What is wrong with my Funky Drummer groove?

I'm not sure what you mean by "beat 4". But the longer you played the groove, the more it became sketchy and a little disjointed. Meaning you just need to practice it more so you can do it with more consistency. I'd say the first several bars were pretty darn good. Keep at it. That's not an easy one to do.
 
I'm not sure what you mean by "beat 4". But the longer you played the groove, the more it became sketchy and a little disjointed. Meaning you just need to practice it more so you can do it with more consistency. I'd say the first several bars were pretty darn good. Keep at it. That's not an easy one to do.

I was singing along, the vocal part at the same time. You can hear it if you turn the volume up.
 
I would slow down and get it tighter. It almost seemed to me you counted in one beat and immediately played another. I would slow down, and maybe get rid of the double hi hat splash.
 
There's still supposed to be a backbeat feel, even with the all the ghosting going on. Try accenting the the two and four more.
 
I don't hear Clyde pumping the 8th notes, though I know it makes it easer to play, especially at 101 bpm. Perhaps its the recording, but hear it at half that volume towards authenticity. For hi-hat, I would bring the clutch even closer and have tighter foot pressure when closed while playing much softer. As far as the HH open accents on every 1e&a, Clyde did it very sporadically and all the YT takes out do this all the time which bugs me....the funkiness was the surprise while leaving the space most of the time, same with the ruffs he would pull. Just my 2 cents, thanks for sharing...it's the greatest drum solo in history IMO with a shit ton of nuance, perhaps we will all get there someday.
 

Is this funkier? I’m hitting the 2 and 4 harder.

Better!

So you’re playing two open hi hat notes after the snare on beat 2. Pretty sure there should only be one. Check the recording.

Do your best to make the snare note immediately before beat 4 as quiet and low as possible. This is the most challenging aspect of this beat, obviously.

And yes, there should be a touch of swing in the 16th notes. Yours are completely straight right now. Try learning the groove with an exaggerated swing, and see if you can dial it back from there.
 
Love me some James Brown- I like playing to SuperBad. Sounds like it’s falling into place. Nice to see you playing.
 
Can’t help but notice, you look like a tall guy that sits lower.

Sounds better than first take ?. Are the snares off? What are you playing on?
 
Can’t help but notice, you look like a tall guy that sits lower.

Sounds better than first take ?. Are the snares off? What are you playing on?

The snares are on, it’s just a dry head and snare setup, I’ve hit calf heads and cable snares on it. It’s a brass Oriollo. I’m not tall, just 5’7”, but I’ve always sat/stood really straight when I play lol
 
There should be some”spang-a-lang” on the hats going into the 1 and the 2 that makes the swing feel, not straight 8s or 16s. To me it’s part shuffle-rock.
 
Hip-Hop owes a huge debt of gratitude (and some overdue royalties) to Mr. Stubblefield, Mr. Coleman, and the lovely Ms. Lyn Collins.
So many samples of their work out there that many just don't recognize. Ms. Collins being the one very few actually know.
Who recognizes this beat (and lyric)?
 
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