Timmy84 said:

Yeah, it's sad. We've discussed this in the international Funk DJ "scene" and it's a big mystery to all involved, black or white.
Today, the absolute majority of club people dancing to vintage Funk are white.
The majority of Funk Djs are white.
The majority of musicians playing oldschool Funk are white.
The majority if fans going to these concerts are white.
Yet Funk is probably the most powerful and influential black music form.
Very strange.
Personally, I don't really care who is on the dancefloor. Black, white, asian, Hispanic - as long as they dance and have a good time, that's all that matters to me.
But from a socio-analytical point, this is a very odd development.

MrSoulpower said:

And that's what's so FUCKED UP about it. FUNK MUSIC is supposed to be for EVERYBODY! Same with soul, same with blues, same with jazz, HELL same with rock 'n' roll! But what do we do? "Ignore it". It's time to re-integrate ourselves back with everybody else in what is really going on. Thing is of all the genres I've listened to, funk and soul are part of my core.

MrSoulpower said:

I don't think it's an odd development actually. It's been this way for decades. Blacks move on to the new sounds and mostly abandon the old and the artists. Then White folks (usually the English) find them and blow them and the sounds up in a different way.

Timmy84 said:

It makes me mad when i heard an "old school cat" like Ralph Mcdaniel (video music box) talking it up about supporting the community and doing live feeds at events that have furthered the stereotyping and then playing videos by more of what killed diversity. Back in the day, i remember going to Video Music Box much like a Friday Night Videos, but now EVERYTHING is so polarized and in a box. People say that we are more "free" today racially, well maybe in the dating field but thats about it. I dont see this race mix coming in the music, you are either on one format or another, there is no mix, you think today you could here a new Stevie Cut on a top 40 station, NO WAY, no why? Racially restrcited playlists and also AGE-ISM is the new elephant in the room. So is the funk dead or where did it go, it pretty much went the way of the RB group, no the real RB group im not talking 112 or NEXT, im talking EWF, im talking RB groups that can play and not just sing a song with their shirt open. You wont hear the funk because the funk cant feature "im up here in the Vip", because RB is now reduced to a Jamie Foxx world of what peeps think is SOUL music, big difference, between SOUL and todays RB, i dont care where your record store files the new Jamie Foxx or Ciara, that shit aint SOUL.

Timmy84 said:

First and foremost, most of this stuff was made FOR a Black audience. By the time it crossed over, it was pretty much played out in it's original form.

What WE need to do is come up w/ some new sounds. We've been stuck in the hip hop rut for too long, but re-treading the past isn't a solution either. Blacks used to be innovators musically, so maybe the best question is why that things gone stagnant?

brooksie said:

Because we've allowed it to be stagnant. Just make good music again. Oh and go to MrSoulPower's sticky and download "the new funk". It's a good station.

Timmy84 said:

Actually, it was the music industry itself that didn't put any focus on 80's funk bands at all (unless we're talking about Kool & The Gang with JT Taylor). With Cameo as THE only exception, everyone else started to change directions because of it:

1. Prince was so mainstream successful because of Purple Rain, that he started to open his mind to new inspiration (READ: Wendy & Lisa) and we ended up with ATWIAD & Parade.

2. Rick James' growing drug problem robbed him of any new ideas that could have save the funk. And the same thing can be said about George Clinton & Sly Stone as well.

3. Teena Marie was so disappointed with the low album selling Emerald City that she basically stop doing the funk/rock thing and went for the soul/jazz routine with Naked to the World.

4. Roger Troutman (with Zapp or as a solo act) started to rely on slow jams as his best (and only?!?) way of reaching a little crossover success.

5. Midnight Starr, Dazz Band, & The Gap Band would phase out before the 1990's because they weren't able to adapt within the New Jack Swing era of black music as well as Full Force & Ready For The World.
[Edited 6/22/09 16:42pm]

TonyVanDam said:

But i think we also have to say that labels were more than happy with "sampling" these groups and calling it "acknowledging" the past and the public really didnt fight it, so they went with it, i mean you can take this all the way back to Clivilles and Cole trying to make Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam a dance/rb/hip hop group and not allow the two members to play anymore, which led to the demise of them. This seed was planted way back then, look at the disappearance of Full Force, those cats played, when they made their beats and production, they got on stage and played the instruments, they didnt dance to a backing track and have a mime band, i mean come on now.

lastdecember said:

RIGHT! These major labels make me laugh.

Timmy84 said:

I mean certain things just go extinct and morph into something else, thats what they always say, but that doesnt mean its good. People try to always pass that shit off that "theres great stuff out there just look" everytime i hear that i wanna stab someone in the neck. If you subscribe to that theory u are so IN A CLOUD. Are there great things out there, sure as shit there are, thats not the point, we are talking aabout the elimination of things not just someone popping out a catchy cd, shit anyone can do "catchy".

brooksie said:

Well, there's been a similar development with Jazz, I give you that.
But there are still many black Jazz musicians.
With Funk - it's different. Most vintage Funk artists are white these days.

lastdecember said:

That's where I turn around and go the "other route" either to something "vintage" or something that you don't often hear. There ain't no "good stuff" in the "mainstream scene", that's for damn sure.

MrSoulpower said:

brooksie said:

[Edited 6/22/09 16:58pm]

MrSoulpower said:

And that's what's wrong with us. We embrace "Tear the Roof Off Da Sucka" and "Flashlight" but not "Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On" and "Standing on the Verge of Gettin' It On"?! THE FUCK!? Are we that fuckin' lazy?!
[Edited 6/22/09 17:00pm]
[Edited 6/22/09 17:01pm]

What exactly is funk? You cannot put it on a platter, put an apple in it's mouth and call it funk, can you? Well, can you?

Timmy84 said:

I think the key is that Hip Hop doesn't require the skill to perform an instrument. Funk does. There you have it. If you kill the skill to play and instrument, then you kill the music that requires instrumentation.

I live in a pretty black neighbood. I've asked some kids, friends of my son, about instruments. They are not interested. They want to either rap or learn how to make beats.

MrSoulpower said:

And there you have it. And that's alright as long as it's creative on their part but if that's all they wanted to do? Well what can you do? Hip-hop is not really to blame, like I said before, it's us. Hip-hop is just another genre we create and we're sticking with that because we don't have many musical classes where we can even find interest in playing unless we joined the band in high school.

MrSoulpower said:

That's where the "Save The Music" stuff is desparately needed. Kids are very open to instruments if they have a chance to play one, but those chances are drying up. I wonder how many kids are around a piano these days muchless get lessons?

Timmy84 said:

Lemme break out this blog I posted a couple of years ago on MySpace. That pretty much sums it up. The discussion that followed it pretty interesting.

http://blogs.myspace.com/...=325835903

brooksie said:

I agree. Before kids get brainwashed into the whole "only dorks play instruments" idea, they are pretty receptive to it. Unfortunately, many young parents who are part of the Hip Hop generation don't really make an effort to introduce their kids to playing an instrument. At least at school, many kids get hip to it.

lastdecember said:

That's exactly it. In terms of the evolution of music, is this form still evolving OR is it being played like an extinct form? Music that needs to be preserved is a music that's stopped evolving, IMHO.

brooksie said:

Interesting angle. The style of Funk most popular in the global Funk underground is the raw, late 1960s Funk. A hard rhythm section and horns. No keys, no synths. Funk at its most vulnerable, before it really started evolving. That's the music that experiences a huge, worldwide revival today. Not the later P-Funk.

MrSoulpower said:

Thanks for that. But you know I'm GLAD that Europe is still appreciating FUNK, gives me, a black American, 25, much interest in hearing that shit. Fuck what ya heard! I don't give a fuck if my cousins, nephews or nieces have something against it. Once I get my funk collection together, they're gonna be SICK OF ME!

Timmy84 said:

Well labels arent around to promote or grow, its that simple, its why your daily newspaper reads like the Enquirer or Star or People. Or your Local News show has now turned into soundbytes, i actually saw news about an entertainment scandal on a nightly news show, before they showed a condensed version of what is happening in iran, which, sorry to say, has more effect on our daily lives than the Chris Brown/Rihanna trials.

Case in point the girl in my avatar broke her ass to get a record together herself, her own cash, why? because majors just wanted to promote her image, get a quick ringtone, instead she said she wanted "longevity" she wanted to do showcases with a live band. every major turned down that offer, so she went with an indie, Siri Music.

MrSoulpower said:

That gives me hope that one day they will discover instruments ain't all that bad. Beats trying to beat box with your mouth full of spit.

lastdecember said:

I see. I gotta check this girl out one day. What's her name?

lastdecember said:

There are many Funk labels today, all over the world. But they are small and underground. You can easily put out a 45 or even an album ... but there's little money to be made. Few Funk artists and DJs actually make a living of Funk.

Timmy84 said:

Timmy84 said:

Stefani Vara, definitely search out her interviews, the record is coming out in a week, but look for her interviews, i wish everyone coming up could speak like her, meaning, talking about how to work. I mean every female isnt gonna be Beyonce, its that simple and labels just need to let it go, the image, the whole way of thinking is tired at this point.