In the sleeve notes to "Head Hunters", Hancock wrote that track 3, "Sly", was named in tribute to Sly Stone, leader of Sly and the Family Stone. This band, along with James Brown, is one of the key influences on funk music. As in funk music, the band often built a groove around a bassline; Paul Jackson's licks are frequently the bedrock of Headhunters material, as much as Mike Clark and Harvey Mason's drumming. Also taken from funk music is the technique of building a complex groove by combining many small but carefully interlocking syncopated contributions.