Assignment 1-3

The article that I selected for this assignment is called, “The Funk Era and Beyond: New Perspectives on Black Popular Culture. “ The word funk can be traced to the Ki-Kongo word lu-fuki which means body odor. But funk is not a dirty word. In African-American cultural expression, funk has come to represent a certain honesty and integrity that comes with working up a sweat. In the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, funk as a musical genre cleaved from soul music and created a harder edged, more definitely working class aesthetic.” (Bolden, 2008). The collection of essays uses funk music, and what editor, Tony Bolden terms the “funk impulse,” to explore black popular culture in the United States. Funk has been an understudied genre in comparison to the much more prolifically investigated fields of blues, jazz, soul, and hip hop, and this collection starts to bridge the gap.” (Bolden, 2008)
The reason I chose this article, was that, ”funk” was very influential in the time period and era that I was growing up. I feel that the article was meant to be for the general audience, because funk music will always be around, and people of all generations still listen to it. The funk music era has surpassed decades, and became a part of the music genre that teenagers, young adults, middle aged, older people, and senior citizens. You know now 40 is 30, 50 is 40, and 60 is 50. I also like the style he wrote his journal in, because it was easy to read. I let my grand-daughter read it and she is 16, so I feel that it was suitable for all ages to understand his concepts. She liked the article, and actually learned what the meaning of funk meant.

I believe that “funk”, shaped and molded popular black culture today, and introduced “funk” into our popular white culture also. When I think of “funk”, I think of one person, and his group, “The King of Funk” himself George Clinton, featuring The Parliament Funkadelics. This music is what my whole family listens to today, from ages 11 to 50. His music from Atomic Dog to Flashlight, lets not forget We Want The Funk, gotta have that Funk. These songs will live on and on, from decade to decade. I know personally that the funk era will never die, even when they are gone, because it is legendary. I personally never thought that I could go to a concert with my children, and we all enjoyed it and had a great time together, Funkin with the master himself.