Ohio Players
Funky Worm
The 1972 Ohio Players novelty funk track whose whining ARP synthesizer line, played by Junie Morrison, was sampled by N.W.A and became a G-funk staple.
The record
“Funky Worm” appears on Pleasure, the Ohio Players' 1972 album for Westbound Records. The band wrote and produced the song. It is a short novelty funk track, about two and a half minutes long on the album, with spoken comic vocals over a loose groove. Released as a single, it reached No. 1 on Billboard's soul singles chart and No. 15 on the Hot 100, and Billboard ranked it No. 84 among the singles of 1973.
The break
The part that producers wanted is not a drum break but a sound. Keyboardist Walter “Junie” Morrison played the track's ARP synthesizer solos, a thin, high-pitched lead that bends and whines above the rhythm section. Lifted on its own or replayed, that line gives a track an instantly recognizable top layer.
Into hip hop
N.W.A used the “Funky Worm” synth on “Dopeman” in 1987 and again on “Gangsta Gangsta” from Straight Outta Compton in 1988. De La Soul sampled it on “Me Myself and I” in 1989, the same year the Jungle Brothers used it on “Belly Dancin' Dina.” MC Breed and DFC built “Ain't No Future in Yo' Frontin'” around it in 1991. Ice Cube returned to the sound on “Wicked” in 1992 and “Ghetto Bird” in 1993, X-Clan used it on “Xodus” in 1992, and it crossed into pop rap with Kris Kross's “Jump” in 1992 and DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince's “Boom! Shake the Room” in 1993.
Legacy
The song's high whining synthesizer became a staple of G-funk and was widely emulated by West Coast producers, who often replayed a similar lead on their own synthesizers rather than sampling the record. Besides the records above, artists such as Too $hort, Dr. Dre and Xzibit have also drawn on the track. That sound became one of the markers of the West Coast style of the early and mid 1990s. De La Soul's “Me Myself and I” paired it with Funkadelic's “(Not Just) Knee Deep,” another record shaped by Morrison. The connection lasted: the Game's “Don't Trip,” featuring Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and will.i.am, sampled “Funky Worm” in 2011. Morrison also arranged Funkadelic's “(Not Just) Knee Deep,” so he stands behind two of the funk records that West Coast rap drew on most, neither of them made with hip hop in mind.
Original pressings on eBay
Ohio Players – Pleasure, 1972 LP original gatefold, Westbound Records – WB 2017Used · Buy It Now$19.99
1972 Ohio Players Pleasure Vinyl record. Westbound Made Germany Bellaphon.Used · 0 bids$15.00
Ohio Players Pleasure 1972 VG LP Funk Soul Westbound Records Funky Worm Sample Used · Buy It Now$24.00
OHIO PLAYERS Pleasure LP WESTBOUND W-220 STEREO 1972 Soul FunkUsed · Buy It Now$60.00
Rap records built on Funky Worm
- 1987N.W.A“Dopeman”
- 1988N.W.A“Gangsta Gangsta”
- 1989De La Soul“Me Myself and I”
- 1989Jungle Brothers“Belly Dancin' Dina”
- 1991MC Breed & DFC“Ain't No Future in Yo' Frontin'”
- 1992Ice Cube“Wicked”
- 1992Kris Kross“Jump”
- 1992X-Clan“Xodus”
- 1993DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince“Boom! Shake the Room”
- 1993Ice Cube“Ghetto Bird”
- 2011The Game feat. Ice Cube, Dr. Dre & will.i.am“Don't Trip”
Heard Funky Worm on another record?
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