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What happened to funk?

#162
I think it is incorrect to say that Rap and the low cost of recording drum machines and turntables "killed" Funk.
If that's the case, why didn't cheap electronics "kill" any other genre of popular music? Rock, blues, jazz, classical, etc. That was the fear when samplers and midi came out. But guess what, they just became other tools for making music. Rap is it's own genre which definitely evolved out of funk soul and rock. If you listen to early Rap, it really had a punk-rock spirit. And mostly live instruments!

When I was young a lot of funk got incorrectly labeled as disco. I think this hurt funk. I also think that what is commonly known as funk (the hits) became too narrow of a genre. But what do I know, 1 4 5 blues just keeps chugging away somehow. I do think it's true that it just may not be in the forefront of music right now.

I love Funk music, it just makes me feel great to hear it. I wish I could play it better. I am pulling for a big Funk comeback!
 
#163
TNCreature said:
I think it is incorrect to say that Rap and the low cost of recording drum machines and turntables "killed" Funk.
If that's the case, why didn't cheap electronics "kill" any other genre of popular music? Rock, blues, jazz, classical, etc. That was the fear when samplers and midi came out. But guess what, they just became another too for making music. Rap is it's own genre which definitely evolved out of funk soul and rock.

When I was young a lot of funk got incorrectly labeled as disco. I think this hurt funk. I also think that what is commonly known as funk (the hits) became too narrow of a genre. But what do I know, 1 4 5 blues just keeps chugging away somehow. I do think it's true that it just may not be in the forefront of music right now.

I love Funk music, it just makes me feel great to hear it. I wish I could play it better. I am pulling for a big Funk comeback!
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For purposes of discussion, jazz had "died" when the swing era ended. Blues died when it was supplanted by Rock & Roll on one side and R&B on the other flank. Sure many still played and listened to it but it had fallen from its peak popularity.
 
#164
Jhengsman said:
For purposes of discussion, jazz had "died" when the swing era ended. Blues died when it was supplanted by Rock & Roll on one side and R&B on the other flank. Sure many still played and listened to it but it had fallen from its peak popularity.
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And yet clearly none of these genres are "dead" so I am not sure of the correlation. Unless you are saying that these scenes have all peaked already. May be true.
 
#165
DWBass said:
IMHO, it is since radio decided to stop playing funk, is why it fell off the general public's radar! There is little to no radio that caters to us 'older' urban folks! There's plenty of 'oldies' stations but what do they play besides Brick House, Play That Funky Music or KC & The Sunshine Band!?!

By the way, early disco was killin'! Full bands with horn sections were a plenty and funky! Then came the sequencer, drum machines and synths!
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There was definitely some great disco. There was also some not-so-great disco.

To me disco was a sanitized, commercialized version of funk for mass radio consumption. Not to say some of it wasn't good or even great, just that it wasn't as raw or organic as funk.

By organic I mean home-grown, like the GAP band, who definitely crossed over and scored some hits in disco, but who were always such an organic band rooted in funk. At least that's how I see it, IMHO, YMMV, etc.
 
#166
I guess we all want our preferred genre to be on top. So the variety show producer will book our favorite acts instead of the greater "pop star" to guest on the TV show. So our bands will be booked in the best venues and if they make money more people will produce music for us rather then following the money so that their families can eat.

Compared to its heyday when along with Motown, Philly and disco you could hear the newest release by a high end funk band on the radio and see them on Soul Train, today the genre may as well be dead.

Just as blues fans would have said about their music and then look at SRV as a savior funk fans are looking for some big break out artist to carry the torch. So far none of the bands in the Youtube links have been able to generate that level of buzz as a funk band. If they have they are seen as a band which fuse classic funk with something else
 
#167
DWBass said:
IMHO, it is since radio decided to stop playing funk, is why it fell off the general public's radar! There is little to no radio that caters to us 'older' urban folks! There's plenty of 'oldies' stations but what do they play besides Brick House, Play That Funky Music or KC & The Sunshine Band!?!

By the way, early disco was killin'! Full bands with horn sections were a plenty and funky! Then came the sequencer, drum machines and synths!
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Yes. The disco backlash suddenly had all kinds of black groups "blacklisted" by radio programmers. Contrary to what some posters think, rap did not kill funk. If anything, rap helped keep funk alive.
 
#173
Frank Tuesday said:
I generally see that as a huge red flag. There are always exceptions, but if you think that you need to tell me you're funk, chances are you aren't.
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I see it like bands who identify themselves as Blues Band in their name. Because the genre has lost favor among the masses young up and coming bands are a tribute act to the time when blues or funk. Afterall they are not playing what most of their peers are buying but rather the preferred genre of their parents and grandparents generations.
 
#176
woke up this morning put on PRAXIS...ran errands later in the pm to eddie hazel solo lp ...funk has never left us never will...and i believe that hiphop actually has helped people to go back and listen to 70's funk...
 
#178
ksandvik said:
Average White Band was a funky group of black fellows, indeed. They even spoke with the right ghetto-dialect.
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And the Funk Brothers were Funk from both sides of the aisle.
Funk is an attitude, no one ethnic group has a copyright on "The One"-just ask Phil Chen.
 
#180
Tupac said:
Is it dead? I seriously haven't heard of a funk artist that came from the 2000s. Even RHCP have removed the funk from their playing recently. What's the big deal here?
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I'm 59 grew up and played in height of the funk era.

Yes, for my generation it's dead. There are a handful of bands out they'd like tower of power that are still hanging in there.

What gets me is why do you younger folks think rhcp is funk, no way?
 

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