Who Killed the Funk?

Ebony ^ | July 24, 2014 | Michael A. Gonzales

[Tijeras_Slim]

I didn’t know Zo had a band. That dude is talent personified.

[cripplecreek]

Dude. That needs a do not scroll warning.

[Tijeras_Slim]

This Halloween, let’s go as Bootsy Collins impersonators.

[Larry Lucido]

Autotune killed all music.

[gorush]

The Dave Matthews Band flirts with it.

[wideawake]

Well, the cultured despisers of hip hop have weighed in, claiming that hip hop killed funk.

Those who actually pay attention know that funk evolved into disco for the most part - when disco became popular, the touring economy for funk died quickly.

Hip hop and go go retained more of funk's sensibility, but disco was what dominated until the mid-80s.

Hip hop preserved funk and jazz funk for the next generation by sampling and curating it.

[cripplecreek]

This tune “Divine Battery” has a whole range of musical sounds to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htXuNPBko3Q

[Fiji Hill]

I would think that Here Comes the Judge by Shorty Long (1968), released on Soul, a subsidiary of Motown, is a good example of funk. I also like his earlier releases such as Careless Hands and Just Like Two Drops of Water, which feature a slightly different musical style.

[al baby]

Love Funk till play all the stuff from the 70’s almost every day

[al baby]

Amen sista or brother

[jocon307]

Love the funk. But there’s a lot of great music that’s not being made anymore, I think. I mean where are the great rock bands, like Zeplin,the Allman Brothers, the Eagles? Who is like that now? It seems to me that popular music is all rap or crap these days, but maybe I’m just o.l.d.

[cripplecreek]

Here’s a good one out of Detroit. I think most people would be shocked at some of the music still coming out of that town. Fiddles?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXfpre4w540

[cripplecreek]

See post 32. Its got a 70s sound that you don’t hear much these days.

[Poison Pill]

But in the end it was always a fringe type.

You rarely heard funk on top 40 radio in the 70s or 80s. Maybe a white act like K.C. and the Sunshine Band. But a generation later everybody was sampling it. Hell, Snopp Dogg built an entire career off "Atomic Dog". I hope George Clinton got a taste of that ( but I'm sure he didn't).

[jocon307]

I will check that out ASAP. Watching TV with hubby now, so I can’t rock out at this time!

I love Eminem, btw, I think he’s practically a genius.

[Yardstick]

I about wore out a cassette copy of One Nation Under A Groove recently in my old BMW recently. It was my commute soundtrack for about a month and a half.

I think Jamiraquai is doing something like funk, although it’s almost too sophisticated to be funk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE4VlA_9OrI

But they have live drums, a very funky bass player (you can tell he’s funky because YouTube is full of videos of people copping his bass lines), a horn section, and a funky guitar player. And it’s obvious they’ve listened to a lot of funk. So the elements are there.

[Yardstick]

I like that they’re doing heavy music but the drummer uses a traditional jazz grip.

[cripplecreek]

The drummer is Machosauce. (Alfonzo Rachael) and he can beat the hell out of some drums.

[Girlene]

Great dance song....this is from 99?

[Windflier]

Love Funk till play all the stuff from the 70’s almost every day

Same here, but I loved all of the popular music of the 70s. There aren't a whole lot of artists who can hold a candle to the art of that era.

The stuff my kids listen to, makes my hair hurt.