[6][7] The first beat was created in 1986 by Orville 'Buggs Can Can' Hall[2] and Phillip 'Triggerman' Price,[8] the duo went by the stage name the Showboys, for the song "Drag Rap" on Priority Records.
In a studio in Hollis, Queens New York named Power Perk where owner and engineer Brian Perkins acted as the in-house keyboard session player.
[8][2] The record had buzz for its first month of being released in New York City but was largely a flop [2] until it was later discovered in the southern hip hop community being first used by Memphis based DJ Spanish Fly on the song "Trigga Man" in 1990.
Rock the Beat was released by Profile Records in the United States and the signature drum break was sampled from James Brown's Funky Drummer.
Both parties were prone to sampling older funk and hip hop records to use as club edits but their geographical distances from New Orleans left somewhat of a mystery for the origin.
[8] Fresh gave praise to Brown Beats and Drag Rap[1] and would go on to be part of his inspiration for the production on the southern hip hop classic "Back That Azz Up" by Juvenile.