http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk
Funk
放克
Funk is an American musical style that originated in the mid- to late-1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, soul jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music.
放克是在美國60年代中晚期時，由非裔美籍的音樂家，將靈魂樂、靈魂爵士樂、以及節奏藍調等樂風加上了節奏，而形成了一種適合跳舞的全新音樂型態。
Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony, and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground. Unlike R&B and soul songs, which had many chord changes, funk songs are often based on an extended vamp on a single chord.
放克不強調旋律性與和諧性，而是突顯出電貝斯和爵士鼓所製造出的強烈韻律感。不同於節奏藍調與靈魂歌曲使用了許多的和絃，放克歌曲通常只在一個和弦上作延伸性的即興演奏。
Like much of African music, funk typically consists of a complex groove with rhythm instruments such as electric guitar, electric bass, Hammond organ, and drums playing interlocking rhythms. Funk bands also usually have a horn section of several saxophones, trumpets, and in some cases, a trombone, which plays rhythmic "shots".
就像許多非洲音樂一樣，利用節奏樂器演奏出多樣性的律動，而成為放克的特色，像是電吉他、電貝斯、電子琴以及爵士鼓等樂器演奏的連續節拍。放克樂團通常還會有薩克斯風、小號、伸縮號等管樂編制，用來吹奏有節奏感的短促音。
Influential African American funk performers include James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, George Clinton, The Meters, and Prince. Notable 1970s funk bands included Parliament-Funkadelic, Earth, Wind & Fire, Tower of Power, The Commodores, and Kool & the Gang. Funk music was a major influence on the development of 1970s disco music and funk samples are used in most styles of hip hop music, and it's also the main influence of Go-Go. Its pulse was evident in New wave as well.
具有影響力的非籍美裔放克表演者，像是詹姆士布朗(James Brown)、史萊和史東家族合唱團(Sly and the Family Stone)、喬治克林頓(George Clinton)、節拍合唱團(The Meters)還有王子(Prince)。而1970年代知名的放克樂團，則包括了迷幻放克議會(Parliament-Funkadelic)、球風火合唱團(Earth, Wind & Fire)、電塔合唱團(Tower of Power)、海軍准將合唱團(The Commodores)和庫爾夥伴合唱團(Kool & the Gang)等。放克音樂在1970年代迪斯可音樂的發展上，是主要的影響元素，也是嘻哈音樂經常拿來採樣的音樂種類，而放克當然也是搖擺舞(哥哥舞)的主要影響者。放克的活力在新潮流中展露無疑。
Characteristics
特色
Funk creates an intense groove by using strong bass guitar riffs and bass lines. Funk was built on Motown recordings, which put bassists such as James Jamerson to the forefront. Like Motown recordings, funk songs used bass lines as the centerpiece of songs. Notable funk bassists include Bootsy Collins, Bernard Edwards, George Porter, Jr., Louis Johnson and Larry Graham of Sly & the Family Stone. Graham is generally credited with inventing the percussive "slap bass technique." Slap bass' mixture of thumb-slapped low notes and finger "popped" high notes allowed the bass to have a drum-like rhythmic role, which became a distinctive element of funk. Some of the best known and most skillful soloists in funk have jazz backgrounds. Trombonist Fred Wesley and saxophonist Maceo Parker are among the most notable musicians in the funk music genre, with both of them working with James Brown, George Clinton and Prince.
放克用低音吉他刷出重複的段落，配上貝斯的旋律線，製造出強烈的律動感。摩城唱片(Motown recordings)推廣發展放克音樂，也讓一些貝斯手浮上了檯面，像是它們的當家貝斯手詹姆士賈默森(James Jamerson)。放克音樂將貝斯旋律線作為歌曲的基礎，摩城唱片就是一個例子。知名的放克貝斯手有布基柯林斯(Bootsy Collins)、柏納愛德華(Bernard Edwards)、喬治波特(George Porter)、小路易士強森(Jr., Louis Johnson)和史萊和史東家族合唱團的貝斯手賴瑞葛拉罕(Larry Graham)。一般相信葛拉罕是貝斯敲擊技巧的發明人。敲擊貝斯包括了以拇指敲擊低音弦，並以手指勾高音弦，讓貝斯能製造出像鼓一樣的節拍，成為一個相當具有特色的放克元素。一些為人熟知並相當有技巧的放克獨奏樂手，都有爵士樂的背景。伸縮號手佛萊德衛斯里(Fred Wesley)和薩克斯風手馬西奧帕克(Maceo Parker)這兩位爵士樂手，就同時也是知名的放克樂手，他們兩人都曾和詹姆士布朗、喬治克林頓及王子等人合作過。
Funk utilized the same extended chords found in bebop jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths or dominant seventh chords with altered ninths. However, unlike bebop jazz, with its dizzying and complex rapid-fire chord changes, funk virtually abandoned chord changes, creating static single chord vamps with little harmonic movement, but with a complex and driving rhythmic feel.
放克利用相同和絃作延伸,..........就像咆哱爵士樂。但不同於咆哱爵士混亂而複雜的一連串和絃轉換，放克實際上在和絃的轉換上並無任何限制，用單一和絃就可以做出悅耳的樂句，但無法做到複雜又強勁的節奏感。
The chords used in funk songs typically imply a dorian or mixolydian mode as opposed to the major or natural minor tonalities of most popular music. Melodic content was derived by mixing these modes with the blues scale. In the 1970s, jazz music drew upon funk to create a new subgenre of jazz-funk, which can be heard in 1970s recordings by Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock.
放克歌曲中典型的和絃，指的是調二或調五音階，用來和大部分流行音樂所使用的大調或自然小調作區別。這些和絃再和藍調音階結合，就成了優美的旋律。1970年代，爵士以放克為元素創造出了一種新的音樂種類-"放克爵士"，在70年代邁爾斯戴維斯(Miles Davis)和賀比漢考克(Herbie Hancock)的作品中可以聽到。
In funk bands, guitarists typically play in a percussive style, often using the wah-wah sound effect and muting the notes in their riffs to create a percussive sound. Guitarist Ernie Isley of The Isley Brothers and Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic were influenced by Jimi Hendrix's improvised, other-worldly solos. Eddie Hazel, who worked with George Clinton, is one of the most notable guitar soloists in funk. Ernie Isley was tutored at an early age by Jimi Hendrix himself, when the man was a part of The Isley Brothers backing band and lived in the attic temporarily at the Isleys' household. Jimmy Nolen and Phelps Collins are famous funk rhythm guitarists who both worked with James Brown.
放克樂團中，吉他手通常在樂句中使用娃娃音效和悶音，來作出類似打擊樂器的音效。艾斯里兄弟合唱團(The Isley Brothers)的吉他手爾尼艾斯里(Ernie Isley)和迷幻放克合唱團(Funkadelic)的吉他手艾迪海瑟(Eddie Hazel)，都受到吉米罕醉克斯(Jimi Hendrix)即興、超世俗式的獨奏所影響。與喬治克林頓共事的艾迪海瑟，是放克界最有名的吉他手之一。爾尼艾斯里早期在成為艾斯里兄弟合唱團樂手，並暫時住在艾斯里家的閣樓時，曾經受到吉米罕醉克斯的指導。和詹姆士布朗合作的吉米勞倫(Jimmy Nolen)和菲爾浦柯林斯(Phelps Collins)，則是兩位非常知名的放克節奏吉他手。
History
Origin of funk
放克的起源
The word "funk", once defined in dictionaries as body odour or the smell of sexual intercourse, commonly was regarded as coarse or indecent. African-American musicians originally applied "funk" to music with a slow, mellow groove, then later with a hard-driving, insistent rhythm because of the word's association with sexual intercourse. This early form of the music set the pattern for later musicians.
"放克"這個字，原文在字典裡的解釋是身體發出的臭味，這個字一般被視為是粗俗的、粗鄙的字眼。而非裔美籍的音樂家，一開始先把"放克"的感覺以慢且圓滑的律動表現在音樂上，因為放克這個字會讓人聯想到性交，所以音樂家們又加強了節奏的部分。
The music was slow, sexy, loose, riff-oriented and danceable. Funky typically described these qualities. In jam sessions, musicians would encourage one another to "get down" by telling one another, "Now, put some stank ("stink"/funk) on it!" At least as early as 1907, jazz songs carried titles such as Buddy Bolden's "Funky Butt." In the mid-1950s Little Richard and his saxophone-studded road band were the first to inject funk in the Rock n Roll beat, according to James Brown and others. When Little Richard abruptly left Rock n Roll for born-again Christianity and the ministry, members of his band joined with James Brown and the Famous Flames, which led to the development of funk into a distinct genre in the 1960s. As late as the 1950s and early 1960s, when "funk" and "funky" were used increasingly in the context of soul music, the terms still were considered indelicate and inappropriate for use in polite company.
這樣子的音樂速度緩慢、輕鬆，並帶點性感，不斷重複的樂句很適合跳舞，這正是放克的特色。而樂手在即興時，還會跟另一位樂手說:"放點臭味進去!!!"用以鼓勵其他樂手。最早在1907年，就有爵士歌曲用"funk"這個字作為歌名，像是巴迪波頓(Buddy Bolden)的作品"臭屁股(Funky Butt)"。在1950年代中期，小里察(Little Richard)和他的薩克斯風樂隊，以詹姆士布朗等藝人為參考，首次把放克加入搖滾樂的節奏中。當小里察意外地讓基督徒和牧師們開始運用搖滾樂，小里察和樂團的成員也加入詹姆士布朗的樂隊，讓放克在1960年代大放異彩。在1950年代末到1960年初期時，越來越多的文章用"放克"和"放克的"來形容靈魂樂，但是這些名詞在正式場合還是被認為是不適當也不入流的辭彙。
The distinctive characteristics of African-American musical expression are rooted in West African musical traditions, and find their earliest expression in spirituals, work chants/songs, praise shouts, gospel and blues. In more contemporary music, gospel, blues and blues extensions and jazz often flow together seamlessly. Funky music is an amalgam of soul music, soul jazz and R&B.
非裔美籍的音樂家從西非的傳統音樂，以及從宗教音樂、工作時的歌曲、讚頌、福音和藍調音樂中，找出這些富有特色的音樂元素。更多的當代音樂、福音、藍調和藍調爵士音樂融合在一塊。而放克音樂就是融合了靈魂樂、靈魂爵士樂和節奏藍調的一種混合樂風。
James Brown and funk as a genre
詹姆士布朗和放克成為一種音樂類型
By mid-1960s, James Brown had developed his signature groove that emphasized the downbeat – with heavy emphasis "on the one" (the first beat of every measure) – to etch his distinctive sound, rather than the backbeat that was familiar to many R&B and soul musicians. Brown often cued his band with the command "On the one!," changing the percussion emphasis/accent from the one-two-three-four backbeat of traditional soul music to the one-two-three-four downbeat – but with an even-note syncopated guitar rhythm (on quarter notes two and four) featuring a hard-driving, repetitive brassy swing. This one-three beat launched the shift in Brown's signature funk music style, starting with his 1964 hit single, "Out of Sight" and his 1965 hit, "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag."
在1960年代中期時，詹姆士布朗建立了他獨特的風格，為了強調他特殊的嗓音，詹姆士布朗把重音放在每個小節的第一拍，而不是像一般歌曲把重音放在第二、四拍，就像許多節奏藍調和靈魂樂手會用的用法。布朗經常會說"第一拍"，來提示團員把節奏的重音從傳統靈魂樂的二、四重拍，換成重拍在第一拍，但是是用節奏吉他的切分泛音，和一個高亢有力的音律。重音在一、三拍的這種詹姆士布朗放克風格，開始在他1964年的暢銷單曲"十全十美"(Out of Sight)和1965年的"爸爸得到了一個全新的袋子"(Papa's Got a Brand New Bag)。
Brown's innovations pushed the funk music style further to the forefront with releases such as "Cold Sweat" (1967), "Mother Popcorn" (1969) and "Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine" (1970), discarding even the twelve bar blues featured in his earlier music. Instead, Brown's music was overlaid with "catchy, anthemic vocals" based on "extensive vamps" in which he also used his voice as "a percussive instrument with frequent rhythmic grunts and with rhythm-section patterns ... [resembling] West African polyrhythms." Throughout his career, Brown's frenzied vocals, frequently punctuated with screams and grunts, channeled the "ecstatic ambiance of the black church" in a secular context. Although "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and "Cold Sweat" were widely credited as the prototype songs that launched the funk genre, "Out of Sight" was the breakthrough hit that signaled the shift in Brown's sound to establish funk as a distinct genre.
詹姆士布朗早期的作品秉棄了藍調12小節，像是1967年發行的專輯"冷酷甜美"(Cold Sweat)、1969年的"母親的爆米花"(Mother Popcorn)以及1970年發行的"性機器"(Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine)，這些專輯在節奏上的革新讓放克音樂更加受歡迎。相反地，詹姆士布朗在即興時用他那動人的嗓音，並運用他帶有韻律的聲音，作出如同打擊樂器一樣的效果，類似西非的複節奏。在他的職業生涯中，布朗用熱情的說唱方式和高亢的嗓音，將黑人教會狂熱的氣氛帶給世俗。雖然"爸爸得到了一個全新的袋子"(Papa's Got a Brand New Bag)和"冷酷甜美"(Cold Sweat)已經豎立了放克音樂的標準典範，不過"十全十美"(Out of Sight)這張專輯中詹姆士布朗的嗓音，更突破性地讓放克成為一個清楚明顯的曲風。
In a 1990 interview, Brown offered his reason for switching the rhythm of his music: "I changed from the upbeat to the downbeat ... Simple as that, really." According to Maceo Parker, Brown's former saxophonist, playing on the downbeat was at first hard for him and took some getting used to. Reflecting back to his early days with Brown's band, Parker reported that he had difficulty playing "on the one" during solo performances, since he was used to hearing and playing with the accent on the second beat.
在1990年一次訪談中，詹姆士布朗提出了他改變節奏的原因:"將二、四強拍變成一、三強拍，對我來說是很簡單的一件事。"根據詹姆士布朗的前任薩克斯風手馬西奧帕克的說法，強拍落在一、三拍剛開始還有點難，但後來就漸漸習慣了。帕克回想剛加入詹姆士布朗的前幾年，很難在獨奏的時候把重音放在第一拍上，因為原本習慣演奏的都是重音放在第二拍上。
Other musical groups picked up on the riffs, rhythms, and vocal style developed by James Brown and his band, and the style began to grow. Dyke & the Blazers based in Phoenix, Arizona, released "Funky Broadway" in 1967, perhaps the first record to have "funky" in the title. Meanwhile, on the West Coast, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band were releasing funk tracks beginning with their first album in 1967, culminating in their classic single "Express Yourself" in 1970.
詹姆士布朗和他的樂隊所建立的樂句、節奏和演唱方式，也開始被其他樂團採用，而這種音樂型態正開始茁壯。亞利桑那州鳳凰城的戴克和布雷澤斯樂隊(Dyke & the Blazers )，在1967年發行的"放克百老匯"(Funky Broadway)，很可能是第一個使用"放克的"(funky)這個字作為標題的專輯。同年在西岸，查爾斯萊特和華特第103街節奏樂隊(Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band)也發行了第一張放克唱片，而1970年發行的經典單曲"自我表達"(Express Yourself)則是樂團的高峰。
The Meters defined funk in New Orleans, starting with their Top Ten R&B hits "Sophisticated Cissy" and "Cissy Strut" in 1969. Another group who would define funk in the decade to come were The Isley Brothers, whose funky 1969 #1 R&B hit, "It's Your Thing", signaled a breakthrough in African-American music, bridging the gaps of the rock of Jimi Hendrix and the upbeat soul of Sly & the Family Stone and Mother's Finest.
紐奧良的節拍合唱團以1969年發行的節奏藍調十大金曲"世故的希西"(Sophisticated Cissy)和"趾高氣揚的希西"(Cissy Strut)詮釋放克。其他演釋放克的樂團還有艾斯里兄弟合唱團，他們在1969年的節奏藍調金曲"你的東西"(It's Your Thing)，成為非裔美籍音樂突破性的進展，並連結起吉米罕醉克斯的搖滾和史萊和史東家族合唱團及"母親的好天氣"(Mother's Finest)的靈魂樂。
1970s and P-Funk
1970年代和P放克
In the 1970s, a new group of musicians further developed the "funk rock" approach innovated by George Clinton, with his main bands Parliament and, later, Funkadelic. Together, they produced a new kind of funk sound heavily influenced by jazz and psychedelic rock. The two groups had members in common and often are referred to singly as "Parliament-Funkadelic." The breakout popularity of Parliament-Funkadelic gave rise to the term "P-Funk," which referred to the music by George Clinton's bands, and defined a new subgenre.
在1970年代，喬治克林頓和他的兩個主要樂團"議會合唱團"和晚期的"迷幻放克合唱團"，這兩個樂團的成員差不多，通常被合在一起稱為迷幻放克議會(Parliament-Funkadelic)，他們把爵士樂和迷幻搖滾的元素參入放克音樂中，讓放克搖滾的發展更趨高峰。喬治克林頓的樂團創造了P放克這種新的曲風，也讓迷幻放克議會大放異彩。
"P-funk" also came to mean something in its quintessence, of superior quality, or sui generis, as in the lyrics from "P-Funk," a hit single from Parliament's album "Mothership Connection":
I want the bomb. I want the P-Funk. I want my funk uncut.
P放克也有精華、高品質或是獨特的意思，就像議會合唱團"Mothership Connection"專輯中，這首熱門歌曲"P放克"的歌詞:我要衝擊，我要P放克，不准打斷我的放克音樂
The 1970s was probably the era of highest mainstream visibility for funk music. Other prominent funk bands of the period included The Brothers Johnson, Earth, Wind & Fire, Bootsy's Rubber Band, The Meters, Tower of Power, Ohio Players, The Commodores, War, Kool & the Gang, Confunkshun, Slave, Cameo, the Bar-Kays, Zapp, and many more. George Clinton also played a masterminding role in Bootsy's Rubber Band and several other bands he put together, including Parlet, the Horny Horns, and the Brides of Funkenstein, all part of the P-Funk conglomerate.
1970年代可能是放克音樂最發光發熱的年代，強森兄弟(The Brothers Johns)、球風火合唱團(Earth, Wind & Fire)、布基的橡膠樂團(Bootsy's Rubber Band)、節拍合唱團The Meters、電塔合唱團(Tower of Power)、俄亥俄樂手(Ohio Players)、海軍准將合唱團(The Commodores)、戰爭合唱團(War)、庫爾夥伴合唱團(Kool & the Gang)、康放順合唱團(Confunkshun)、奴隸合唱團(Slave)、客串合唱團(Cameo)、巴凱斯合唱團(the Bar-Kays)、查普合唱團(Zapp)等都是知名的放克樂團。喬治克林頓也擔任起布基的橡膠樂團及一些P放克樂團的製作人，像是帕雷特合唱團(Parlet)、好色的小號合唱團(the Horny Horns)以及放肯斯坦的新娘合唱團等。
Already, in late 1960s, many jazz musicians — among them Horace Silver, Herbie Hancock (with his Headhunters band), Grover Washington, Jr., and Cannonball Adderley, Les McCann and Eddie Harris — had begun to combine jazz and funk. Sometimes this approach is called "jazz-funk". Additionally, in the late 1960s work of Miles Davis (with girlfriend/wife Betty Davis) and Tony Williams helped to create Jazz fusion and influenced funk.
1960年晚期，幾個爵士樂手例如霍瑞斯席佛(Horace Silver)、賀比漢考克(Herbie Hancock)和他的獵頭者樂團(Headhunters)、小格佛華盛頓(Grover Washington, Jr.)、以及加農炮艾德利(Cannonball Adderley)、里斯麥肯(Les McCann)和艾迪哈里斯(Eddie Harris)，就已經開始將爵士和放克作結合，稱之為放克爵士。此外，1960晚期在邁爾斯戴維斯(Miles Davis)和他的妻子貝蒂戴維斯(Betty Davis)以及東尼威廉斯(Tony Williams)的推動之下，創造了融合爵士樂，並影響了放克音樂。
Funk music was exported to Africa in the late 1960s, and melded with African singing and rhythms to form Afrobeat. Fela Kuti was a Nigerian musician who is credited with creating the music and terming it "Afrobeat".
放克音樂在1960晚期傳到了非洲，並和非洲舞蹈音樂的旋律和節奏結合。非洲舞蹈旋律的音樂(編按:結合西非爵士樂、南美等地民樂及美國爵士樂而成的音樂)是由奈及利亞的音樂家費拉古提(Fela Kuti)所創造。
In the early 1970’s, when funk was becoming more mainstreamed, artists like Parliament Funkadelic, the Isley Brothers, Sly and the Family Stone, Ohio Players, Confunkshun, among others, were successful and getting radio play but according to Billboard Magazine, only Sly & the Family Stone had singles which made it to #1. In 1970 ‘Thank You Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin’ hit # 1 as did ‘Family Affair’ in 1971 affording Sly and Funk crossover success and greater recognition unlike some of their equally talented but moderately popular peers before the onslaught of Disco around the middle of that decade which remained hugely popular thru the early 80's
當1970年代早期放客音樂成為主流後，像是迷幻放客議會、艾斯里兄弟合唱團、史萊和史東家族合唱團、俄亥俄樂手、康放順合唱團等樂團都相當成功，音樂也常被電台播放，不過根據告示牌(Billboard)雜誌，只有史萊和史東家族合唱團的單曲曾拿下排行榜冠軍。史萊和史東家族合唱團在1970年發行的單曲"謝謝你"(編按:曲名應為Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)，和1971年發行的單曲"家務事"，讓史萊和史東家族合唱團和放克的結合大為成功，並且在80年代早期，流行音樂界受到迪斯可音樂衝擊的十年間左右，比其他同樣有才華的樂團擁有更高的辨識度。
Disco music owed a great deal to funk. Many early disco songs and performers came directly from funk-oriented backgrounds. Some disco music hits, for example "Le Freak" by Chic, included riffs or rhythms very similar to funk music.
迪斯可音樂的盛行應該歸功於放克，許多早期的迪斯可歌曲都是以放克為創作的方向。一些熱門的迪斯可歌曲，像是奇可樂團(Chic)的歌曲"狂熱份子"(Le Freak)，旋律和節奏就和放克非常相似。
1980s and stripped-down funk
In the 1980s, many of the core elements that formed the foundation of the P-Funk formula began to be usurped by electronic machines and synthesizers. Horn sections of saxophones and trumpets were replaced by synth keyboards, and the horns that remained were given simplified lines, and few horn solos. The classic keyboards of funk, like the Hammond B3 organ and the Fender Rhodes piano began to be replaced by the new digital synthesizers such as the Yamaha DX7. Electronic drum machines began to replace the "funky drummers" of the past, and the slap and pop style of bass playing were often replaced by synth keyboard bass lines. As well, the lyrics of funk songs began to change from suggestive double entendres to more graphic and sexually explicit content.
Rick James was the first funk musician of the 1980s to assume the funk mantle dominated by P-Funk in the 1970s. His 1981 album Street Songs with the singles "Give It To Me Baby" and "Super Freak" resulted in James becoming a bit of a rock star, and paved the way for the future direction of explicitness in funk. Queen's first funk song, "Another One Bites the Dust", led the band in new direction from its hard rock roots.
Prince used a stripped-down instrumentation similar to Rick James, and went on to have as much of an impact on the sound of funk as any one artist since James Brown. Prince combined eroticism, technology, an increasing musical complexity, and an outrageous image and stage show to ultimately create a musical world as ambitious and imaginative as P-Funk or The Beatles. The Time, originally conceived as an opening act for Prince and based on his "Minneapolis sound", hybrid mixture of funk, rock, pop, R&B & new wave. They went on to define their own style of stripped-down funk based on tight musicianship and sexual themes.
Bands that began during the 1970s P-Funk era incorporated some of the uninhibited sexuality of Prince and state-of-the-art technological developments to continue to craft funk hits. Cameo, Zapp, The Gap Band, The Bar-Kays, and The Dazz Band all found their biggest hits in the 80s, but by the latter half of the 80s, funk had lost its commercial impact.
Afrika Bambaataa, influenced by Kraftwerk, created "Electro Funk", a minimalist machine-driven style of funk with his single "Planet Rock" in 1982. Also known simply as Electro, this style of funk was driven by synthesizers and the electronic rhythm of the TR-808 drum machine. The single "Renegades of Funk" followed in 1983.
Recent developments
While funk was all but driven from the radio by slick commercial R&B and New Jack Swing, its influence continued to spread. Rock bands began adding elements of Funk to their sound, creating new combinations of "funk rock" and funk metal. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Living Colour, Jane's Addiction, Prince, Primus, Fishbone, Faith No More, Incubus and Rage Against the Machine spread the approach and styles garnered from funk pioneers to new audiences in the mid-to-late 1980s and the 1990s. These bands later inspired the underground mid-1990s funkcore movement and current funk-inspired artists like Outkast, The Black Eyed Peas, and Van Hunt.
In the 1990s, artists like Me'shell Ndegeocello and the (predominantly UK-based) Acid jazz movement including artists and bands such The Brand New Heavies, Incognito, Omar and Jamiroquai carried on with strong elements of funk. However, they never came close to reaching the commercial success of funk in its heyday, with the exception of Jamiroquai whose album Travelling without Moving sold about 11.5 million units worldwide, making it the best selling funk album of all time.
In the 2000s hip hop artists regularly sample old funk tunes. James Brown is said to be the most sampled artist in the history of hip hop. while P-Funk is the second most sampled artist; samples of old Parliament and Funkadelic songs formed the basis of West Coast G Funk.
Original beats that feature funk-styled bass or rhythm guitar riffs are also not uncommon. Dr. Dre (considered the progenitor of the G-Funk genre) has freely acknowledged to being heavily influenced by George Clinton's psychedelic funk: "Back in the 70s that's all people were doing: getting high, wearing Afros, bell-bottoms and listening to Parliament-Funkadelic. That's why I called my album The Chronic and based my music and the concepts like I did: because his shit was a big influence on my music. Very big". Digital Underground was a large contributor to the rebirth of funk in the 1990s by educating their listeners with knowledge about the history of funk and its artists. George Clinton branded Digital Underground as "Sons of the P", as their second full length release is also titled. DU's first release, Sex Packets, was full of funk samples, with the most widely known "The Humpty Dance" sampling Parliament's "Let's Play House". A very strong funk album of DU's was their 1996 release Future Rhythm.
Funk is a major element of certain artists identified with the Jam band scene of the late 1990s and 2000s. Phish began playing funkier jams in their sets around 1996, and 1998's The Story of the Ghost was heavily influenced by funk. Medeski Martin & Wood, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Galactic, Soulive, and Karl Denson's Tiny Universe all drawing heavily from the funk tradition. Karl Denson's Tiny Universe members have also pioneered a modernized version of the Funk sound with their "Funktronica" group BLUSIRKUT that maintains the syncopated rhythms, thick bass line, rhythm-oriented horn sections, prominent percussion, danceability of strong jazz influences - blending it with current technology to add electronic based elements and soundscapes (the instruments have become interchangeable - i.e. bass lines and percussion can now be performed by the trumpet and effects processing).
Since the mid 1990s the nu-funk scene, centered around the Deep Funk collectors scene, is producing new material influenced by the sounds of rare funk 45's. Labels include Desco, Soul Fire, Daptone, Timmion, Neapolitan, Kay-Dee, and Tramp. Bands include Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, The Soul Destroyers, Speedometer, The Poets of Rhythm, The Neapolitans, Quantic Soul Orchestra, The New Mastersounds and Lefties Soul Connection. These labels often release on 45 rpm records. Although specializing in music for rare funk DJ's, there has been some crossover into the mainstream music industry, such as Sharon Jones' 2005 appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
In the early 2000s, some punk funk bands such as Out Hud perform in the indie music scene. Prince, with his recent albums has given a rebirth to the funk sound with songs like "The Everlasting Now", "Musicology (song)" and "Black Sweat". In 2003, Columbus, Ohio funk artist Jason Dodson formed The New Funk Order, an online musician's community that has featured many artists and has helped to promote funk music.
