The Versatility of Funk

By: MacKenzie Fox

The most popular artists within the funk genre were popular for making people wanting to get down and funky but also due to the versatility in their music. Meaning that they combined different genres in their music or were involved within more than one genre. Not all of the popular funk artists did this, but majority of them did. 

The Top Funk Groups With Versatility

Kool & The Gang were versatile in music, fusing jazz, soul, funk, disco, and R&B soul. They’ve earned 2 grammy awards, 7 American Music Awards and many gold and platinum albums. Much of their music is still continuously and heavily used in movies, cookouts, family get together, and more. Their top 3 songs are: Celebration, Jungle Boogie and Joanna. Many of their songs are hard to order in most popular to least popular just because majority of all their songs are good.

Earth, Wind & Fire were also a very popular group in the funk genre. They had music that mainly consisted of disco, funk, & r&b soul. Their top song ever made is know as September hit #1 on the billboards, the album it came from has went platinum and gold in different locations. The song is so popular that it has been sampled, remixed, re-recorded and covered by different artists.

The last group I will be covering in versatile funk is Parliament Funkadelic.  The creation of their music stemmed from R&B soul, funk, and psychedelic rock. Their top songs are between Flashlight and Give Up The Funk. Give up The Funk was identified as the first certified million selling single and went gold. While Flashlight was P-Funkadelic’s and Casablanca Record first #1 R&B hit. This song was their second certified million selling single, as so many artists have sampled this specific song as well.

The success and accomplishments of these groups have identified the importance of versatility in funk as well as the cause for popularity. Not only was it a door to fame in funk but it was also the key to being unique when producing music. As many other popular artists in different genre’s have done the same to keep up with the likings of generations as they continuously change.

The Versatility of Funk

By: MacKenzie Fox The most popular artists within the funk genre were popular for making people wanting to get down and funky but also due

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