What is Breakbeat?

Breakbeat is a family of electronic dance music built on sampled, syncopated drum breaks lifted from funk, soul, and jazz records — the Amen break from The Winstons' "Amen, Brother" (1969) being the canonical source. Emerging from late-1980s UK rave culture out of hip-hop sampling practice, the style spans breakbeat hardcore, big beat, and progressive breaks; The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, and Fatboy Slim brought it to mainstream attention through the 1990s.