Because we love you

Hello my babies. Mama has a little present for you. In light of our upcoming event, DJ Thumbprint and I have prepared a little something special just for our little funkers. Click the link below to download our 2-part mix. One-part Dopeshoes. One-part Thumbprint. All love.
Enjoy.

Instant Funk Mix Vol. 1

Tracks:

Side A: Dopeshoes
Outstanding - The Gap Band
Strawberry Letter 23 - The Brothers Johnson
The Payback - James Brown
Do It ('Til You're Satisfied) - B.T. Express
Bring It Home - The Bamboos
Got My Mind Made Up - Instant Funk
Dazz - Brick
West Coast Poplock - Ronnie Hudson & The Street People
Get It Up - The Time
Hit and Run - The Bar-Kays
Fresh - Kool & the Gang
Let's Groove - Earth, Wind & Fire
Stomp - Beatconductor

Side B: Thumbprint
Feel Good It's Party Time - JR Funk (intro)
Street Talk - Funky Constellation
Watching You - Slave
I'll Do Anything For You - Denroy Morgan
Burn Hard - Chic
Body Fever - Bar - Kays
Midas Touch - Midnight Star
For Those Who Like To Groove - Ray Parker Jr.
Ready Or Not - Herbie Hancock
Ffun - Con Funk Shun
Ghetto Life - Rick James
Nights (Feel Like Gettin Down) (Beatnicks Ext)- Billy Ocean
Baby Be Mine - Michael Jackson

On a related note…

Undoubtedly you’ve been saying to yourselves, “Wow, this Instant Funk blog is magnificent. These Thumbprint and Dopeshoes people sure seem swell. They clearly possess incredible wit and intellect and are no doubt obscenely good-looking. I sure would enjoy hanging out with them outside of the blogosphere.” To that I say, “Why, thank you.”

And…



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What is Funk?

If I were to be asked this question, I might say 'it is music from the the 70's to the early 80's', and then name bands that were involved with this genre to which the listener can get a gist of what funk is all about.

I checked out wikipedia for a clear definition of 'Funk' and it is defined as 'African-American musicians applied "funk" to music with a slow, mellow groove, then later with a hard-driving, insistent rhythm because of the word's association with sexual intercourse.'...hmmm.. For more on the origins of the word:

Origin of Funk

Now that we know what Funk is (or somewhat understand for those that aren't familiar..), I will be posting videos and/or downloads to differentiate different genres of funk be it 70's, 80's and so on..

Lets start out with 70's funk. Most of the 70's funk are highly used samples in hiphop/rap. Watch, listen and vibe out to them.




Credit this one to Dopeshoes, she put me up on Bobby Patterson. Late 70's steeze.


B.T. Express..Need I say more? THIS..IS..FUNK! ha. Late 70's.


The Unemployed - They Won't Let Me. Ill ish! woh! Early 70's steez on this one.


That's it for now. Hope ya'll got a taste of what funk is all about. Bookmark us, RSS feed us, or keep checkin back! Stay tuned...

Rest In Power

"I suppose that everyone of us hopes secretly for immortality; to leave, I mean, a name behind him which will live forever in this world, whatever he may be doing, himself, in the next."
A.A. Milne

In celebration of a man who, through his incredible talent and perseverance, achieved immortality...

Follow the link below to download DJ Jaycee's (Ludacris's DJ, also of The Aphilliates) MJ mix, released in 2007.
DJ Jaycee Presents Michael Jackson: The Soulful Years

Hello Funk.

Hello and welcome. We're not ones for long, overblown mission statements, so this will be kept brief. This blog is a humble homage to all things funky. Be it disco, funk, boogie, Latin jazz, or hip hop, or anything else for that matter. Be it old or new. We have but one test: when the groove hits, you close your eyes for a second and think, "Oooh damn." Pass.
Let's begin.

What better way to kick things off than by showing some love to our namesake, Instant Funk.

Hailing from Trenton, NJ, the group started out backing up a local group, the TNJs in the mid-60s. It was at this time that they were dubbed "Instant Funk" in response to their ability to create searingly funky grooves instantaneously. Over the years they played with Bunny Sigler, the O'jays, and Evelyn Champagne King, among many, many others.

In 1978, the time had come to put out a song of their very own, which was none other than "I Got My Mind Made Up." Initially, their efforts were rebuked with responses that "the hook isn't strong enough" or "it sounds incomplete." For those of you who are keeping track, here's yet another example of the fact that record execs don't know jack shit. Of course the song was eventually released and went on to sell millions, holding the #1 spot in the r&b charts for 3 weeks and hitting #20 on the billboard pop charts. The group went on to release multiple albums on the legendary Salsoul label. After the label folded in 1984, Instant Funk continued touring for a few years and eventually disbanded.


In closing, I would like to share a personal anecdote.

One day I was driving home, jamming the f' out to the local old school radio station, Magic 92.5 (big ups Rico and DJ 2Rille) and I heard this ridiculously funky song. One of those songs that you shouldn't listen to while driving. Forget phone handsets, the real danger is obscenely funky grooves that make my overexcited fool ass dance in my car. Damn near danced my way into a median, that's just how funky this joint was. I knew I needed to have this song in my life. So 45 minutes and one Myspace bulletin later I finally get through to the station... I think you see where this is going. Without further adieu:



DOWNLOAD



Another jam from the same album, entitled "I'll be Doggone." Ooooooh weeeeee.