Funk
Funk originated in the mid-1960s by musicians who began mixing the genres of Rhythm & Blues, Soul, and Jazz. The genre is characterized by a strong groove, usually carried out by bass guitar or drumkits, a prominent use of extended chords, and a percussive guitar style using a wah pedal. Funk usually focuses less on melody and more on the danceable rhythm and groove.
One of the founders of funk was James Brown, who implemented a signature groovy sound by emphasizing the downbeat and singing in a distinctly emphatic voice. Other seminal acts in funk include Sly & The Family Stone, Funkadelic and Parliament (both headed by George Clinton who created the P-Funk sound), and The Meters.
Funk has also been fused with numerous genres, such as jazz (for Jazz-Funk), Latin-associated genres (for Latin Funk), and Rock (for Funk Rock).
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, funk expanded even further, incorporating elements from Disco, Electro, and Hip Hop. During this time Prince and Rick James along with others were vital in the development of Synth Funk.
Funk also advanced in countries outside of the United States of America. In West Africa, a particular blend of Vodoun and funk arose, resulting in what many call Afro-Funk. The most important artist of this style was T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou. In Nigeria, Fela Kuti melded Highlife, Yoruba music, and funk to create what is known as Afrobeat. India, Ethiopia, and some European countries all had a hand in the development of distinct funk styles that broke away from the American norms.
Afrobeat
Afrobeat is a genre created by Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and singer Fela Kuti in the late 1960s. It is a distinctly neotraditional style that merges the traditional Yoruba percussion and call-and-response structure with the general principles of Highlife (Fela played in Bobby Benson's and Dr. Victor Olaiya's bands in the 1950s), Jazz (a genre that Fela explored during the 1960s in London and back in Lagos) and Funk (influenced by local Nigerian star Geraldo Pino, an imitator of James Brown). This combination proved very successful, earning Fela critical acclaim and spawning a whole movement of afrobeat bands that still continues today.
Afrobeat songs were originally sung by Fela in either pidgin English or Yoruba; he combined love songs ("Lover") with songs based on traditional Yoruba tales ("Alujon jon ki jon"), but by the mid-1970s political themes became the center of Fela's lyrical output, with albums such as Expensive Shit, Zombie and Coffin for Head of State criticizing the police, the military and the government. This consolidated his audience, as his popularity and the popularity of afrobeat grew overseas. However, local sales of afrobeat have always been lower than those of Fuji and Jùjú, genres that were in fact influenced by afrobeat to a great extent.
The standard afrobeat ensemble was established by Fela's band, The Africa '70, featuring drums, congas, percussion sticks, sekere, electric bass, electric guitar and a horn section. Fela's drummer, Tony Allen, left the band in 1979 to pursue a successful career that would see him expand the afrobeat sound. In the 1980s, Fela's band became The Egypt '80, being larger than his previous ensemble and playing longer, more complex pieces. Until his death in 1997, no other musician (except his oldest son, Femi Kuti) competed against Fela's success in afrobeat. Ever since, the number of bands, especially in North America, has increased notably, with groups such as Antibalas and The Souljazz Orchestra keeping Fela's legacy alive. Fela's youngest son, Seun Kuti spearheads the new Egypt '80.
Afro-Funk
(also known as Voodoo Funk)
Afro-funk consists of a Funk style strongly mixed with traditional and more modern genres in Sub-Saharan West Africa. It features lots of traditional African percussion, heavy syncopation, and the classic funk groove.
In contrast with Afrobeat, Afro-Funk is not heavily Jazz-influenced, often lacking the brass sections, long horn solos, and improvisational elements of Afrobeat.
Deep Funk
(also known as Heavy Funk)
First coined by Keb Darge, Deep Funk describes a style of Funk music which focuses more on grooves and rhythm than songwriting. Also known as Heavy Funk, Deep Funk features a rawer, grittier, and harder sound than typical or commercial funk. Deep funk is rarely formally innovative (often similar to James Brown or The Meters) and was mostly produced by small local bands from the USA in the 1960s and 70s.
The term "deep" in this context refers to DJs and collectors "digging deep" to find rare and valuable 45s (often to be sampled in Hip Hop music), but is also meant in the same sense as in Deep Soul: a stronger focus on "feel" and groove.
Funk Metal
Funk metal refers to a fusion of Metal and Funk Rock that gained popularity in the mid-1980s. Funk metal bands often incorporate influences from a variety of genres, most commonly Punk Rock, Hip Hop and Thrash Metal (the latter being particularly true in earlier bands). Bands include Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fishbone, Faith No More, Primus, Jane's Addiction, Rage Against the Machine, and 311. It was heavily influential on the later Nu Metal movement.
Funk Rock
Funk rock is a fusion of Rock and Funk that emerged in the early 1970s. The genre is characterized by the emphasis of funk groove over a rock basis. It was pioneered by Jimi Hendrix's live album Band of Gypsys and Funkadelic's early work. Other prominent acts in the genre include Red Hot Chili Peppers, Prince and Primus.
With the increasing popularity of funk music in the 1970s, rock artists such as David Bowie started to add funk elements to their music. Funk also had a profound impact in Post-Punk and Dance-Punk.
In late 1980s and early 1990s, a Metal-oriented fusion of the genre, dubbed as Funk Metal, gained popularity within the Alternative Metal movement as well.
Go-Go
Go-go is a percussion and drums dominated Funk sound with jam character. In addition, it features horns in the style of James Brown, spare keyboard parts, sampling, and call-and-response vocals and rap. The style utilized heavily syncopated rhythm and typically included three traditional congas and two shorter, 'junior' congas, a line-up virtually unique to go-go.
The style's origins are in mid-1960s African American go-go (simply meaning 'music club') live events and was represented almost exclusively by artists from Washington, DC. By the mid-1970s, the sound was fully formed, the driving influence in its development being Chuck Brown (dubbed "The Godfather of Go-Go") with his band The Soul Searchers. Brown described go-go as a combination of Latin American Music beats, African call and chant, and American Jazz.
Other notable artists include Trouble Funk, E.U. and Rare Essence.
Go-go continues to expand and influence, with 21st century groups such as TCB and XIB adopting a modern 'bounce beat' style, mutating the original go-go into a new sound which is rougher and less melodic.
Jazz-Funk
Jazz-funk is a form of Jazz highly influenced by Funk. It incorporates funk's comparatively basic and propelling rhythm and repetitive bass grooves into a jazz setting, replacing jazz's classic swing rhythm with that of funk, favouring a steady groove over melody and chord progressions. Jazz-funk tracks sometimes make use of a horn section supplying riffs, are often lengthy and based on a one chord or two chord vamp of the rhythm guitar and prominent bass line as the starting point for the solo instrument, often a keyboard, saxophone or electric guitar.
Early jazz-funk of the late 1960s shared some similarities with Soul Jazz which started in the late 1950s and was also called 'funky jazz' until the early 1960s. But while soul jazz (like Soul) was influenced by Rhythm & Blues and Gospel, jazz-funk takes its cues directly from funk. Jazz-funk (unlike soul jazz) quickly became associated with funk's typically electric and electronic instrumentation: Most of the genre worked with electric funk guitar lines, electric bass, as well as electric keyboards and synthezisers from the 1960s onwards, influencing the later Synth Funk. Though there are important examples of relatively conventional jazz-funk such as Herbie Hancock's Fat Albert Rotunda (1970), the genre therefore has large overlaps with Jazz Fusion influenced by Avant-Garde Jazz, such as on Miles Davis' record Bitches Brew (1970) or the more tightly groove-oriented On the Corner (1972), which based their fusion sound on avant-garde jazz as well as funk rhythms.
While these more experimental outings remained influential, jazz-funk's mainstream breakthrough is largely attributed to Hancock's hit album Head Hunters (1973) and the records following it, with commercially successful acts like Weather Report throughout the 1970s. This less avant-garde and almost danceable style of jazz-funk remained the template for the following decades, with contemporary bands like Medeski, Martin & Wood leaning towards the former, and artists like John Scofield leaning towards the latter approach. Starting in the 1980s, jazz-funk's groove also impacted the Dance and Hip Hop-influenced Acid Jazz.
Latin Funk
Funk music combined with Latin American Music styles.
P-Funk
(also known as Pure Funk)
P-Funk is a distinctive sub-style of Funk created in the mid-1970s by George Clinton and his fellow musicians of Parliament and Funkadelic fame, among others. Characteristics are a "fat", monotonic drum sound; spaced-out synthesizers; thumping, "squelchy" basslines; tight, syncopated horn sections; and sometimes heavy guitars. This sound has been brought by former Clinton collaborators to many spin-off bands, for example Bootsy's Rubber Band and Jerome Brailey's Mutiny.
P-Funk has been a fruitful source of sampling for Hip Hop acts since the late 1980s.
Porn Groove
(also known as Porno Groove)
Porn groove is a music genre that's primarily found in the soundtracks to Pornographic films of the 1970s. The original use of porn groove is to imitate the sexual actions (through audio) that appeared on screen in those films.
The most notable and common aspect of porn groove is the use of an electric guitar with a wah-wah pedal to carry out the melody. Other aspects of the genre include (but are not limited to) Funk-inspired slapped bass guitar and minimalistic drums with emphasis on the rimshot.
Synth Funk
The increasing availability of synthesizers in the late 70s and early 80s spawned a new generation of Funk artists who typically replaced melodic segments traditionally performed with horns with synthesizers. Synthesizers also sometimes usurped the roles of keyboards and both electric and bass guitars. Synth funk often, but not always, incorportated drum machines to augment the futuristic sound. Prominent artists of synth funk include The Gap Band, Zapp, and Prince, and their example would go on to spawn a number of followers as well as influence many established funk acts like Cameo and Rick James.
Definitions courtesy of rateyourmusic.com