The Payback (song)
Encyclopedia
"The Payback" is a funk
song
by James Brown
, the title track from his 1973
album of the same name
. The song's lyrics
, originally written by trombonist and bandleader
Fred Wesley
but heavily revised by Brown himself soon before it was recorded, concern the revenge
he plans to take against the man who betrayed him and stole his money and his woman. The song is notable for its spare, open instrumental arrangement
and its use of wah-wah
guitar
- a relative rarity in Brown's previous funk recordings. Released as a two-part single
(featuring a radio announcer at the beginning of part one) in February 1974, it was the first in an unbroken succession of three singles by Brown to reach #1 on the R&B
charts that year - the last chart-toppers of his career. The single was number one on the soul charts and peaked at number 26 on the Hot 100.
The song and the album of the same name were originally recorded by Brown as the accompanying soundtrack to the Soul Cinema Classic
Hell Up in Harlem
, but was rejected by the movie's producers as "not funky enough." An incensed Brown decided to release the album and let it stand on its' own merits. The subsequent soundtrack was then recorded by Motown Records
artist Edwin Starr
.
"The Payback" has been sampled
by numerous hip hop
and R&B producers
. The group En Vogue
recorded two different R&B hits, "Hold On
" and "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)
", that were both based on loop
s from the song's rhythm track. LL Cool J
sampled "The Payback" in his 1990 song The Booming System
. Total
sampled "The Payback" in their 1995 hit "Can't You See" with the Notorious BIG. R&B Group Silk
, in the song "Happy Days" (featuring Keith Sweat
), sampled "The Payback" on their 1992 debut album, Lose Control
(which was produced by Sweat himself). Big Black
released a loose cover of the song on their 1984 Racer-X
EP. Massive Attack
also sample the song on their track "Protection" from the 1995 album of the same name
.
Brown released "Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses)", a reworking of "The Payback", in 1980
.
It was also remade in 1988, remix
ed and released as "The Payback Mix (Part One)" for the United Kingdom
. This version was one of Brown's biggest hits in the UK, reaching #12 on the UK singles chart
.
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
by James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
, the title track from his 1973
1973 in music
-January–April:*January 9 – Mick Jagger's request for a Japanese visa is rejected on account of a 1969 drug conviction, putting an abrupt end to The Rolling Stones' plans to perform in Japan during their forthcoming tour.*January 14...
album of the same name
The Payback
The Payback is a 1973 double album by James Brown. It was originally scheduled to become the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Hell Up in Harlem, but was rejected by director Larry Cohen for "not being funky enough." It went to #1 on the Soul Albums chart for two weeks and cracked the Pop...
. The song's lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
, originally written by trombonist and bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
Fred Wesley
Fred Wesley
Fred Wesley is an American jazz and funk trombonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:...
but heavily revised by Brown himself soon before it was recorded, concern the revenge
Revenge
Revenge is a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. It is also called payback, retribution, retaliation or vengeance; it may be characterized, justly or unjustly, as a form of justice.-Function in society:Some societies believe that the...
he plans to take against the man who betrayed him and stole his money and his woman. The song is notable for its spare, open instrumental arrangement
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
and its use of wah-wah
Wah-wah pedal
A wah-wah pedal is a type of guitar effects pedal that alters the tone of the signal to create a distinctive effect, mimicking the human voice...
guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
- a relative rarity in Brown's previous funk recordings. Released as a two-part single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
(featuring a radio announcer at the beginning of part one) in February 1974, it was the first in an unbroken succession of three singles by Brown to reach #1 on the R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
charts that year - the last chart-toppers of his career. The single was number one on the soul charts and peaked at number 26 on the Hot 100.
The song and the album of the same name were originally recorded by Brown as the accompanying soundtrack to the Soul Cinema Classic
Blaxploitation
Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is a film genre which emerged in the United States circa 1970. It is considered an ethnic sub-genre of the general category of exploitation films. Blaxploitation films were originally made specifically for an urban black audience, although the genre's audience...
Hell Up in Harlem
Hell Up in Harlem
Hell Up in Harlem is a 1973 blaxploitation film, starring Fred Williamson and Gloria Hendry. The film was written and directed by Larry Cohen...
, but was rejected by the movie's producers as "not funky enough." An incensed Brown decided to release the album and let it stand on its' own merits. The subsequent soundtrack was then recorded by Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
artist Edwin Starr
Edwin Starr
Edwin Starr was an American soul music singer. Starr is most famous for his Norman Whitfield produced singles of the 1970s, most notably the number one hit "War".-Biography:...
.
"The Payback" has been sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
by numerous hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and R&B producers
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. The group En Vogue
En Vogue
En Vogue is an American female R&B vocal group from Oakland, California assembled by music producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy.The group has won more MTV Video Music Awards than any other female group in MTV history, a total of seven, along with four Soul Train Awards, six American Music...
recorded two different R&B hits, "Hold On
Hold On (En Vogue song)
"Hold On" was the debut single from En Vogue's debut album, Born to Sing. It reached number one on the Hot Black Singles chart. The single became one of 1990s' biggest hits in the US and also a major hit in the UK . It also reached #1 on the U.S. Dance chart...
" and "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)
My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)
"My Lovin' " is the first single from musical group En Vogue's second album, Funky Divas. It has been certified gold by the RIAA for shipments of over 500,000 units. The song features Maxine Jones and Dawn Robinson on lead vocals...
", that were both based on loop
Music loop
In electroacoustic music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections of material can be repeated to create ostinato patterns...
s from the song's rhythm track. LL Cool J
LL Cool J
James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...
sampled "The Payback" in his 1990 song The Booming System
The Boomin' System
"The Boomin' System" was the first single released from LL Cool J's fourth album, Mama Said Knock You Out. It was released on August 2, 1990, for Def Jam Recordings, produced by Marley Marl and co-produced by LL Cool J. "The Boomin' System" was the first of the six singles released from the album...
. Total
Total (band)
Total was an American R&B girl group and one of the signature acts of Sean Combs' Bad Boy Records imprint during the 1990s.-Emergence & Total:...
sampled "The Payback" in their 1995 hit "Can't You See" with the Notorious BIG. R&B Group Silk
Silk (group)
Silk is an American R&B group, formed in 1989 in Atlanta, Georgia.-Career:Silk are best known for their hit singles, "Happy Days", "Freak Me" from their debut album, Lose Control. Another hit from Lose Control, "Girl U For Me", helped the album reach double platinum status...
, in the song "Happy Days" (featuring Keith Sweat
Keith Sweat
Keith Sweat is an American R&B/soul, singer-songwriter, record producer, radio personality and a major contributor to the new jack swing era.-Music career:...
), sampled "The Payback" on their 1992 debut album, Lose Control
Lose Control (album)
Lose Control is the debut album by Silk. Primarily produced by Keith Sweat, the album went to number-one on the R&B Albums chart. Included the hit single "Freak Me" which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was later covered in 1998 by British band Another Level. Lose Control...
(which was produced by Sweat himself). Big Black
Big Black
Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band's initial lineup also included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati, both of Naked Raygun...
released a loose cover of the song on their 1984 Racer-X
Racer-X
Racer-X is the third EP by American Post-Hardcore band Big Black. It was released by Homestead Records in 1984 and reissued by Touch & Go Records in 1992.-Track listing:#"Racer-X"#"Shotgun"#"The Ugly American"#"Deep Six"#"Sleep!"...
EP. Massive Attack
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...
also sample the song on their track "Protection" from the 1995 album of the same name
Protection (album)
-Sound:Protection was featured in the top ten of Rolling Stone magazine's 'Coolest Albums of All Time List,' calling it "great music for when you're driving around a city at 4 am," due to the 'chill out' nature of the album...
.
Brown released "Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses)", a reworking of "The Payback", in 1980
1980 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1980.-January–March:*January 1**Cliff Richard is appointed an MBE by Elizabeth II.**The Zorros audition drummer Greg Pedley....
.
It was also remade in 1988, remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
ed and released as "The Payback Mix (Part One)" for the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. This version was one of Brown's biggest hits in the UK, reaching #12 on the UK singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
.
Appearances in other media
- In the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrackGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrackThe soundtrack of the computer and video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which is set in 1992 in the fictional U.S. West Coast state of San Andreas, required that the game's radio stations reflect the music tastes of the time and area, in addition to covering current events in the state of San...
on the Master Sounds 98.3 station. - In the Guy RitchieGuy RitchieGuy Stuart Ritchie is an English screenwriter and film maker who directed Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Revolver, RocknRolla and Sherlock Holmes.-Early life:...
film Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels - In the 2001 Jesse DylanJesse DylanJesse Dylan is an American film director, and the founder, CEO and creative director of the media production company Wondros.-Personal Life:...
movie How HighHow HighHow High is a 2001 stoner comedy starring Method Man and Redman, written by Dustin Lee Abraham, and director Jesse Dylan's debut feature film. Entertainment Weekly rated it third in their "Best Stoner Movie" top ten list... - In the 2002 Mars CallahanMars CallahanMars Callahan is an American actor, director, producer and writer.He is known, among other things, for the movie Poolhall Junkies where he served as director, actor and screenwriter....
film Poolhall JunkiesPoolhall JunkiesPoolhall Junkies is a 2002 drama/thriller film written, starring and directed by Mars Callahan. The film also stars Alison Eastwood, Michael Rosenbaum, Rick Schroder with Chazz Palminteri and Christopher Walken... - It was featured in season two of Everybody Hates ChrisEverybody Hates ChrisEverybody Hates Chris is an African American television period sitcom inspired by the teenage experiences of comedian Chris Rock , while growing up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York . The show is set from 1982 to 1987; however, Rock himself was a teenager during years...
in the episode Everybody Hates DJs. However, Chris scratches the record and then he and his mom Rochelle are listening to it while it is skipping. It repeats the word "payback" in loops. At the end of the episode, the singing goes "Everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody hates Chris" as if it's skipping like the record. Also during the course of the episode, Chris imagines himself actually performing the song, complete with a band and in full James Brown attire. - In the Hughes BrothersHughes BrothersAlbert Hughes and Allen Hughes , known together professionally as the Hughes brothers, are American film directors, producers and screenwriters...
movie Dead PresidentsDead PresidentsDead Presidents is a 1995 American crime film written by Michael Henry Brown and also written, produced and directed by the Hughes brothers , starring Larenz Tate, Keith David, Chris Tucker, Freddy Rodriguez, N'Bushe Wright and Bokeem Woodbine... - In the first season finale of the FX television show DamagesDamages (TV series)Damages is an American television drama series created by the writing and production trio of Daniel Zelman and brothers Glenn and Todd A. Kessler . It is broadcast in the United States on the DirecTV channel Audience Network after originally airing on FX and is produced by the creators' own...
. - In an episode of ScrubsScrubs (TV series)Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes...
, during one of J.D.'s fantasies about how cool it is to enter the hospital as a surgeon. - In many professional boxingProfessional BoxingProfessional boxing, or prizefighting, emerged in the early twentieth century as boxing gradually attained legitimacy and became a regulated, sanctioned sport. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse which is divided among the fighters and promoters as determined by contract...
ring entrances. Most notably used by Lennox LewisLennox LewisLennox Claudius Lewis, CM, CBE is a retired boxer and the most recent British undisputed world heavyweight champion. He holds dual British and Canadian citizenship...
during the ringwalk prior to his heavyweight championship rematch with Hasim RahmanHasim RahmanHasim Sharif Rahman is an American professional boxer. Rahman is the former Lineal, WBC, IBO, & IBF heavyweight champion...
in 2001, which Lewis won by knockout. - In a Bernie Mac Show episode.
- In the television show The Cleveland ShowThe Cleveland ShowThe Cleveland Show is an American animated television series that premiered on September 27, 2009, as a part of the "Animation Domination" lineup on Fox in the United States...
in the episode entitled The Curious Case of Jr. Working at The Stool. - In May 1995, the song was featured prominently in the opening scene of "Catman Comes Back", the first season finale of the FOXFox Broadcasting CompanyFox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
police drama television series New York UndercoverNew York UndercoverNew York Undercover is an American police drama that aired on the FOX television network from 1994 to 1998. The series starred Malik Yoba as Detective J.C. Williams and Michael DeLorenzo as Detective Eddie Torres, two undercover detectives in New York City's 4th Precinct who were assigned to...
.
External links
- [ Song review] at Allmusic
- List of hip hop songs that sample "The Payback"