As in the full-length version of "Cold Sweat", Brown announces the upcoming drum break, which comes late in the recording, requesting to "give the drummer some."

Stubblefield's eight-bar unaccompanied "solo", a version of the riff he plays through most of the piece, is the result of Brown's directions; this break beat is one of the most sampled recordings in music.

More than one mix of "Funky Drummer" was made around the time it was recorded, including one with tambourine and another with vocal percussion by Brown and trombonist Fred Wesley.

This track, edited by Danny Krivit, consists of a 3-minute loop of the drum break, punctuated only by Brown's sampled vocal interjections and an occasional guitar chord and tambourine hit.

[4] The drum break was sampled by hip hop acts including Public Enemy, N.W.A, LL Cool J, Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys, and the theme music to The Powerpuff Girls on Cartoon Network, as well as later pop musicians such as Ed Sheeran and George Michael, notably done in Freedom!