My favorite funk artists are:
1. Prince
2. The Isley Brothers
3. Cameo
4. Parliament/Funkadelic
5. Roger & Zapp
6. James Brown
7. The Time
8. Kool & The Gang
9. The Gap Band
10. Earth, Wind & Fire
[Edited 7/12/07 12:32pm]
[Edited 7/12/07 12:32pm]

1. JAMES BROWN
2. Parliament/Funkadelic
3. Ohio Players
4. Sly & the Family Stone
5. Earth Wind & Fire
6. Cameo
7. Slave
8. Zapp
9. Kool & the Gang
10. The Time

OP
P-Funk
Rufus & Chaka
GCS
EW+F
Sly Stone
Saadiq

1.) James Brown
2.) P-Funk
3.) The Isleys
4.) Roger & Zapp
5.) Sly
6.) Bootsy's Rubber Band
7.) Rick James
8.) The Gap Band
9.) Ohio Players
10.) The Elements (Earth, Wind & Fire)

Honorary mentions: Stevie, Marvin, Prince, Chaka Khan and Rufus, Teena Marie, Labelle, AWB, Joe Tex
[Edited 7/12/07 13:32pm]

LoDog said:

prince is not a funk artist dude.

jackson35 said:

Says who? You? That's just your opinion dude. Not everyone else.

1. Prince
2. Rick James
3. The Barkays

4-10 in no particular order:

Lakeside
Cameo
Roger and Zapp
The Isley Brothers
The Gap Band
Midnight Star
One Way

LoDog said:

You definitely would have to add Rick James, the Dazz Band, ohio players and the Average White Band.

Well...

Parliament
Rick James
Prince (altough I've always made the claim that only about 25% of his output is actually funk...)
Bastian
Mandrill
The Soft Pink Truth
Herbie Hancock & The Headhunters Experience
Jimi Tenor (just for sports)
Bewtsy Collaanz
Kassav'

1. Prince and his empire
2. James Brown
3. Cameo
4. The Time
5. Red Hot Chili Peppers
6. The Gap Band
7. Rick James and the Stone City band
8. George Clinton and his empire
9. Earth Wind and Fire
10. A Certain Ratio



There's so many more good ones to name after that though. But those listed were the ones that immediately came to mind.

I'll add Jimmy Castor and Charles Wright to the mix too.
[Edited 7/13/07 12:41pm]
[Edited 7/13/07 12:42pm]

For me - James Brown = 1-10

All the others come in at no.11 onwards, however much I like P-Funk, Sly, Bootsy, Prince, Ohio Players, Miles Davis 1973-75 band etc.

James in his prime was/ is the funk equivalent of almighty God incarnate, and we shall not see his like again.

LoDog said:

*Prince from 1979-2001. After 2001 he has been MIA on the Funk Scene.

Miles said:

So true. He truly was and is the equivalent of everything funk.