The Rockafeller Skank

"The Rockafeller Skank" (also known as "Funk Soul Brother") is a song by English big beat musician and DJ Fatboy Slim. It was a single released from the 1998 album You've Come a Long Way, Baby.

The single peaked at number six in the UK Singles Chart in June 1998. The song was the second Fatboy Slim single (after "Praise You") to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 76.

Samples
The song features the repeated line "Right about now, the funk soul brother / Check it out now, the funk soul brother", which is a truncated vocal sample of rapper Lord Finesse on the track "Vinyl Dog Vibe" by Vinyl Dogs, the original line being "Check it out right about now, it's no other than the funk soul brother, the Lord Finesse".

The song also features four other samples, including a sample of the song "Sliced Tomatoes" by the band Just Brothers (a popular Northern Soul track), The Bobby Fuller Four's "I Fought the Law" (featuring DeWayne Quirico's drum intro), and a sample of "Beat Girl" by John Barry and his Orchestra. A guitar line from the song "Peter Gunn" by Art of Noise featuring Duane Eddy is also sampled.

Fatboy Slim has stated that to clear the samples and release the song he had to release 100% of the track's royalties, 25% to each artist, meaning he receives no royalties himself.

Usage in media
The song has been featured in the media on numerous occasions:
 * In She's All That in a choreographed dance number.
 * In the films Digimon: The Movie and Bruce Almighty.
 * In the video game FIFA 99.
 * In the 1999 Surge commercial with Patrick Renna.
 * In the PlayStation video game Gekido.
 * During the trailer for the 1999 film, Office Space.
 * In the episode 15 of the 5th season of the American sitcom Friends ("The One With The Girl Who Hits Joey"), during the party staged by Ross to his neighbors.
 * In the dance competition series Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance.
 * In the dating show Streetmate.
 * In the TV series Being Erica, Daria, Saturday Night Live, and Sex and the City.
 * On the third soundtrack to Packed to the Rafters.
 * In the film American Pie, but did not appear on the soundtrack.
 * In the promo trailer for Osmosis Jones.
 * In trailers for Connie and Carla and Corporate Affairs.
 * In the 3rd episode of the 2nd Series of The Catherine Tate Show.
 * In the PlayStation 2 video game Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova 2.
 * In the 2010 Ubisoft video game Just Dance 2
 * In the Peruvian television of TV Peru 2010 el placer de los ojos with Ricardo bedoya
 * In the 20th episode of the 1st season of Speechless.
 * In a 1999 commercial for Kodak.

Track listing

 * CD
 * 1) "The Rockafeller Skank" (short edit)
 * 2) "The Rockafeller Skank"
 * 3) "Always Read the Label"
 * 4) "Tweakers Delight"

Note: Some mainland European editions omit the album version (track 2)

The edited version is notable at the beginning, as there is a scat effect on the first word of the song. This is removed on the edit featured on the 2006 compilation The Greatest Hits – Why Try Harder.


 * 12"
 * 1) "The Rockafeller Skank"
 * 2) "Always Read the Label"
 * 3) "Tweakers Delight"