Survival of the Fittest (The Headhunters album)

Survival of the Fittest
Studio album by The Headhunters
Released	1975
Recorded	1975 Wally Heider Studios (San Francisco, California)
Genre	Jazz-funk, jazz fusion
Label	Arista Records
Producer	David Rubinson & Herbie Hancock
The Headhunters chronology
Survival of the Fittest (1975) Straight From The Gate (1977)

Survival of the Fittest is the debut album by the Jazz/Funk quintet The Headhunters. The album was released by Arista Records in 1975. The album features the stand out track "God Make Me Funky", which has been sampled numerous times by prominent rappers.

Labeled as "the best space-funk album" in the CD version, released by BMG France, in 2001. A digipack that includes liner-notes in English and French. This CD version was digitally remastered from the original master tapes in 24-bit by Jean-Pierre Chalbos

Track listing

All songs by Bennie Maupin, Bill Summers, Paul Jackson, Mike Clark and Blackbird McKnight.

Side One
No.	Title	Length
1.	"God Make Me Funky" (feat The Pointer Sisters)	9:35
2.	"Mugic"	3:31
3.	"Here and Now"	7:07

Side Two
No.	Title	Length
4.	"Daffy's Dance"	6:05
5.	"Rima"	8:14
6.	"If You've Got It, You'll Get It"	6:26

Personnel

• Blackbyrd McKnight - electric guitar, vocals
• Bennie Maupin - saxophones, vocals, saxello, clarinets, flutes, lyricon, piano
• Paul Jackson - bass guitar, vocals
• Mike Clark - drums, vocals
• Bill Summers - percussion, vocals
• Joyce Jackson - alto flute
• Zak Diouf, Baba Duru Oshun and Harvey Mason, Sr. - percussion

Samples & Covers

Recordings where "God Make Me Funky" was sampled^[1]

• Biz Markie on "Albee Square Mall" (Goin' Off, 1988)
• N.W.A on "Gangsta Gangsta" (Straight Outta Compton, 1988)
• DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince on "As We Go" (He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper, 1988)
• Eric B. & Rakim on "To the Listeners" (Follow The Leader,1988)
• Eric B. & Rakim on "Beats for the Listeners" (Follow The Leader,1988)
• J. J. Fad on "Let's Get Hyped" (Supersonic, 1988)
• De La Soul on "Take It Off" (3 Feet High and Rising, 1989) and "Pease Porridge" ("De La Soul is Dead", 1991)
• N.W.A on "Sa Prize, Pt. 2" (100 Miles and Runnin' EP, 1990)
• N.W.A on "Approach to Danger" (Niggaz4Life, 1991)
• Usher on "U-Turn" (8701, 2001)
• Nas on "Hip Hop Is Dead feat. will.i.am" (Hip Hop Is Dead, 2006)

Other tracks of the album sampled by others

• "If You've Got It, You'll Get It" was sampled by Mellow Man Ace on "Talkapella" (Escape from Havana, 1989)
• "If You've Got It, You'll Get It" was sampled by Boogie Down Productions on "Ruff Ruff" (Sex and Violence, 1992)
• "Mugic" was sampled by O.S.T.R. on "Outrostan" (Outro)" (Jazz, dwa, trzy, 2011)

References

1. Cf. The Headhunters on WhoSampled

External links

• The Headhunters - Survival-Of-The-Fittest at Discogs