"That's The Joint" is a song by rap group

Funky 4 + 1 Funky 4 + 1 was an American hip hop group from The Bronx, New York, composed of Jazzy Jeff, Sharon Green, D.J. Breakout, Guy Williams, Keith Keith, The Voice of K.K. and Rodney Stone. The latter two members also performed together as the duo ...

released as their second single. The single became Funky 4 + 1's signature song and is frequently cited as influential early hip hop record borrowing from

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

. It was arranged by jazz organist

Clifton "Jiggs" Chase Clifton "Jiggs" Chase (born 1940) is an American jazz-funk organ player, composer, and influential record producer from New Jersey, United States. One of the earliest known recordings is his organ playing on the 1967 Buddy Terry recording '' Na ...

and includes dance rhythms (it was performed live with dance routines). It features

rapping Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

from all group's members and many parts sung together. The instrumental includes a sample of "Rescue Me" by

A Taste of Honey ''A Taste of Honey'' is the first play by the British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written when she was 19. It was intended as a novel, but she turned it into a play because she hoped to revitalise British theatre and address social issues that ...

. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' listed "That's the Joint" at number 288 on their updated list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in September 2021. It was also listed on

The Pitchfork 500 ''The Pitchfork 500: Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to the Present'' is a book compiling the greatest songs from 1977 to 2006, published in 2008 by Pitchfork Media. The book focuses on specific genres including indie rock, hip-hop, el ...

and as 47th best hip hop song of all time by ''Rolling Stone''. It was named the best song of the

1980s File:1980s replacement montage02.PNG, 420px, From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, ''Columbia'', lifts off in 1981; US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev ease tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the ...

by music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

. In his initial review Christgau gave it 'A' rating and wrote: "The instrumental track, carried by Sugarhill bassist

Doug Wimbish Douglas Arthur Wimbish (born September 22, 1956) is an American bass player, primarily known for being a member of rock band Living Colour and funk/dub/hip hop collective Tackhead, and as a session musician with artists such as Sugarhill Gang ...

, is so compelling that for a while I listened to it alone on its B-side version. And the rapping is the peak of the form, not verbally—the debut has funnier words—but rhythmically. Quick tradeoffs and clamorous breaks vary the steady-flow rhyming of the individual MCs, and when it comes to Sha-Rock, Miss Plus One herself, who needs variation?". The song has been

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...

many times in hip-hop production since its release, including on the song "

Say No Go "Say No Go" is a single by De La Soul from their influential 1989 album ''3 Feet High and Rising''. It reached number 18 in the UK charts. The tune is heavily based on sampling the hit song "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" by Hall & Oates. Ba ...

" by

De La Soul De La Soul () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1988 in the Amityville area of Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative ...

on their album ''

3 Feet High and Rising ''3 Feet High and Rising'' is the debut studio album by American hip hop group De La Soul, released on March 3, 1989 by Tommy Boy Records. It is the first of three collaborations with producer Prince Paul, which would become the critical and ...

'', and by

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

on the songs "Shake Your Rump" and " Shadrach" on their album ''

Paul's Boutique ''Paul's Boutique'' is the second studio album by American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on July 25, 1989, by Capitol Records. Produced by the Dust Brothers, the album is composed almost entirely from samples, and was recorded over two ...

''.

Track listing

;Side A #That's The Joint (Vocal) – 9:05 ;Side B #That's The Joint (Instrumental) – 9:05

References

External links

*{{discogs master, 153223, That's The Joint, type=single 1980 singles American hip hop songs 1980 songs Songs written by Sylvia Robinson Sugar Hill Records (Hip-Hop label) singles