FUNK: Part 3

Part 3: Who Put The Fun In Funk

08 — THE BREAK BECOMES THE HOOK
The idea of the break was fundamental to early Hip-Hop.

DJ Kool Herc recognised that dancers responded most strongly when records reached their instrumental sections — the moments when the vocals disappeared and the rhythm took over. He began extending those sections using two copies of the same record.

Funk was almost perfectly designed for this. Its arrangements frequently contained extended breaks, instrumental hooks and drum-heavy grooves.

The musicians had already created what future DJs and producers would be looking for and the DJs simply found it.

James Brown's records became particularly important because the rhythm was so exposed.

There was less musical clutter, which meant less information competing for attention and filling the space.
This gave more space around the drums, more space around the bass and more space for a DJ to manipulate.

This is one of the reasons Funk became so important to Hip-Hop. It wasn't merely that Funk had good drums. Funk musicians had already developed a musical philosophy in which rhythm was the central event.

Hip-Hop inherited that philosophy almost perfectly.


09 — THE FUNK DRUMMER BECOMES A PRODUCER'S INSTRUMENT
By the 1980s, advances in sampling technology changed the relationship between Funk and Hip-Hop.

The E-mu SP-1200, Akai MPC and other samplers allowed producers to capture tiny pieces of existing recordings and manipulate them.

The Funk record was no longer just something to listen to, it was something to deconstruct. Rebuild and evolve. A producer could isolate a kick, snare, hi-hat, bassline, horn stab, or entire break.

The musicians created the ingredients decades earlier and the sampler turned those ingredients into building blocks of modern music.

This is where Funk's influence becomes almost impossible to measure.

James Brown's "Funky Drummer" appeared in countless recordings and DJ’s began hunting for new material, discovering and breathing new life into some of Funks forgotten gems.

Tracks like:
Big John Hamilton - Big Bad John
Linda Lyndell - What A Man
Tony Alvon - Sexy Coffee Pot
Eddie Bo – Hook And Sling
Bobby Byrd - I Know You Got Soul
Babe Ruth - The Mexican
Brother Soul – Cookies
Rufus Thomas - Do The Funky Penguin
The Soul Searchers - Ashley's Roachclip
The Beginning Of The End - Funky Nassau

The sampling process effectively transformed Funk from a historical genre into a musical toolkit. Classic Funk recordings exposed obscure Funk gems, and they became the inspiration and instruments for a generation of DJ producers.

10 — FROM FUNK TO HIP-HOP
By the time Hip-Hop producers began seriously digging through the crates, Funk had already solved many of the musical problems they were trying to solve.

How do you make a beat people can dance to?
Funk knew.

How do you make a short rhythmic phrase interesting enough to repeat?
Funk knew.

How do you create tension without constantly changing chords?
Funk knew.

How do you make the drums powerful without losing human feel?
Funk knew.

Hip-Hop simply took those ideas and applied them to a new musical environment.

The DJ became the selector.
The sampler became the instrument.
The producer became the arranger.
The MC became the voice.
And the Funk break became the foundation.

This is why James Brown's influence on Hip-Hop is so much deeper than a list of samples.

Hip-Hop didn't merely borrow James Brown's drums. It borrowed his way of thinking.

The emphasis on the one. The importance of the pocket, and the power of repetition.

The idea that a drummer could be the star and the belief that a groove could carry an entire performance.

Funk gave Hip-Hop a musical philosophy before Hip-Hop had a name for it.