| Psychedelic funk | |
|---|---|
| Other names | |
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 1960s |
| Derivative forms | |
| Fusion genres | |
| Other topics | |
Psychedelic funk (also calledP-funk orfunkadelia, and sometimes conflated withpsychedelic soul[1]) is a music genre that combinesfunk music with elements ofpsychedelic rock.[3] It was pioneered in the late 1960s and early 1970s by American acts likeSly and the Family Stone,Jimi Hendrix, and theParliament-Funkadelic collective.[3][4] It would influence subsequent styles including 1970sjazz fusion and the 1990sWest Coast hip hop styleG-funk.
Inspired byJimi Hendrix andpsychedelic culture, thepsychedelic soul groupSly and the Family Stone borrowed techniques frompsychedelic rock music, includingwah pedals,fuzz boxes,echo chambers, and vocal distorters.[3] On albums such asLife (1968) andStand (1969), the band pioneered a "multiculturalist, integrationist" psychedelic funk style.[5] This psychedelic sound would also be reflected in the late 1960s output of iconic Detroit labelMotown.[4] ProducerNorman Whitfield drew on this sound for popular Motown recordings such asThe Temptations' "Cloud Nine" andMarvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," both released in October 1968.[4] Hendrix's November 1968 single "Crosstown Traffic" has been described as an early example of the psychedelic funk subgenre.[6]
In 1970, Hendrix released the trio albumBand of Gypsys, described as "ground zero" for psychedelic funk.[7] TheParliament-Funkadelic collective developed the sensibility, employingacid rock-oriented guitar andsynthesizers into open-ended funk jams.[3][4]Funkadelic's 1971 albumMaggot Brain was labeled a monument in the genre byPitchfork.[8] Led byGeorge Clinton, P-Funk would shift the genre away from song-form and toward groove and texture, emphasizing theabject elements of psychedelia.[1]The Isley Brothers andBobby Womack would be influenced by Funkadelic and draw on this sound.[4] Womack also contributed to Sly and the Family Stone's landmark 1971 albumThere's a Riot Goin' On, described as a "masterpiece of darkly psychedelic funk" byAllMusic.[9]
During the early 1970s, the main elements of psychedelic funk were adopted as signifiers of "urban blackness" and incorporated intoblaxploitation films.[1] The 1971James Brown instrumental albumSho Is Funky Down Here, directed by bandleaderDavid Matthews, explored "fuzzy" psychedelic funk.[10] Jazz musician Miles Davis, newly influenced bySly Stone and Brown,[11] explored the genre on his 1972 albumOn the Corner.[12] The groupWar recorded in a psychedelic funk-rock style alongside lyrics protesting racism andpolice brutality.[13] The 1974 albumInspiration Information byShuggie Otis explored psychedelic funk and soul, and despite receiving little attention upon release, it later achieved acclaim when it was reissued by theLuaka Bop label.[14]
In the late 1970s,new wave bandTalking Heads explored psychedelic funk, influenced by George Clinton and P-Funk, on atrilogy of acclaimed albums.[15][16]Prince drew on the style,[4] recording in a "richly melodic vein of psychedelic funk" on his 1985 albumAround the World in a Day.[17] Author Michaelangelo Matos described Prince's 1987 track “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker” as psychedelic funk, “not in the sense of Funkadelic or Hendrix'sBand of Gypsys, but in the sense that its rhythms and textures achieve a molten-lava sense without surrendering the groove.[18]
The West German bandCan played psychedelic funk as part of that country's 1970skrautrock scene.[19]West African groups such asBlo andOrchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou played forms of psychedelic funk in the mid-1970s, both drawing on theAfrobeat of Nigerian musicianFela Kuti.[20][21] Turkey'sAnatolian rock scene featured psychedelic funk by artists such asBarış Manço.[22] The British bandHappy Mondays played a form of "stiff" psychedelic funk on their 1988 albumBummed.[23]
Examples of psychedelic funk fromworld music scenes have been collected on compilations issued on the World Psychedelic Funk Classics label,[24] including the 2009 compilationPsych-Funk 101: 1968-1975.[25] A collection of 1970s psychedelic funk recordings fromGhana andTogo was released in 2010 asAfro-Beat Airways: West African Shock Waves by theAnalog Africa label.[26] Music fromNigeria's 1970s psychedelic funk scene was later documented on the compilationWake Up You! The Rise & Fall of Nigerian Rock 1972-1977, released in 2016.[27]
In the early 1970s, jazz artists such asMiles Davis andHerbie Hancock, influenced by Sly Stone, combined elements of psychedelic funk with urban jazz to pioneerjazz fusion.[28][29] In the 1990s, the popular psychedelic funk style known asG-funk emerged from theWest Coast hip hop scene, represented byDr. Dre,Snoop Dogg, andWarren G.[30] Many G-funk recordingssampled tracks by earlier psychedelic funk bands, most prominently Parliament-Funkadelic.[30][31]
The 1990ship hop duoOutKast were also influenced by black psychedelic musicians such as Sly Stone and Clinton.[32][33] Their 2000 albumStankonia was described as "a trippy sort of techno-psychedelic funk" composed of "programmed percussion, otherworldly synthesizers, and surreal sound effects."[34] The experimentalindie pop bandof Montreal developed a psychedelic funk sound,[35] particularly on their 2008 albumSkeletal Lamping.[36] The 2016 albumAwaken, My Love! byChildish Gambino borrowed the psychedelic funk sound of Clinton andBootsy Collins, withVice negatively describing it as "pureFunkadelic cosplay."[37]
