In the world of classic drum breaks…there’s Brown’s/Stubblefield’s “Funky Drummer”, Bliss’ “Synthetic Substitution”, Skull Snaps’ “It’s A New Day”, and the one I’ve probably used the most over the last few years, Mountain’s “Long Red” (I’ll namecheck “Impeach The President” as well). Not only does it sound fucking dope in a simple loop operation, thanks to the swing’y style drum pattern, but the combo of the crowd noise, room acoustics, and overall crunchiness of the recording added to the key components of the break makes for nothing less than a large attack.

Pete Rock breaks down his remix to PE’s “Shut ‘Em Down”, where he layered two of the four (well…five) aforementioned gems, and furthermore, gives his take on “Long Red” as a perfect break of the era (timeless, really).