Select your drum samples for the beat. The choice is important as many classic soul tracks were recorded by the same producers and the same session musicians, The Funk Brothers. The bass should be short and snappy, the snare should be short and clean, and the addition of a tambourine is essential.
Assign the kick, snare, hi-hats and tambourine to individual drum pads, using the edit button, and set a 4/4 time signature using the master tempo control.
Place a tambourine hit on every beat of the bar. This is a common soul motif and can be heard on songs such as Stevie Wonder's "Uptight" and the Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love."
Double up the tambourine with the kick and snare. Add some hi-hat embellishments where appropriate.
Save the loop to a track in the MPC's sequencer, then start a new loop. Use the same kit to double up on the some of the drums, giving them more weight and impact. The drums really drive soul music, so it's important to make them prominent. It may be worth doing this once you've finished the rest of the song, as it will help you put the accents in the appropriate places.