full circle

Funk it up

BLASPHEMY CAN COME from the most unexpected places – like from a friend, hanging out in the Mafia booth in the back of a musty Bay Area club. "Funk is dorky," she said with a chuckle. The words seemed to come out in slow motion. In disbelief I wondered, could that be true?

We talked about Common's latest album, Be (MCA), and Z-Trip's recent CD, Shifting Gears (Hollywood). I pointed out the funk influences in both albums and how funk is seeping into so many genres. I referenced the funky beats and base lines on some of Common's tracks, which are the record's saving graces. I wondered out loud if Common's last, really funkified album, 2002's Electric Circus (MCA), would have encountered the same backlash if it was released today.

So what gave funk bands this reputation for dorkdom? It's very possible there is a misunderstanding of what funk is. Too often jam bands – excellent and less-than-stellar groups – are mistaken for funk groups. Rickey Vincent, a KPFA DJ and author of the 1996 book Funk: The Music, the People, and the Rhythm of the One, put it best, in an e-mail: "While the hip-hop kids studied the records and sampled P-Funk with precision, the neo-hippies just slogged around P-Funk jam sessions searching for a one-night sweatbox." This comment reflects the all-too-familiar public perception of funk: It's the music of suburban, messy-dreaded twentysomethings dancing to the beat of a different drummer, because they certainly aren't dancing to the beat of the drummer onstage. Now that's dorky, and that's not funk.

Vincent continued, "If funk is dorky, then you would have to say OutKast is dorky, that Snoop Dogg is dorky, that Rick James is dorky, that Bootsy Collins is dorky, that E-40 is dorky, that Boots Riley and the Coup are dorky, that Goapele is dorky, that Les Claypool is dorky – OK, he can act dorky – but the point is, the funk is whatever it needs to be, and most of the greatest and most significant black – and white – American popular music artists understand this."

That's the beauty of funk. It is what it needs to be, for the musician and the listener, whether it's working toward a groove, driven by hard, syncopated bass lines and drum beats, or aspiring to revolution as the soundtrack to the black power movement of the '60s and '70s. In his book Vincent describes the sound as "a nasty vibe, and a sweet sexy feeling; Funk is funkiness, a natural release of the essence within. Funk is a high, but it is also down at the bottom, the low-down earthy essence, the bass elements. Funk is at the extremes of everything."

For me, funk is that feeling that swells up in the middle of your chest like a balloon when you hear music that moves you to your core and you can't help but dance. It's the feeling you get when you taste something so divine that you have an out-of-body experience, or when you meet someone, and the instant your eyes connect, your body tingles and your mind races with the possibilities. Funk is the generator and the propeller of soul and life.

I see the incorporation of funk everywhere. Our local heroes use funk. Lyrics Born is one of the funkiest MCs in the Bay Area. This year's Same Shit, Different Day (Quannum) has thumping bass lines and deep grooves that make your head sway, your hips move, and your shoulders bounce. The beats and the distinctive and precise vocals make this a funk album. Oakland's reMo Conscious's album, Thought Criminal (Soul Cipher), incorporates P-Funk vocals and beat techniques. Do I even need to mention Blackalicious and Crown City Rockers?

Outside the Bay, Blueprint's new CD, 1988 (Rhymesayers), takes it back to when hip-hop began. Mos Def made a funk album in 2004, The New Danger (Geffen), rapping less, singing more, and highlighting a funky voice. London's Roots Manuva's recent full-length, Awfully Deep (Bid Dada), mixes electronic, grime, and funk.

It's not just hip-hop that's been keeping funk alive. Funk has crossed over into rock and pop music as well. Last year Linkin Park and Jay-Z teamed up with MTV to produce a mash-up record, Collision Course (Warner Bros.), which moved fluidly between rock and hip-hop to produce a funky sound. Gwen Stefani's hit "Hollaback Girl," from 2004's Love Angel Music Baby (Interscope) borrows deep bass lines and a funky sound.

Funk is ubiquitous. Like everything, funk isn't perfect, and like all music lovers, funksters can sometimes be elitist, but funk can bring its raw rhythms to even the most predictable songs. The best tracks on Be are ones that rely on funk, like "Faithful," "Testify," and "Love Is" – it's almost as if Common wasn't completely committed to other tracks. That makes sense, because if you don't give your all to funk, it won't give it back to you.