Klyph said:

its in the bottom... the songs have bottom which make them funky....

Hey when We Can Funk 1st came out... I didn't like it. Gave it a couple of spins and then said nope don't like it. The next week I put that sucker on my brother system (which was expensive) and that joint was so funky it nearly shook his apartment to the ground. Its been one of my favorites since

Klyph said:

^^^wears a pocket protector

obviously ye canny catagorise prince, but the dude is wan funky muthafuka, i refer 2 him as the funk, the funks out on monday!, only 3 days till we see the funk! when i was a kid i planked a bag of quality bootlegs recorded onto audio from my brother, he found the bag of funk...its became a generic term 4 me, i hardly think your the only person who dosent think in this way..but its impossible to think of him as a particular artist..put it this way if he bust on to he seen and played nothing but rock music, guitar heroics, crazy solos, rock ballads..he may not be regarded in the way he is now but if he went the hendrix route the world would have him firmly in the top 3 guitarists of all time..but still it seems many, many cats just dont know...

babynoz said:

That thread was damn mess

Klyph said:

Sorry bro, there's no debate in here, nice try!

Newbie.

Deaf newbie at that.

Klyph said:

Either you dont know the meaning of the word or you havent heard enough Prince records or seen enough Prince concerts. Prince is one of the last REAL funk masters - probably the only one left aside from George Clinton.

PEJ said:

You are right

Klyph said:

Here's a question... besides being musicians... what does the following artist have in common...?

James Brown
Sly and the Family Stone
War
Kool and the Gang
Average White Band
Parliament/Funkadelic
Earth,Wind and Fire
the Gap Band
Cameo
Rick James
The Time


Asnwer: they are all considered to be 'funk artist' or funky... yet none of them sound alike. Prince just has his own brand of funk with a unique sound... and name... it just slips my mind what its called and why it was called that over 25 years ago. Oh yeah... 'the Minneapolis Sound'. Prince took a lot of new wave and a dash of rock and made some funky music.

Funk isnt about a specific sound. It can be a groove or it can be an attitude.,, or both. Many of funks pioneers brought elements of other forms of music and made it 'funky'

So is Prince a 'funk artist'...? Thats debatable.... but is he funky...?

Is bacon greasy...?

xlr8r said:

Funny, I thought we were talking about Prince, not what your mom uses for a sanitary napkin!

aarontj said:

I didn't expect a debate from most of you, just those that actually listen to music and not worship at the alter of Prince. Thanks to those that actually got what I was trying to say when they READ the original post.

Dayclear said:

As I stated before, not a newbie, not deaf, just aware of my own opinions. Let me restate it this way for those who just don.t seem to get what I am saying. Has Prince ever written "funky" tunes? YES. Do I see Prince as a "funk" artist? NO. Do I think Prince, as a whole, is "funky"? NO.

BigDaddyHQ said:

Every band you listed are "Funk" bands, so of course they are funky! Hell, Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me A River" is dripping with a funk groove, but I wouldn't consider him funky. So is bacon greasy? Yeah it is.....until you dab it with a paper towel.

Klyph said:

And after you eat enough of it... you'll be wondering way your cholesterol level is so high. Bacon is greasy...period... in and out.

Its funny you mention Justin Timberlake. Hmmm... a song sung by an artist who is an admitted Prince fan ... produced by a guy (Timbaland) who said he got into producing trying to make beats that sounded like Prince.

Hmmmmm.....

Any who... I see the point kinda missed the target. The point again was to state that funk comes in many formss and varieties.... Prince like all the others has his own brand of funk. Unlike the others... and unlike most musicians period.... Prince has shown that he can easily step into any genre and make music. But at the end of a day.... he likes to break it down to the funky level.

Prince is funky...deal with it.

He thinks he is... we think he is... the whole of the musical world thinks he is... only a very few who try to apply thier mis-understanding of the genre tries to say other wise.

Klyph said:

Prince music can be very funky.But most of time his music is post-funky, in a very abstract way. He is funky the way Picasso art is african.

Klyph said:

now that's funkay


.
[Edited 3/26/09 7:39am]

BigDaddyHQ said:

None of these are as diverse sounding as Prince. The closest artist I can compare to P, would be Bowie (rock, funk, pop, industrial..etc). Sure Prince can hang with some of the best funk artists of all time but it would be difficult for me to believe many of these artists could be as diverse as a Prince or Bowie.

As far as Funk goes: George Clinton is the FUNK God. IMO it's impossible for anyone to be as funky as George..it's like he has given his entire like to the Funk. Prince is diverse and you don't hear these other artists recording something like "the truth" or something rocking like "Fury" - but I don't believe it's just the funk that sets P apart.

I think I follow wat BigDaddyHQ is sayin, but I have a question (rather 3 questions):
Wat qualifies music to be funky?
Is funky a genre?
Or is it an attitude?
I don't even kno how to explain wat I think funky music is but I've always associated "funky" to old skool music, like Marvin Gay and James Brown. There are times when I'd watch some of Prince's performances and listen to some of his music and not feel the "funk" and other times, I do!
OK, jus to help y'all help me out, take for example in Musicology tour, from where Prince asks the crowd "...u want some Mike? on the 1 Mike..." to where that segment ends where he says "...wat they gon do wit us 'Nato? I dunno...", now I see that part as funky...why? I dunno...the vybe I get jus makes me "feel" like it's funky
With that said, can anyone give me a clear vision of wat funk/funky really is?

BigDaddyHQ said:

excellent post... couldn't have said it better

Alexandernvrmind said:

Man, this "Prince isn't Funky" arguement is old and tired!! Just enjoy the sounds, and quit tryin' to categorize it!!

DAMN!!!

Brofie said:

thanks I'm happy you understand Funk

JBK said:

I like your analogy.

prince made funk commercial in the 80's kind of continuing the good work done by clinton and james in the 70's.

in any case, what is funk anyway? no one really knows.

yes

vinx98 said:

Mr. George Clinton is FUNK.

you must have have heard much of his live stuff...especially aftershow gigs from the 80s and 90s...he can be extremely funky in the truest sense of the word. Sometimes he is in guitar hero mode and sometimes in funk mode...or something else or in between.

I LOVED his funk vergeing on pscycadeliA NOW its just ''Funk''