R&B drum patterns.

1. 1950s

   1. 1955
      

      Tutti Frutti

      Little Richard

      Root: Earl Palmer drums on the New Orleans session; his hard afterbeat became the backbone of R&B and rock and roll

2. 1960s

   1. 1962
      

      Green Onions

      Booker T. & the M.G.'s

      Stax house band with Al Jackson Jr.: a spare, unshakable backbeat that became the Memphis soul pocket
   2. 1965
      

      Landmark

      I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)

      Four Tops

      Benny Benjamin and James Jamerson lock the driving Motown dance beat; producers would not cut sessions without Benjamin
   3. 1965
      

      Landmark

      In the Midnight Hour

      Wilson Pickett

      Al Jackson Jr.'s delayed backbeat, reworked from the Jerk dance Jerry Wexler showed the band; a defining Stax feel
   4. 1967
      

      Respect

      Aretha Franklin

      The Muscle Shoals rhythm section drives Aretha's faster rearrangement with a relentless, persistent soul backbeat

3. 1970s

   1. 1971
      

      What's Going On

      Marvin Gaye

      Chet Forest's loose drumming doubled by Gaye's own box drum and congas: a softer, percussion-rich soul groove
   2. 1971
      

      Let's Stay Together

      Al Green

      Al Jackson Jr. at Hi Records: a hushed, laid-back pocket that set the sound of 70s Memphis soul balladry
   3. 1972
      

      Use Me

      Bill Withers

      James Gadson's drums and percussion weave a busy, intricate rhythm around a repeated bass figure

4. 1980s

   1. 1981
      

      Never Too Much

      Luther Vandross

      Buddy Williams and Marcus Miller's tight post-disco pocket: live-band dance R&B at the start of the 80s
   2. 1987
      

      Landmark

      I Want Her

      Keith Sweat

      Co-produced by Teddy Riley and considered the first new jack swing hit: swung, hard-hitting machine drums under R&B
   3. 1988
      

      My Prerogative

      Bobby Brown

      Teddy Riley's production pushes new jack swing's loud snare and swung programming to No. 1 on the Hot 100

5. 1990s

   1. 1992
      

      Real Love

      Mary J. Blige

      R&B vocals over Audio Two's Top Billin' drums: the hip hop soul template of sampled breaks under singers
   2. 1995
      

      Brown Sugar

      D'Angelo

      Lazy, snapping hip-hop-feel drums under organ; the single that opened the neo-soul era
   3. 1998
      

      Landmark

      Are You That Somebody?

      Aaliyah

      Timbaland's stuttering programmed kicks, beatbox and baby samples: off-kilter, syncopated R&B drums go mainstream

6. 2000s

   1. 2000
      

      Landmark

      Untitled (How Does It Feel)

      D'Angelo

      Live kit with machine-like evenness, cross-stick on 2 and 4 and a loose kick: the dragged Voodoo-era neo-soul pocket
   2. 2004
      

      Goodies

      Ciara

      Lil Jon's whistling crunk beat under a singer: the crunk&B blueprint of hard club drums in R&B
   3. 2005
      

      1 Thing

      Amerie

      Rich Harrison loops Zigaboo Modeliste's Oh, Calcutta! breakdown and adds cowbell and bongo: a go-go-driven R&B hit

7. 2020s

   1. 2021
      

      Leave the Door Open

      Silk Sonic

      Anderson .Paak on drums for a 70s-soul ballad: the live-band R&B pocket back at No. 1

Press play to loop each record's busiest two bars. Patterns are machine-detected from the recordings, not verified transcriptions.