafted a production that bridges the introspective tone of "トトノウ" with the forward-looking energy that SKRYU will amplify in "イッツ・ア・ニューデイ." T-Pablow's featured role here connects the track to the broader hip-hop lineage, bringing cross-generational credibility to Watson's storytelling. The collaboration reinforces how 2026's J-rap scene values guest artists who expand rather than overshadow the lead voice.

SKRYU

イッツ・ア・ニューデイ (feat. MONKEY MAJIK)2026

SKRYU's "イッツ・ア・ニューデイ" picks up where Watson's introspective "今日という日は" left off, shifting from quiet reflection into energetic affirmation. Born in Shimane in 1996, SKRYU brings his jazz rap and battle rap skills to this collaboration with MONKEY MAJIK, creating a track that mirrors the Japanese hip-hop scene's growing confidence in the mid-2020s. The title—"It's a New Day"—signals a sonic reset, moving away from the melancholic production of the previous track into something brighter and more forward-looking. SKRYU's rapid-fire delivery and jazz-inflected production set up a sharp contrast with what follows: Da Brat's 1994 "Funkdafied," which rewinds the lineage to American hip-hop's early golden age, showing how Japanese rap's optimism traces back to funk's original rebellion.