Breakbeats

More than just simple drum loops, breakbeats are the hook-seeking heart of everything from heady hip-hop to moody electronic music. And what better place to start learning the art of restless rhythms than James Brown’s stone-cold classic “Funky Drummer”? Driven by the blood-pumpin’ bars of Clyde Stubblefield, it might as well be the unofficial fifth element of hip-hop, right alongside such sample-bank standards as “Sing a Simple Song” and “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little More, Baby” — tracks that have transcended generations, from Digital Underground and De La Soul to 2Pac and Gorillaz.

Our Next Steps are just as durable, revealing the roots of some serious hit singles.

While Dr. Dre’s P-Funk knowledge can’t be denied, he also has a massive stash of surefire breaks from other artists — crate-digger classics like Leon Haywood’s “I Want’a Do Something Freaky to You,” the cruise-control soundtrack of “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang.” Speaking of singles that make us want to speed and/or stroll off into the sunset, Al Green’s “I’m Glad You’re Mine” gets downright creepy in the Hitchcock-like score of the Notorious B.I.G.’s “What’s Beef,” and the steely Autobahn chords of “Numbers” pop up between the lines of Afrika Bambaataa and Meat Beat Manifesto.

As for our Deep Cuts, it doesn’t get much funkier than three thick slabs of Kool & The Gang, now does it?

As heard in everything from a couple of N.W.A. classics (“Gangsta Gangsta,” “Dopeman”) to the Bounce FM station in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the “Funky Worm” features one of the greatest synth solos of all time. Period. It’s also a fitting start to the rest of our Breakbeats set, which hones in on the hooks of such beat conductors as the Roots (Sly & The Family Stone’s “Everybody Is a Star,” as heard in the soul-singer chorus of “Star”) and a growing number of rap and R&B artists who can’t help but lift the slow-burning backdrop of “Summer Madness” (Gang Starr, Aaliyah, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince).

Talk about giving the drummer some. As first heard in the floor-filling, beat-juggling sets of such hip-hop pioneers as Afrika Bambaataa and DJ Kool Herc, the following carefully curated playlist taps into the groove-locked arteries of the club-bound, street-seasoned music that’s made us move and lose our minds for decades. And we’re not just talking about such usual suspects as James Brown, Sly & The Family Stone, Kool & The Gang, and Curtis Mayfield. We also dip into the lovingly recycled licks of Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck, the joyous soul jazz and funk-infused disco of Roy Ayers, and the truth-in-advertising tracks of the Incredible Bongo Band — a dizzying record-bag staple that’s still dropped at raves and parties that pride themselves on knowing the roots of old-school rap.