Song Clearance Sheet
4 sources citedIt's a New Day
Funk1970s96BPM
C majKey
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The verdict
Documented Sampling History
Extensive real precedent of legitimate use despite a genuinely murky credit history. The unresolved question of whether drummer George Bragg got lasting credit is presented honestly in the Receipts, not smoothed into a clean or a tragic narrative.
Sampled One of the most-sampled breaks (no confirmed count) times · reportedly open to sampling
Used by independents?
Yes — used by Stezo on the independent Fresh/Sleeping Bag label in 1989 (“It’s My Turn”) — the first-ever sample of the break.
Quick Facts
Released1973
AlbumSkull Snaps
GenreFunk
LabelGSF Records
ProducerGeorge Kerr
Recorded atVenture Sound Studios, NJ
More infoWikipedia → · Discogs →
Who you need to ask
The producer — George Kerr (arranged by Bert Keyes)
The Vinyl Factory → · checked Jul 2026
The current administrator — Not confirmed — GSF Records is defunct; needs a Songview/Discogs lookup
Unknown · checked Jul 2026
Has it been sampled?
Yes — widely described as one of the most-sampled drum breaks in hip-hop history, though no single hard count was found
Do they allow sampling?
No standalone policy found; extensive real use despite a genuinely murky credit history
Who Owns It
Licenses explained →The two permissions you need, and who holds them
Producer of recordGeorge Kerr
A real, unresolved credit questionThere is documented uncertainty over whether drummer George Bragg received proper, lasting credit — a Red Bull Music Academy account says "people have been trying to take the song out of his name" and speculates vaguely about rights moving through George Kerr and later Sugar Hill Records, but frames it as unresolved ("anything could've happened")
A second uncertain creditOne line of lyrics reportedly came from a separate songwriter, Ivan Woods — per George Kerr's own account, he never met or communicated with Woods and isn't sure how that credit was arranged
The recording (current administrator)Not confirmed
Receipts
Every public mention of terms, policy, or past deals we've found
A genuinely murky credit history
A Red Bull Music Academy account says of drummer George Bragg that "people have been trying to take credit, trying to take the song out of his name," and speculates about rights moving through George Kerr and later Sugar Hill Records — but explicitly frames this as uncertain, not established fact.
WhoSampled · read it →
A 1995 reissue removed the original credits
An unsanctioned 1995 reissue on Charley Records reportedly removed the original credits from the album's inner sleeve — whether deliberate or not, a documented act that further obscured the ownership trail.
Mr Bongo · read it →
How the break was made
Drummer George Bragg initially played a busier part and had to redo it more simply at the producer's direction — a close echo of Funky Drummer's "give the drummer some" moment.
The Vinyl Factory · read it →
A confirmed independent-artist sample
The earliest documented use of the Skull Snaps break is Stezo’s “It’s My Turn” (1989) — historically the first record to sample it — released on Fresh Records, a Sleeping Bag Records imprint that was an independent, self-distributed New York hip-hop label, not a major.
WhoSampled · read it →
Can You Use It for Free?
How to check PD →Is it public domain?No
Sample History
One of the most-sampled breaks (no confirmed count)
Times sampled
—
Covers
—
First flip
Who to Contact
GK
George Kerr (producer)
The producer of record; note the unresolved credit questions in the Receipts
What they'll chargeNobody's shared numbers yet
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Page history · 2 updates
Jul 2026Page created — full research (New Discovery batch)
Jul 2026BPM/Key pending a separate manual keyfinder pass