Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the mid-20th century. It deemphasizes melody and chord progressions and focuses on a strong rhythmic groove of a bassline played by an electric bassist and a drum part played by a percussionist, often at slower tempos than other popular music. Funk typically consists of a complex percussive groove with rhythm instruments playing interlocking grooves that create a "hypnotic" and "danceable" feel. It uses the same richly colored extended chords found in bebop jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths, and dominant seventh chords with altered ninths and thirteenths.
Sly and the Family Stone was an American band originating from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, they were pivotal in the development of funk, soul, R&B, rock, and psychedelic music. Their core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, and included Stone's brother and singer/guitarist Freddie Stone, sister and singer/keyboardist Rose Stone, trumpeter Cynthia Robinson, drummer Greg Errico, saxophonist Jerry Martini, and bassist Larry Graham. The band was the first major American rock group to have a racially integrated, mixed-gender lineup.
Pizzicato Five was a Japanese pop band formed in Tokyo in 1979 by multi-instrumentalists Yasuharu Konishi and Keitarō Takanami. After some personnel changes in the late 1980s, the band gained international fame as a duo consisting of Konishi and vocalist Maki Nomiya. With their music blending together 1960s pop, jazz and synth-pop, the group were a prominent component in the Shibuya-kei movement of the 1990s.
Emmanuel N'Djoké "Manu" Dibango was a Cameroonian musician and songwriter who played saxophone and vibraphone. He developed a musical style fusing jazz, funk, and traditional Cameroonian music. His father was a member of the Yabassi ethnic group, while his mother was a Duala. He was best known for his 1972 single "Soul Makossa". He died from COVID-19 on 24 March 2020.
Pop Will Eat Itself are an English alternative rock band formed in 1986 in Stourbridge in the West Midlands of England with members from Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country. Initially known as a grebo act, they changed style to incorporate sample-driven indie and industrial rock. Graham Crabb describes their sound as "electronic, punk, alternative hip-hop, hybrid music for fucking, fighting & smoking cigars". Their highest-charting single was the 1993 top-ten hit "Get the Girl! Kill the Baddies!". After initially disbanding in 1996, and having a brief reformation in 2005, they issued their first release in more than five years in 2010.
Psychedelic soul is a music genre that emerged in the late 1960s and saw Black soul musicians embrace elements of psychedelic rock, including its production techniques, instrumentation, effects units and drug influences. It came to prominence in the late 1960s and continued into the 1970s, playing a major role in the development of funk and disco.
Inside Out is the sixth studio album by American rapper MC Hammer. It was released via Giant Records and Reprise Records on September 12, 1995. After the decrease in popularity and sales of his previous album, The Funky Headhunter, Hammer returned to his previous pop rap image.
R U Still Down? is the sixth studio album and second double album by American rapper, 2Pac, released on November 25, 1997. It is his second posthumous release and the first to be released without his creative input and contains previously unreleased material from the time period of his albums Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., Thug Life: Volume 1 and Me Against the World. Throughout the album, 2Pac airs his views on life from a time before he became involved in the controversial East Coast–West Coast rivalry. His lyrics foreshadow his death in songs like "Open Fire", "Thug Style" and "Only Fear of Death." The album spawned two hits, "Do for Love" and "I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto", of which "Do for Love" was certified Gold by the RIAA. R U Still Down? sold 549,000 copies in its first week, and topped the R&B charts in the United States for three weeks.
Flying Saucer Attack is an English space rock band formed in Bristol in 1992, led by songwriter David Pearce. Rachel Brook of Movietone was a member during the band's early incarnation; other musicians contributing to the group's recordings and live performances included Rocker, Matt Elliott and Sam Jones.
Skull Snaps was an enigmatic funk group active between 1963 and 1973. The group is known for their mysterious origins and the anonymity of their members, with the identities of their members being unknown for most of their career and long afterward. Until 1970 they were known as The Diplomats, and released a number of singles with some success. Renamed Skull Snaps, they released an eponymous album on the small GSF label in 1973 before suddenly disappearing.
The Blackbyrds are an American rhythm and blues and jazz-funk fusion group, formed in Washington, D.C., in 1973 and reformed in 2012 by Keith Killgo.
David T. Walker is an American guitarist. In addition to numerous session musician duties since the early 1970s, Walker has issued fifteen albums in his own name.
The RZA Hits is a compilation produced by The RZA. It contains songs featured on the first Wu-Tang Clan album and its first round of solo albums. All songs, apart from "Brooklyn Zoo", are produced by RZA.
What's the 411? Remix is a remix album by R&B singer Mary J. Blige, released on December 7, 1993, by Uptown Records and MCA Records. It is composed of remixed tracks from Blige's critically acclaimed debut album, and involved record producers and recording artists including Sean "Puffy" Combs, Teddy Riley, Eddie "F" Ferrell, Craig Mack, Heavy D, the Notorious B.I.G., and K-Ci Hailey. The album received favorable reviews, and debuted at number 118 on the Billboard 200, and number 22 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Quazar is the debut album from the band Quazar. The band was led by former P-Funk vocalist Glenn Goins, who also served as the producer and arranger of the album. Goins died before the album's release, effectively sealing the group's fate. The album was released by Arista Records in the fall of 1978, after Funkadelic's One Nation Under A Groove but before Parliament (band)'s Motor Booty Affair, that same year. The album also features contributions from former P-Funk drummer Jerome Brailey. Both Glenn Goins and Jerome Brailey were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Parliament-Funkadelic.
Salt of the Earth is the second album by the Washington, D.C.-based group The Soul Searchers.
The Hurra is the debut solo album by the American rapper and producer DJ Hurricane. It was released in 1995 via Grand Royal.
Touch of Soul is the only studio album by American contemporary R&B group Art n' Soul, released March 26, 1996 via Big Beat Records. The album was co-produced by Craig Kallman and Tony! Toni! Toné! drummer Timothy Christian Riley. It did not chart on the Billboard 200; however, it peaked at #36 on the R&B Albums chart and #27 on the Heatseekers chart.
"Impeach the President" is a single by funk band the Honey Drippers, written and produced by Roy Charles Hammond, known as Roy C. It was first released on Alaga Records in 1973, and was re-released to iTunes by Tuff City Records in 2017, after being sampled hundreds of times since the mid-1980s. It is a protest song advocating the impeachment of then-President of the United States Richard Nixon. In the chorus, the band chants the song's title while Roy persuades them to stop. The B-side is "Roy C's Theme".
Pierre Jaubert aka Pierre Berjot was a record company executive and a record producer. He has produced recordings for artists such as John Lee Hooker, Krispie And Company, The Lafayette Afro Rock Band, Mal Waldron, Leroy Gomez, Chantal Curtis, Beckie Bell and Richard Sanderson. According to the French Wikipedia he died on August 8, 2017.
