Big Blog #1: American Roots Music: Funk

    While America’s current genres can be widely acclaimed as some of the most popular music of today, their roots can be traced back for centuries. With North America’s colonization featuring a various assortment of fully fledged countries such as Spain, England, and France, their input and effect on colonial beliefs and cultures is clearly heard throughout countless pieces in musical history. It is because of this that American roots music represents a true melting pot of culture; a syncretic blend that unifies all aforementioned traditions into a new and unique style that remains diverse and ever evolving to this day.

    With the arrival of new cultures, instruments such as the guitar and fiddle/violin were brought over into North America, along with a vast multitude of singing, dancing, instrumental, and percussive practices/styles. Over the course of colonization and independence, many low-class workers such as indentured servants and slaves found themselves working long hours together over the course of many years, sharing what little free time they had in the form of a vast cultural exchange and development. These interactions along with the preexisting cultures brought ashore formed what is now regarded as the blues; a genre of work music that received critical acclaim in a variety of social circles due to its relatable messages and captivating tunes. Through this fame, many musicians arose to create their own styles of music, eventually leading to the countless genres of American music known today.

    One such genre to arise from famous predecessors such as the rock and soul styles is funk; a music type that features strong rhythms and excitable tones to invigorate and incite its audiences. This excitement usually was expressed both on and off stage through dancing and other forms of choreography during the performance. One such scene of this raw energy can be felt during a monumental experience during Hollywood's James Brown concert in 1983, in which both Prince and Michael Jackson join singer and “Godfather of Soul/funk” James Brown on stage for a live performance.

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This clip not only features two of the most famous funk/pop singers to date, but one of the progenitors of the funk genre himself. Born in Barnwell, South Carolina on May 3 1933, James Brown’s funk career lasted 50 years, with gospel singing and blues as his musical background. While he may have died at age 73, his music went on to inspire many up and coming artists such as Michael Jackson, Dr. Dre, Ludacris, MC Hammer, Prince, Ice-T, Jerry Lee Lewis, Lil Wayne, Lenny Kravitz, 50 cent, Stevie Wonder, and countless others (all of which attended his funeral in Augusta, Georgia on December 29, 2006).

 

Although the artists that took inspiration from funk were a diverse group, the instruments and techniques used to create it were extremely common and are still in a multitude of various popular genres. Similarly to the blues, an A/A/B pattern can be heard behind some lyrics and/or chords. In other cases however, funk differs in its nonexistent harmonic changes; focusing on staying “in the moment” rather than plotting out or formalizing notes, etc. One specific and major difference in funk from the other genres was James Brown’s signature “on the one” rhythm; a playing/singing method that added emphasis on the first downbeat of every measure. Temporal asynchronies dubbed “micro-timings” were also used in the creation of funk music, providing audiences with the notorious groove that became essential to the genre’s auditory themes. Instruments such as the guitar, keyboard, drums, and background singers are often featured within funk albums. Even with similar instruments, the syncopated harmonies and addictive drumming patterns combined with the intense singer/crowd energy allowed for the funk genre to sweep the nation (especially during the 60’s to 80’s), and remains as one of the most famous music genres to this day.

While James Brown is regarded as one of the fathers of funk, several other bands were involved in spreading the good vibes. Over the course of the 60’s, bands such as Sly and the Family Stone founded new forms of funk such as psychedelic funk to ever further develop the popularity of the genre. Although funk primarily focused on good times through song and dance, the core messages behind the bands eventually became one of social commentary and personal freedom/expression. Many funk musicians came from troubled backgrounds, and in the hopes of releasing past pains and creating good times used their newfound platforms to raise awareness of topical issues (such as addiction and drug abuse for the lead singer of Sly and the Family Stone Sylvester Stewart).

Funk peaked during the 70’s to 80’s, with artists such as Rick James and Earth, Wind, and Fire releasing “Super Freak” and “September” respectively. It was also during this time that other genre musicians (such as Motown’s Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson) started incorporating funk traits into their music (using the practices behind funk as a baseline for many of their songs afterwards). One example of this is Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”; a song that utilized the heavy bass and powerful downbeats of funk to provide a strong beat (topping multiple charts upon release and becoming yet another hit single of his).

After funk established itself as a classic American genre, many musicians in turn began to create their own derivative genres from its roots (as was tradition since the creation of blues). One such genre was 1970’s disco, as well as new forms of jazz, punk, hip-hop, and rock in the 80’s. While funk eventually gave way to new-age popular music, it remains one of the most impactful genres to this day in America's musical history, paving the way for future artists and genres alike.

Works Cited

Bettison, Oscar. “I Wanna Take You Higher”: The Stylistic Development and Cultural Dissemination of Post-Psychedelic Funk Music, Princeton University, Ann Arbor, 2009. ProQuest, https://search.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/i-wanna-take-you-higher-stylistic-development/docview/231557428/se-2?accountid=10259.

“Early American Music.” George Washington's Mount Vernon, www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/colonial-music-institute/essays/early-american-music/.

“History.” The Funk Music Hall of Fame & Exhibition Center, 6 Nov. 2019, www.thefunkcenter.org/history/.

“James Brown.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Apr. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown.

Kilchenmann, Lorenz, and Olivier Senn. “Microtiming in Swing and Funk Affects the Body Movement Behavior of Music Expert Listeners.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 6, 2015, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01232.

MasterClass. “Funk Music Guide: Understanding Funk Music - 2021.” MasterClass, MasterClass, 5 Mar. 2021, www.masterclass.com/articles/funk-music-guide#a-brief-history-of-funk-music.

“Music History of the United States.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 9 Apr. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_history_of_the_United_States#Soul_and_funk.