MAMA Scholarship Fund
The MAMA scholarship fund is dedicated to the memory of drummer Clyde Stubblefield. He developed a unique, funky beat, which in the 1960s gave a special sound to soul-music legend James Brown. Known as “The Funky Drummer,” Clyde is credited as “The World’s Most Sampled Drummer” according to Drummer World magazine and was listed as #6 in Rolling Stone magazine’s “100 Greatest Drummers of All Time.” Artists that have sampled Clyde's drum pattern include The Roots with Questlove, Madonna, Public Enemy, Melissa Etheridge, Prince, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Run DMC, and George Michael, just to name a few. His beat has influenced the evolution of popular music and Jazz in their various forms of Modern Funk, Jazz Fusion, Rap, and Hip Hop.
Stubblefield has been honored in many contexts, including being inducted into the Wisconsin Area Music Industry Hall of Fame in 2000, receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Madison Area Music Association in 2004, and receiving the Yamaha Drums Legacy Award in 2013. He was presented with an Honorary PhD/Doctorate in Percussion from the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Music on May 12, 2017. His drumsticks have been placed in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, and there is now a movement for nomination of the drummer himself to the Hall.
While influential in music and globally recognized, Stubblefield chose to live in Madison, Wisconsin. He moved here in 1971 and over the course of four decades had a large impact on many Madison-area musicians. A scholarship was created to keep his legacy alive. In 2017, the year of his passing, the Madison Area Music Association joined with the Coalition for Recognition of Clyde Stubblefield to establish the MAMA Scholarship Fund. The scholarship is awarded each year to a Madison-area youth that will be going on to study music in college. The scholarship will ensure that Clyde’s legacy will live on for many years to come.
Donate directly to the Scholarship Fund by using the link below. Thank you for your generosity!
