Survival of the Fittest (The Headhunters album)

Survival of the Fittest is the debut album by jazz/funk quintet the Headhunters, released in 1975 on Arista Records. It features the stand out track "God Make Me Funky", in which its drum break has been sampled numerous times by prominent rappers.^[1] The album was re-issued on compact disc by BMG France in 2001, which was digitally remastered from the original master tapes in 24-bit by Jean-Pierre Chalbos.

Survival of the Fittest
Studio album by The Headhunters
Released	1975
Recorded	1975
Studio	Wally Heider Studios (San Francisco, California)
Genre	Jazz-funk jazz fusion
Label	Arista
Producer	David Rubinson Herbie Hancock
The Headhunters chronology
Survival of the Fittest (1975) Straight from the Gate (1977)

Track listing

All songs by Bennie Maupin, Bill Summers, Paul Jackson, Mike Clark and Blackbird McKnight.

Side One

No.	Title	Length
1.	"God Make Me Funky" (featuring the Pointer Sisters)	9:35
2.	"Mugic"	3:31
3.	"Here and Now"	7:07

Side Two

No.	Title	Length
4.	"Daffy's Dance"	6:05
5.	"Rima"	8:14
6.	"If You've Got It, You'll Get It"	6:26

Personnel

• Blackbyrd McKnight - electric guitar, vocals
• Bennie Maupin - saxophones, vocals, saxello, clarinets, flutes, lyricon, piano
• Paul Jackson - bass guitar, vocals
• Mike Clark - drums, vocals
• Bill Summers - percussion, vocals
• Joyce Jackson - alto flute
• Zak Diouf, Baba Duru Oshun and Harvey Mason, Sr. - percussion

Sampling

Recordings which have sampled "God Make Me Funky" and other tracks off the album include:^[2][3]

"God Make Me Funky"

• Biz Markie on "Albee Square Mall" (Goin' Off, 1988)
• N.W.A on "Gangsta Gangsta" (Straight Outta Compton, 1988)
• DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince on "As We Go" (He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper, 1988)
• Eric B. & Rakim on "To the Listeners" and "Beats for the Listeners" (Follow The Leader, 1988)
• J. J. Fad on "Let's Get Hyped" (Supersonic, 1988)
• De La Soul on "Take It Off" (3 Feet High and Rising, 1989) and "Pease Porridge" ("De La Soul is Dead", 1991)
• N.W.A on "Sa Prize, Pt. 2" (100 Miles and Runnin' EP, 1990)
• N.W.A on "Approach to Danger" (Niggaz4Life, 1991)
• Prince and the New Power Generation on "To Whom It May Concern" (My Name Is Prince, 1992)
• Digable Planets on "Pacifics" (Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space), 1993) and "Dog It" (Blowout Comb, 1994)
• Usher on "U-Turn" (8701, 2001)
• Nas on "Hip Hop Is Dead feat. will.i.am" (Hip Hop Is Dead, 2006)
• DMX on "How's It Goin' Down" feat. Faith Evans (It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, 1998)

"If You've Got It, You'll Get It"

• Mellow Man Ace on "Talkapella" (Escape from Havana, 1989)
• Boogie Down Productions on "Ruff Ruff" (Sex and Violence, 1992)

"Mugic"

• O.S.T.R. on "Outrostan" (Outro)" (Jazz, dwa, trzy, 2011)

References

1. "25 Influential Hip Hop Samples". BET.
2. "Survival of the Fittest by The Headhunters: Album Samples, Covers and Remixes". WhoSampled.
3. "God Make Me Funky by The Headhunters feat. Pointer Sisters on WhoSampled". WhoSampled.

External links

• The Headhunters - Survival-Of-The-Fittest at Discogs