Funk music as genre: Black aesthetics, apocalyptic thinking and urban protest in post-1965 African-American pop

Abstract

Abstract But I never try to express what I actually did. I wouldn't try to do that, cause definition's such a funny thing. What's put together to make my music — it's something which has real power. It can stir people up and involve 'em. But it's just something I came to hear. Funk was not a project … It happened as part of my ongoing thing. In 1965, I changed from the upbeat to the downbeat. Simple as that, really. I wasn't going for some known sound, I was aimin' for what I could hear. ‘James Brown Anticipation’ I'd call it. You see, the thing was ahead. (James Brown, quoted in C. Rose, 1990: 46, 59) There's no business Like Blow business Like Bomb business Like BOOM. (George Clinton, 1982)