Origins of Funk Music

In the 1960s it was a hard time for black Americans. There was a revolution being driven by two well know black civil rights leaders. The first phase of the revolution was driven by a young Islamic black man, Malcolm X, who was a spokesperson for the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X was adamant that blacks needed to take care of their own business. In the issue of black integration in American culture. Malcolm X had the ability to reach any one member of the black nation in America. This revolution was cut short on a sad day in February of 1965, when Malcolm X was assassinated. This left a void in the hearts of the people who he had touched upon in his revolt. This was where things began to get funky.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the revolution there was a young man known Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The revolution in which he was leading was a revolution rather different than the one of Malcolm X. Dr. King’s revolution was one in which all blacks and all whites could work together. He spoke of this in his infamous speech I Have A Dream. Though the two leaders were rather different, they fed off each other’s roles, which in turn provided possibly the strongest leadership since the Harlem Renaissance, until the death of Malcolm X.

After the death of Malcolm X the movement started to get funky. It seemed as though after the assinaition of Malcom X, the revolution’s focal point began to change. The movement began to head towards a more intense, and nitty gritty level. It seemed as though all the non-violent organizations such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Congress of Racial Equality, as well as the Christian Leadership Conference had little hold on what was about to happen to the movement. The death of Malcolm X brought a new direction in the movement. In a society of a violent system it was hard for young blacks to take charge in an non-violent organization, it seemed to be a hypocrisy. And the idea of tolerance was wearing thin for the whole generation.

Later on in the year, around August, the first of many large-scale riots began to break out. The first one was in Los Angeles, California and lasted for a little over three weeks. This single riot killed 39 people during its wrath of burning block after block. This riot was in a sense a sign of the new revolution to come, due to the song “Burn, Baby Burn” by the Creators, being played...

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...g that is dance able but has a marching feel to it, lyrics such as “ Uncle Jam’s army, here- yeah. Disturbing the peace at the bridge of the river quiet. Marching in the name of the groove. No AWOP-absent without the P. Uncle Jam’s army here-so you wanna dance? This is booty do your duty time. We’re soldiers on booty patrol. And I’m your thrill sergeant, And he’s your thrill sergeant. Gonna keep you on your toes, cause Uncle Jam wants you, To do what you’re supposed to do, and join his army! The playfulness in this song can express the point but at the same time people can have a fun time doing it as well. This specific song came out in the mid-seventies but still is a prime example of how Parliament Funkadelic played of the Black Revolution and appealed to Popular Culture.

In conclusion the black revolution has evolved over the years. Popular culture has had a enormous impact on how it was resolved. The entire revolution was evolved and revolved around popular culture. It formed new art such as Parliament Funkadelic. A surreal revolution in black culture and music, shaping the current black culture.

Bibliography

Funk: The music, the people, and the rhythm of one

Rickey Vincent