Funk music has been around since the 1960s, developing out of gospel, R&B and soul, with a distinct emphasis on “syncopated bass lines and steady, infectious drum grooves,” according to one description. But that’s an awfully academic way of putting it.
The most important thing: funk makes you want to dance.
We Want the Funk!, a new documentary premiering on PBS stations tonight, will have you moving in your recliner, on your living room dance floor, or wherever you watch it. Directors Stanley Nelson and Nicole London join the latest episode of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast to explore the music and its key innovators including James Brown, George Clinton and Sly Stone.
Doc Talk co-host John Ridley calls We Want the Funk! “perhaps the most joyous” cinematic work of the year. In addition to its broadcast premiere, the documentary is available on the PBS app. The film includes the insights of George Clinton, as well as Fred Wesley of The J.B.’s; Robert “Kool” Bell from Kool & the Gang; songwriter-producer Marcus Miller; Nona Hendryx of Labelle; musician-pastor Kirk Franklin; David Byrne of the Talking Heads; Prince Paul, DJ and producer for De La Soul; scholar Thomas DeFrantz; and musician-filmmaker Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (Questlove’s new documentary about Sly Stone is streaming on Hulu).
Nelson and London break down the cultural impact of funk, its connection to Afrofuturism, and how Nigerian recording artist Fela Kuti took the music back to its African roots, creating a unique version of funk.
We also explore how some white artists – notably Byrne of the Talking Heads (think of “Burning Down the House”) and David Bowie (in his song “Fame”) drew inspiration from funk without necessarily “appropriating” the music per se. Funk is a big tent that invites anyone in who wants to participate in the sound and its “infectious grooves.” It has arguably proven resistant to the kind of appropriation of Black musical creativity common to early rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, and even hip hop.
Get funky on the new edition of Doc Talk, co-hosted by Oscar winner Ridley (12 Years a Slave, Shirley) and Matt Carey, Deadline’s documentary editor. The pod is a production of Deadline and Ridley’s Nō Studios.
Listen to the episode above or on major podcast platforms including Spotify, iHeart and Apple.
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