FUNK: Part 4 & The Conclusion

Part 4: Who Put The Fun In Funk

11 — FUNK IS ETERNAL & EVERYWHERE
Funk's influence didn't end when the classic era ended.

It simply kept changing shape.
Its rhythmic language provided the blueprint for some of the best Disco.

Its drum breaks and basslines inspired and fuels Hip-Hop and Electro.
Its synths and guitar patterns found their way into House and dance music.
Its attitude was emulated with modern R&B, Pop and Neo-Soul.
And its most important idea — that rhythm can be the centre of a record — remains everywhere.

Listen to an early Hip-Hop beat built around a chopped drum break.
Listen to a modern producer loop a two-bar groove, or how a bassline could carry an entire chorus.

Listen to a drummer deliberately leaving space between the hits.

The Funk is still there.
Sometimes you can hear it immediately, and sometimes you have to dig for it.
But it is there.

CONCLUSION — THE GROOVE IS THE DNA
Funk changed popular music because it changed what musicians considered important.

Before Funk, rhythm was often the engine underneath the song.

Funk brought the engine to the front.

James Brown reduced music to its rhythmic essentials and showed how powerful a band could become when every musician locked into the groove.

Clyde Stubblefield and the drummers around Brown turned the break into an art form.
Sly Stone expanded Funk into Soul, Rock, Psychedelia and social commentary.
The Meters proved that space could be as powerful as sound.
Parliament-Funkadelic turned Funk into an entire universe of bass, drums, synthesizers and imagination.

And generations of musicians took those ideas further.

Then Hip-Hop arrived. DJs found the breaks. MCs rapped over them, Producers sampled them and MC’s became rappers.

And suddenly a groove recorded years earlier could become the foundation of an entirely new piece of music.

That is the real connection between Funk and Modern music inspired by the birth of Hip-Hop.

It isn't simply about sampling, it’s about the rhythm, the drummer, the bass, the groove and the space between them. Listen for the space between the notes.

To understand that sometimes the most important part of a record isn't the melody, chorus or the singer. Sometimes it's the groove.

And once you learn to hear that groove, you start digging.

One record leads to another.
One drummer leads to another.
One bassline leads to another.
And eventually you realise that the history of modern music isn't a straight line at all.

It's a loop.

BEST FUNK ARTISTS AND ALBUMS TO GET YOU STARTED

The Lucky 7’s of Funk
Pick any of the listed albums from these 7 Bands, 7 Male Vocalists, or 7 Female vocalists, and you’re on your way to the jackpot…

7 Bands
The Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock
Funkadelic - One Nation Under A Groove
Parliament — Funkentelechy Vs. The Placebo Syndrome
Kool & The Gang — Wild And Peaceful
Tower Of Power - Back To Oakland
Sly & The Family Stone – Fresh
The Fatback Band – Yum Yum

7 Female Funk Artists
Gwen McCrae - Melody Of Life
Camille Yarbrough - The Iron Pot Cooker
Marva Whitney - It's My Thing
Lyn Collins – Think (About It)
Vicki Anderson – Mother Popcorn
Betty Davis - Nasty Gal
Marlena Shaw - The Spice Of Life

7 Male Funk Artists

James Brown- Ain't It Funky
Baby Huey - The Baby Huey Story
Rufus Thomas – Did You Heard Me?
Bill Withers - Still Bill
Stevie Wonder — Talking Book
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised


Bonus Round

Top 10 Self Titled Funk Albums
The Meters — The Meters
Skull Snaps – Skull Snaps
The Nite-Liters - The Nite-Liters
Tower Of Power – Tower Of Power
Earth Wind & Fire - Earth Wind & Fire
Cymande - Cymande
Commodores - Commodores
Mandrill - Mandrill
Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan – Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan
Brass Construction - Brass Construction

+1 bonus addition… Average White Band - AWB (because AWB are the bands initials)