James Brown's 'Funky Drummer' beat was sampled over 1,700 times, yet its originator, drummer Clyde Stubblefield never got a penny for it. He didn't really like his beat either, unlike Brown who heard "a mother" in it. Arthur "LA" Buckner and Linda Diaz delve into the history of it, tracing its impact on Hip Hop music and the cultural significance of this iconic rhythm.

Mick Jagger and the Roots’ Questlove and Black Thought are to executively produce an upcoming four-part documentary about James Brown’s life and career, the Root reports. 'James Brown: Say It Loud' is a massive four-hour docuseries that celebrates the Godfather of Funk’s legacy. The series will feature both never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with friends, family, collaborators and more.

Qwest is "an extraordinary new trove of sixty-six concert films", with performances ranging from the nineteen-fifties through the nineteen-eighties, New Yorker reports. It is a streaming site and TV channel, founded in 2017 by Quincy Jones, featuring many of the twentieth-century heroes of Black music like Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin and James Brown, as well as some rarely seen jazz artists like Thelonious Monk, Nina Simone, Miles Davis, Ahmad Jamal...

Toy and figure makers Funko are presenting a slew of new collectible vinyl Pop! figures at the annual London Toy Fair. They’ve unveiled a bunch of new additions to their “Pop Rocks” music collection, including Slayer, Motörhead, Willie Nelson, ZZ Top, James Brown, Salt N Peppa, Lil Wayne, Slipknot, Eazy-E, Papa Nihil of Ghost, and Rivers Cuomo of Weezer.