Clyde Austin Stubblefield (April 18, 1943 – February 18, 2017) was an American drummer best known for his work with James Brown, with whom he recorded and toured for six years (1965-70).

Samples of his drum performances (particularly his break in the 1970 track "Funky Drummer") were heavily used in hip hop music beginning in the 1980s, although Stubblefield frequently received no credit.

[8][9] In the early 1960s he moved to Macon, Georgia, and worked with guitarist Eddie Kirkland and toured with Otis Redding.

"[5] Stubblefield's recordings with James Brown are considered to be some of the standard-bearers for funk drumming, including the singles "Cold Sweat", "I Got the Feelin'", "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose", "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud", "Mother Popcorn", "Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved", "There Was a Time", "Ain't It Funky Now", and the album Sex Machine.

It has been used for decades by hip-hop groups and rappers such as Public Enemy, Run-DMC, N.W.A, Raekwon, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys and Prince, and has also been used in other genres.

[14][13] He was featured in the 2009 PBS documentary, Copyright Criminals, which addressed the creative and legal aspects of sampling in the music industry.

[17][18] Stubblefield worked with a variety of musicians in the Madison area such as keyboardist Steve Skaggs, guitarists Luther Allison and Cris Plata, jazz violinist Randy Sabien, rock band Garbage, country trio Common Faces and jazz group NEO.

[1][29] In December 2007, the duo joined Bootsy Collins in Covington, Kentucky, for the first tribute concert in memory of James Brown.

[30] Stubblefield and Starks played on Funk for Your Ass, a tribute album by fellow James Brown orchestra alum Fred Wesley.

[19] Musicians in the Madison area organized fundraiser events, donating the proceeds to supplement his dialysis treatment and subsequent medical bills.

[4][19][34] In 2011, Stubblefield performed "Fight the Power" on the Jimmy Fallon show along with Chuck D and members of The Roots and Eclectic Method.

According to the LA Weekly, "Stubblefield is one of the most sampled drummers in history, the man whose uncanny ability to deconstruct pop music's simple 4/4 rhythms into a thousand different sly syncopations laid the foundation not only for funk, but for most of hip-hop, as well.

[48] Hip hop artist Black Thought of The Roots rhymes "I'm cooler than Clyde Stubblefield, drummer for James" in the song "Stay Cool".

[49] Ben Sisario of The New York Times writes: "On songs like 'Cold Sweat' and 'Mother Popcorn' [Stubblefield] perfected a light-touch style filled with the off-kilter syncopations sometimes called ghost notes.

"[4] According to National Public Radio, "the grooves [Stubblefield and Starks] created have inspired generations of artists — not just in funk, but in hip-hop, where their steady but intricate patterns make natural material for sampling.

[16][4] In 2016, it was reported pop icon Prince, who deeply admired Stubblefield, paid about $80,000 of the drummer's medical costs.