Funk was something that brought people together. It was soul, love, it was something that could make people move without thinking. But where is it now? I have found myself asking this question a lot recently; listening to some old classic funk, and realizing how my body just moved and the feeling I had within myself. However in order to understand why funk left, we must first understand it’s origins.

Now you can’t talk about funk without mentioning James Brown, for those who don’t know James Brown, he is an artist widely known from his attribution to music in the 60’s and 70’s. He created the “Funk Beat” which was big because in traditional R&B the 2nd and 4th notes in a beat are accentuated and emphasized whereas Funk brought about the emphasis on the first note. Socially funk was a passionate representation of harsh struggle and problems in life, shedding light on topics like erratic relationships, racial strife, and plenty of other harsh realities.

Now that we’ve gone over some of the background of funk we can get into where it went and why it isn’t what it used to be. The new styles and techniques brought about by funk were incredibly  inspirational. Disco was a genre that worked off of funk heavily. Being used by artists like Parliament-Funkadelic and George Clinton who would push the boundaries of Funk. So I suppose it’s not as much of where it went, but how it went. How it faded into other genres and inspired music made for the soul. Funk isn’t just a genre of music, but it’s a feeling, one that needs to come back. Let’s bring back the Funk!