"Impeach the President"
Single by The Honey Drippers
B-side"Roy C's Theme Song"
ReleasedJune 1, 1973[1][2]
GenreFunk
Length3:17
LabelAlaga Records, Tuff City Records
Songwriter(s)Roy Charles Hammond
Producer(s)Roy C

"Impeach the President" is a song by funk band the Honey Drippers, written and produced by Roy Charles Hammond, known as Roy C. It was first released as a single on Alaga Records in 1973, and was re-released to iTunes by Tuff City Records in 2017, after being sampled hundreds of times since the mid-1980s.[3] It is a protest song advocating the impeachment of then-U.S. President Richard Nixon.[4] In the chorus, the band chants the song's title while Roy persuades them to stop. The B-side is "Roy C's Theme".[5]

Significance

The song is famous for having its drum pattern being one of the most adapted beats in hip hop, R&B, jazz and even pop music.[6][7][8] The hi-hat is opened on the sixth note of the drum pattern, similar to "Hihache" by the Lafayette Afro Rock Band which does so on the 8th (which is hidden in several R&B songs) and this means that some songs which sample "Impeach" also interpolate "Hihache", e.g. Ronny Jordan's "Come with Me". Below is a rough list of songs which sample or interpolate the song and its drum intro:

Samples by others

1980s

1990s

*Note that the studio version is an interpolation and the live version on 3 Nites in Miami directly samples "Impeach the President".

2000s

2010s

2020s

See also

References

  1. "Impeach the President - Single by the Honey Drippers". June 1973.
  2. "Impeach the President". Amazon.
  3. Metcalf, Josephine (2015). African American Culture and Society After Rodney King: Provocations and Protests, Progression and Post-racialism. Ashgate Publishing. p. 182. ISBN 9781472455390.
  4. Mlynar, Phillip. "Hive Five: Great Moments in Hip-Hop Inspired by Presidents". MTV. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  5. "Impeach the President / Roy C's Theme, by The Honey Drippers". Tuff City Records. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  6. Reiff, Corbin (26 August 2015). "These are the breaks: 10 of the most sampled drum beats in music history". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  7. Doran, John (28 October 2015). "James Brown – 10 of the best". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  8. Markman, Rob. "Nas In 'Rare Form' On New Album, Salaam Remi Says". MTV. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
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