Lyn Collins encoded ‘a bit of the future’ into ‘Think (About It)’

When soul singer Lyn Collins released “Think (About It)” in 1972, it was a moderate hit at the time. But according to World Cafe correspondent John Morrison, the song’s popularity only grew from that point on.

“‘Think (About It)’ is not only a document of its time, but it has a little bit of the future encoded within it. That’s why people keep coming back to it.”

The single, produced by James Brown, has since become one of the most sampled songs in music history, recontextualized by everyone from Snoop Dogg and R.E.M. to Sabrina Carpenter and NewJeans.

Morrison says much of its popularity is due to the song’s drum break.

“Breakbeats, in my opinion, act as a connective tissue between decades of popular music,” he says.

Trace the journey of Collins’ “Think (About It)” with us on a new Culture Corner.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Kimberly Junod.  Our digital producer is Miguel Perez. World Cafe‘s engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.