MJ was doing the splits and cutting a rug like James Brown by the age of 6

He literally was singing I'll Bet You by Funkadelic by the age of 10.

By 20 he had already wrote and performed several funky tunes like Stand!, Get It Together, Hum Along and Dance, Honey Child, Dancing Machine, How Funky Is Your Chicken, Mama I Got A Brnad New Thing, Moving Violation, Enjoy Yourself, Blame It On The Boogie, Dont Stop Till You Get Enough, Get On The Floor, Different Kind Of Lady...not to mention some of the funk and soul musicians he has worked with.

And yet people on the facebook internet webs keep saying he is NOT FUNKY. Somebody lying.

paisleypark4 said:

OperatingThetan said:

MJ was definitely funky. It's what I appreciate most about him. I'm really not there for anthems like 'Heal the World', 'Earth Song', 'Cry', etc. But anybody claiming that songs like 'Jam', 'In the Closet', '2 Bad', 'Wanna be Startin' Somethin'' to name just a few, aren't funky is probably lying. * [Edited 11/4/21 12:54pm]

For real! The drums, bass and synths alone on some tracks like PYT, Everybody, Shake Your Body Down To The Ground, Speed Demon and Lovely One say enough

If someone don't know MJ was funky, they don't know what funk is.

They dead from the waist down .

He was funky, but I think his bigger strength was knowing a really good hook when he heard it or came up with it. His songs were funky, but he wasn't Prince-funky. There ain't something he's done that'd stand up against a song like "Acknowledge Me" or "The Exodus has Begun."

Yes, his songs are great. I love MJ. But put up "Jam" to "Pheromone," and MJ's just gonna have to take a seat. At least a little bit.

But funky songs by MJ, do they exist? Totally. "Blood on the Dance Floor," "Jam," "Why You Wanna Trip On Me," "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "Baby Be Mine," "P.Y.T.," "In The Closet," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Streetwalker," and more.

I should note, Dangerous is typically my favorite MJ album, and I love "Jam."

SoulAlive said:

“Workin’ Day and Night” “Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)” “Get On The Floor” “The Things I Do For You” “Burn This Disco Out” “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” “Another Part Of Me” just a few jams that prove that Michael could be funky when he wanted to be

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all disco + pop

not funk.

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Vannormal said:

SoulAlive said:

“Workin’ Day and Night” “Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)” “Get On The Floor” “The Things I Do For You” “Burn This Disco Out” “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” “Another Part Of Me” just a few jams that prove that Michael could be funky when he wanted to be

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all disco + pop

not funk.

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Funk is dirtier.

WhisperingDandelions said:

Vannormal said:

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all disco + pop

not funk.

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Funk is dirtier.

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Funk even is mathematics with lot's of space between the notes to create thàt.

Funk can be utter minimal in sound too, which disco nor pop barely ever is.

Funk also needs to simmer ...

The voids between the notes...

Tightness & sloppyness, dirty and neat.

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TrivialPursuit said:

He was funky, but I think his bigger strength was knowing a really good hook when he heard it or came up with it. His songs were funky, but he wasn't Prince-funky. There ain't something he's done that'd stand up against a song like "Acknowledge Me" or "The Exodus has Begun."

Yes, his songs are great. I love MJ. But put up "Jam" to "Pheromone," and MJ's just gonna have to take a seat. At least a little bit.

But funky songs by MJ, do they exist? Totally. "Blood on the Dance Floor," "Jam," "Why You Wanna Trip On Me," "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "Baby Be Mine," "P.Y.T.," "In The Closet," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Streetwalker," and more.

I should note, Dangerous is typically my favorite MJ album, and I love "Jam."

All those songs are weaker and less funk appeal than those songs.

Now if you said Shockadelica, Kiss or Sexy MF I would agree with you but naahh. AKnowledge Me is no different in sound than Scream or Tabloid Junkie imo.

SUPER funky.

Is "Leave Me Alone" funk? That's my favorite from BAD.

Disco funky maybe.

Remember he thought Prince was gross.

paisleypark4 said:

TrivialPursuit said:

He was funky, but I think his bigger strength was knowing a really good hook when he heard it or came up with it. His songs were funky, but he wasn't Prince-funky. There ain't something he's done that'd stand up against a song like "Acknowledge Me" or "The Exodus has Begun."

Yes, his songs are great. I love MJ. But put up "Jam" to "Pheromone," and MJ's just gonna have to take a seat. At least a little bit.

But funky songs by MJ, do they exist? Totally. "Blood on the Dance Floor," "Jam," "Why You Wanna Trip On Me," "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "Baby Be Mine," "P.Y.T.," "In The Closet," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Streetwalker," and more.

I should note, Dangerous is typically my favorite MJ album, and I love "Jam."

All those songs are weaker and less funk appeal than those songs.

Now if you said Shockadelica, Kiss or Sexy MF I would agree with you but naahh. AKnowledge Me is no different in sound than Scream or Tabloid Junkie imo.

I mean... I'm not looking to convince anyone of my thoughts on MJ as being the defacto opinion. Out of 1000 songs, I listed three from Prince that I found to be funky. ::::

Michael Jackson was funky, but he didn't write funk music. He wrote funky music. There's a difference.

daingermouz2020 said:

I'll say he had some funky tracks but I would say there a different levels of Funk. Mike's funk is not on the level of Prince,James Brown Ohio Player, early Cameo, George Clinton,Parliament Funkadelic, Rick James etc.etc. When it comes to funk imo George and Parliament's funk is just a little more stank to the point not only can I hear it, I can smell it.

Yes, I agree with that – personally I’ve never found MJ particularly funky in comparison to those artists. Of course, there are very funky tracks in his catalogue, especially on the earlier solo albums like Off The Wall which is the only one that I really like (Quincy probably deserves a significant part of the credit for that). That said, some of his percussive vocal work is really impressive ("Working Day and Night"). I don’t know, I’ve just never had that “hairs on the back of the neck” moment that I experience with Prince, James Brown and Parliament-Funkadelic in full swing. As a live performer I’ve always found him too polished and choreographed, whereas truly funky performers are looser and more intuitive. There was just something unconvincing and contrived about MJ as a performer for me, despite his undeniable talent. Also, it’s an attitude thing – Prince dicking around with Sheila doing the “wooden leg” is funkier than anything I’ve seen or heard from MJ. I'm clearly not a fan though, so perhaps that's too harsh.

fen said:

daingermouz2020 said:

I'll say he had some funky tracks but I would say there a different levels of Funk. Mike's funk is not on the level of Prince,James Brown Ohio Player, early Cameo, George Clinton,Parliament Funkadelic, Rick James etc.etc. When it comes to funk imo George and Parliament's funk is just a little more stank to the point not only can I hear it, I can smell it.

Yes, I agree with that – personally I’ve never found MJ particularly funky in comparison to those artists. Of course, there are very funky tracks in his catalogue, especially on the earlier solo albums like Off The Wall which is the only one that I really like (Quincy probably deserves a significant part of the credit for that). That said, some of his percussive vocal work is really impressive ("Working Day and Night"). I don’t know, I’ve just never had that “hairs on the back of the neck” moment that I experience with Prince, James Brown and Parliament-Funkadelic in full swing. As a live performer I’ve always found him too polished and choreographed, whereas truly funky performers are looser and more intuitive. There was just something unconvincing and contrived about MJ as a performer for me, despite his undeniable talent. Also, it’s an attitude thing – Prince dicking around with Sheila doing the “wooden leg” is funkier than anything I’ve seen or heard from MJ. I'm clearly not a fan though, so perhaps that's too harsh.

I would say MJ's James Brown dances and doing the Marlons are pretty funky lol.

Yes I agree..not stank funk....more polished however. He shined it up nice for himself...he wasnt exactly a musician like others mentioned...but James wasnt either.

[Edited 11/9/21 7:41am]

fen said:

daingermouz2020 said:

I'll say he had some funky tracks but I would say there a different levels of Funk. Mike's funk is not on the level of Prince,James Brown Ohio Player, early Cameo, George Clinton,Parliament Funkadelic, Rick James etc.etc. When it comes to funk imo George and Parliament's funk is just a little more stank to the point not only can I hear it, I can smell it.

Yes, I agree with that – personally I’ve never found MJ particularly funky in comparison to those artists. Of course, there are very funky tracks in his catalogue, especially on the earlier solo albums like Off The Wall which is the only one that I really like (Quincy probably deserves a significant part of the credit for that). That said, some of his percussive vocal work is really impressive ("Working Day and Night"). I don’t know, I’ve just never had that “hairs on the back of the neck” moment that I experience with Prince, James Brown and Parliament-Funkadelic in full swing. As a live performer I’ve always found him too polished and choreographed, whereas truly funky performers are looser and more intuitive. There was just something unconvincing and contrived about MJ as a performer for me, despite his undeniable talent. Also, it’s an attitude thing – Prince dicking around with Sheila doing the “wooden leg” is funkier than anything I’ve seen or heard from MJ. I'm clearly not a fan though, so perhaps that's too harsh.

MJ's funk is kinda clean, while James Brown/P-Funk/Prince funk is more dirty, 'way back over yonder funk' .

IMO MJ learnt a lot of his vocal timing from James Brown though and most of his vocal mannerisms and 'noises' are just his personalised adaptations from JB, his 'funk father'.

MarshallStacks said:

fen said:

Yes, I agree with that – personally I’ve never found MJ particularly funky in comparison to those artists. Of course, there are very funky tracks in his catalogue, especially on the earlier solo albums like Off The Wall which is the only one that I really like (Quincy probably deserves a significant part of the credit for that). That said, some of his percussive vocal work is really impressive ("Working Day and Night"). I don’t know, I’ve just never had that “hairs on the back of the neck” moment that I experience with Prince, James Brown and Parliament-Funkadelic in full swing. As a live performer I’ve always found him too polished and choreographed, whereas truly funky performers are looser and more intuitive. There was just something unconvincing and contrived about MJ as a performer for me, despite his undeniable talent. Also, it’s an attitude thing – Prince dicking around with Sheila doing the “wooden leg” is funkier than anything I’ve seen or heard from MJ. I'm clearly not a fan though, so perhaps that's too harsh.

MJ's funk is kinda clean, while James Brown/P-Funk/Prince funk is more dirty, 'way back over yonder funk' .

IMO MJ learnt a lot of his vocal timing from James Brown though and most of his vocal mannerisms and 'noises' are just his personalised adaptations from JB, his 'funk father'.

Stevie Wonder too. Especially the intro of "I Love Every Little Thing ABout You

paisleypark4 said:

fen said:

Yes, I agree with that – personally I’ve never found MJ particularly funky in comparison to those artists. Of course, there are very funky tracks in his catalogue, especially on the earlier solo albums like Off The Wall which is the only one that I really like (Quincy probably deserves a significant part of the credit for that). That said, some of his percussive vocal work is really impressive ("Working Day and Night"). I don’t know, I’ve just never had that “hairs on the back of the neck” moment that I experience with Prince, James Brown and Parliament-Funkadelic in full swing. As a live performer I’ve always found him too polished and choreographed, whereas truly funky performers are looser and more intuitive. There was just something unconvincing and contrived about MJ as a performer for me, despite his undeniable talent. Also, it’s an attitude thing – Prince dicking around with Sheila doing the “wooden leg” is funkier than anything I’ve seen or heard from MJ. I'm clearly not a fan though, so perhaps that's too harsh.

I would say MJ's James Brown dances and doing the Marlons are pretty funky lol.

Yes I agree..not stank funk....more polished however. He shined it up nice for himself...he wasnt exactly a musician like others mentioned...but James wasnt either.

[Edited 11/9/21 7:41am]

Okay Marlon!

I think Michael was certainly Funky..however I also think that he limited that part of himself to appeal to a wider (whiter) audience.

Watch the making of "We are the World." There is a bit where a drummer is playing a funky beat and Michael just starts improvising..doing this super funky step. Its just a few seconds but the funk is there. Right around the 4 minute mark of the following video.

https://www.youtube.com/w...qprpo6GJjE

Edit: Never forget that MJ, like Prince, name James Brown as his biggest influence. That alone will make anyone Funky!

[Edited 11/12/21 22:11pm]

TrivialPursuit said:

Michael Jackson was funky, but he didn't write funk music. He wrote funky music. There's a difference.

Yeah, I agree. Michael sure was funky, but not a pure funk artist.

Hamad said:

“If you can define funk music, it ain’t funky” - Prince Thats an all-encompassing genre, and luckily for the listeners and it’s creators alike, you can’t just confide(label) it based on your pre-conceived ideas & your limited listening, leave room for ignorance a little bit and don’t hold on to labels too strongly. Artists who make funk music, make it differently, as they should do. Yes, I’d definitely argue that Michael made funk music & funky songs, had funky ears & sensibility. You can say “but his music was slick & aimed for perfection when Funk isn’t about that”. Says who? Roger Troutman aimed for precision & perfection too, and I can’t take anyone seriously if they ever said Zapp & Roger wasn’t a funk group. [Edited 11/15/21 5:11am]

Agree.

Zapps I Can Make You Dance is a prime example. Its very polished, but I wouldnt just call it r&b or pop. That song is funky and I can easily see MJ dancing to it. You are also right, every single artist who has done the genre has done it their own way....

RODSERLING said:

And, is Jamiroquai funky ?

They're funky, but they aren't a funk band or write funk music.