Funk Music Analysis
A robust rhythm, a commanding beat, an energetic aura. The year was 1974, ten years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, yet the future of race relations was still a perplexing mess. Amidst the chaos, a powerful voice could be heard:
Music is designed to free your funky mind
We have come to help you cope
Out into another reality, you will be
Through our music we bring you hope (Funkadelic 23-26)
Funk music, a representation of power and confrontation, was a groundbreaking musical style developed in a period of social uncertainty and racial oppression. Inextricably intertwined with the issue of race, funk powerfully opposed hegemonic domination by creating a discourse that empowered and educated black communities.
From its earliest …show more content…
Sonically speaking, funk’s bass-centric nature and rhythmic backbone reflected an attitude of confrontation and rebellion. Loud horns, drums, and beats all paralleled the aggressive frustration out of which it came. Its hardcore, unrefined sound led many to label “funk [as] the extreme of everything” (Morant 75). In addition to the robust instrumentals, pioneers like James Brown developed a style of the frequent repetition of politically-charged lyrics, which further reinforced its association with power and strength. Songs sometimes consisted of just a small collection of phrases or words; however, as long as the perfect energy and emotion was conveyed with the lyrics the resonating quality of funk lived. Frequently, the lyrics did no more than set a loose theme or outline, and the artist would then color the performance through the delivery. Largely, artists focused on themes of racial power, happiness, and pride. Admittedly, some funk lyrics also had a party-element to them; however, the uplifting energy of these songs still rejected mainstream complacency and instead galvanized black pride. And even though artists like Sly and the Family Stone were multiracial in that they included white artists in their group, the music itself was crafted for a black audience, and the lyrics and style sought to empower and educate the extremely marginalized within the African American community. Resultantly, funk became intertwined with black communities that sought to differentiate themselves from the dominant white culture. This separatist spirit is even observable in “words like… funk, [as they] were efforts to come up with a language to talk about that visceral element in music” that didn’t exist in popular discourse (Kelley 40). Between its instrumentals, lyrics, audience, and language, the identity funk carved out was
Music is designed to free your funky mind
We have come to help you cope
Out into another reality, you will be
Through our music we bring you hope (Funkadelic 23-26)
Funk music, a representation of power and confrontation, was a groundbreaking musical style developed in a period of social uncertainty and racial oppression. Inextricably intertwined with the issue of race, funk powerfully opposed hegemonic domination by creating a discourse that empowered and educated black communities.
From its earliest …show more content…
Sonically speaking, funk’s bass-centric nature and rhythmic backbone reflected an attitude of confrontation and rebellion. Loud horns, drums, and beats all paralleled the aggressive frustration out of which it came. Its hardcore, unrefined sound led many to label “funk [as] the extreme of everything” (Morant 75). In addition to the robust instrumentals, pioneers like James Brown developed a style of the frequent repetition of politically-charged lyrics, which further reinforced its association with power and strength. Songs sometimes consisted of just a small collection of phrases or words; however, as long as the perfect energy and emotion was conveyed with the lyrics the resonating quality of funk lived. Frequently, the lyrics did no more than set a loose theme or outline, and the artist would then color the performance through the delivery. Largely, artists focused on themes of racial power, happiness, and pride. Admittedly, some funk lyrics also had a party-element to them; however, the uplifting energy of these songs still rejected mainstream complacency and instead galvanized black pride. And even though artists like Sly and the Family Stone were multiracial in that they included white artists in their group, the music itself was crafted for a black audience, and the lyrics and style sought to empower and educate the extremely marginalized within the African American community. Resultantly, funk became intertwined with black communities that sought to differentiate themselves from the dominant white culture. This separatist spirit is even observable in “words like… funk, [as they] were efforts to come up with a language to talk about that visceral element in music” that didn’t exist in popular discourse (Kelley 40). Between its instrumentals, lyrics, audience, and language, the identity funk carved out was