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8/18/2019 once said

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once said "If you can describe it, it ain'tfunky". However, we can tell you how it allbegan. So pull out your notebooks class,we goin' back to the RE ! "old school".

#ith a blend of tribal and gospel $usic, the "soul and blues" $ove$ent began. Soul andblues grew and out of the two genres, along with %a&&, rhyth$ blues and urban $usicwere created. (hese $usic genres are the political and social voice of inner city lowerand $iddle class citi&ens. frican $erican citi&ens pioneered the culture of these $usicgenres.

(hrough the )*th century, other cultures began to accept these for$s of $usic, andbegan playing this kind of $usic as well. #hite $erica welco$ed %a&& and +lues, butfor the $ost part, they blended it with $usic that they already knew, such as gospel,classical, and folk $usic. any other types of $usic ca$e as a result, like ragti$e, bigband, swing, and doo wop. Rock and roll then ca$e out of the blending of $usic, with!ittle Richard, -huck +erry, and Elvis resley /to na$e a few0, followed by the +eatles.

Soul $usic took off in the early to $id 1*'s, with the " otown Sound"2 artists like (he(e$ptations, (he 3our (ops, (he Supre$es, Stevie #onder, arvin 4aye, and others,along with #ilson ickett. 5617 568* was the changing of ti$es, not only in $erican

8/18/2019 once said


8/18/2019 once said


+ootsy's Rubber +and released $anyalbu$s as a side pro;ect of the 3unk $ob, and went on to helpproduce Capp, which was a Aayton,:hio band featuring Roger and Capp(rout$an. (he Capp sound was thepioneering sound of electrofunk,donning synthesi&ed dru$ beats andloops, a vocoder /talk bo90 on $anysongs, and even envisioned theinternet beco$ing a place wherepeople could $eet in the song"-o$puter !ove". Capp had $anyother elecrofunk songs, including theclassic 56?* release " ore +ounce (o(he :unce" that would be aninspiration to $any hip hop and R +artists in the future.

In the $id to late 8*'s, Rick %a$es began to funk the worldwith his party $usic. %a$es was known for his discofunksong "Dou nd I" in the late 8*'s and the $a;or hit"Superfreak" in the early ?*'s. Rick %a$es' fun and se9ystyle of $usic, blended with the dance grooves of theti$es, was a $a;or influence to $any different races ofpeople.

+ut by far, the $ost influential artistto all people in regards to funk anddance $usic, was rince. rince

released his first full length record in568?, titled "3or Dou", and fro$there would go on to blend $anystyles of $usic together into adanceable and soulful presentation of art. His self titled release " rince"was funky and se9y, but without talkof drug use or "se9ploitation". (healbu$ artwork featured hi$ ridingnude on a white horse, which wasvery controversial to the $edia. (hiscontroversy continued, and rince

released "Airty ind" in 56?*,"-ontroversy" in 56?5, and "5666" in56?), and $any, $any $ore sincethen that have charted 5 hits.

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Airty ind has been said to be one of the $ost $usically influential albu$s of the last 7*years /fro$ S I> and Rolling Stone $aga&ines0 and $any of his other albu$s have beenadded to that list. rince was the only artist to blend all of the previous genres /thatcontributed to funk0 together with $any other genres of $usic, like disco<dance,European<new ro$antic, new wave, folk, techno<electronic, !atin and world $usic, andhip hop. (his new genre of $usic that e$erged fro$ rince' uni=ue blend was called>ew 3unk. s the generations went on, $any $usicians of all colors started listening tothe $usic of the original frican $erican pioneers and were $ainly influenced by the$.However, rince was one of the few re$aining artists who continued the traditions ofprevious soul artists.

olitical $essages in $usic were very rare to be heard in $ainstrea$ $usic and on theradio. (he social revolution that the soul, funk, and R + artists of the 1*'s and 8*'s hadworked so hard to create was dying. So$e disco funk supergroups like -hic /they still tothis day have the 5 selling single of all ti$e on #arner +rothers with "!e 3reak"0 whowere successful in the late 8*'s and early ?*'s had since faded. +ernard Edwards and>ile Rodgers of -hic went on to produce big pop<funk artists like adonna. However, thenew political leaders of the Reagan generation see$ed to stifle social $usic /especially$usic that uplifted and educated the lower and $iddle classesF disco and funk0 fro$beco$ing well known by the $ass public.

rince, however, was able tocreatively e9press it in a way thateven appealed to his political andsocial adversaries. rince continuedon the traditions of the socialrevolution, and $any of his friends

;oined hi$, like %i$$y %a$ and (erry!ewis, (he (i$e and orris Aay, aul

eterson /a.k.a. St. aul0, otherartists fro$ inneapolis and $anyother artists worldwide. rince hadbands titled "(he Revolution" and todate "(he >ew ower 4eneration".

+ut even as hip hop grew in the ?*'s, there was no true positive and uplifting $essagethat gave the people a reason to believe, and a groove that they could truly dance toother than rince. Sure, the artists of old, like 4eorge, +ootsy, Sly, %a$es +rown, and$any others continued on in bringing the funk, but failed to receive attention fro$ $a;or$edia outlets. Society had lost $any of the $usical leaders since 568*. %i$i Hendri9,Elvis resley, +ob arley, %ohn !ennon, arvin 4aye, iles Aavis, -urtis ayfield, Roger(rout$an, and Eddie Ha&el, Rick %a$es, to na$e a few, had all passed away years too

soon. So, needless to say, funk, and the social $usical revolution, was not what it usedto be.

Hip hop and rap was the closest thing to the 8*'s $usic revolution that e9isted throughthe ?*'s and 6*'s. Hip hop artists sa$pled $any of the soul and funk legends by addingparts of older songs into their own $usic, or looping instru$ental parts of old funk andsoul songs and adding heavier dru$ beats and rhyth$s to it. (he closest to funk in thehip hop $ove$ent was Aigital Bnderground, led by Shock 4. ) ac Shakur ca$e out ofAigital Bnderground. 4eorge -linton had officially branded Aigital Bnderground as "Sonsof the ". :ther good groove oriented groups like %a$iri=uai ca$e around every now andthen, and it would be fair to say that $any artists have at least so$e ele$ents of theoriginal funk and soul in their $usic, but there was no organi&ed $ove$ent.

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(he Recording Industry ssociation of $erica has started arresting and fining people fordownloading $usic online, $aking 4eorge -linton's state$ent "funk ain't no sin, and nowe won't go to hell, it's ;ust illegal" sound all too real. any unsigned artists are beinghurt by the co$paniesG stronghold on $usic production, sales, distribution, and thecontrol of the airwaves by si$ilar co$panies.

So, here we are. #e know what >ew 3unk is. #e know that $any artists with a social

$essage who contain ele$ents of the ">ew 3unk" genre are being kept under by thesyste$ that is in place. rince, %a$es +rown, 4eorge -linton, +ootsy -ollins andSylvester Stewart /Sly and the 3a$ily Stone0 are all still alive. any other artists whohave a great social and artistic $essage, like the (alking Heads, are still alive, and artistswho love greed are letting the RI persecute people in their na$e.

ll that the people want are reasonable prices for $edia, good =uality for their $oney,and the ability to do as they wish without har$ to anyone else. If digital $usic playersoftware is banned or controlled, and filesharing software is regulated to where no onecan download and share $usic for free any longer, then true art would be dead. ll thatwould be left is "pi$ped" $usic that would be co$pletely $anufactured by theco$panies, and radio stations that only played $usic with very few artistic =ualities$uch like today's scenario

In ugust of )**), %ason Aodson, a SouthernIllinois $usician, originally fro$ -olu$bus, :hioproposed a new foru$ category at rince.org, a

usicianGs foru$. any artists inspired by rincewanted to share their own creations and getfeedback and support. ina+lue gave the topic alittle push, rince.org founder +en argolinapproved the idea, and the :rg usician Hangoutwas born. e$bers began co$paring and criti=uingeach other's songs, and the varied $usical stylesreflected the $any styles co$bined in rinceGs$usic.

In %anuary )**J, %ason asked who would be interested in being a part of the >ew3unk :rder, a Knew $usic order a$ong $usicians who share a $essage ofrevolution, love, peace, change, and correction.L any artists wanted tocontribute and soon it was decided that a co$pilation of original $usic would beput together, with artists collaborating via the internet. 4raphic artists also gotinvolved, donating their ti$e and creativity. (he artwork for the >3: ro;ect 5 cdwas created by rince.org user Da$o$$a /@elly c-lain0, and an anony$oussupporter of the arts decided to create a website for the >ew 3unk :rder.

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%ason then started work on for$ulating the >3: into a non profit organi&ation for artistsdedicated to preserving the freedo$ of $usic. (he >ew 3unk :rder beca$e a $usical$ove$ent, a rebuttal to the political ">ew #orld :rder" that encourages corporateglobali&ation and e9ploitation of all that is good. (he $essage of the >3: is to show thatartists can provide free $usic to the public without the influence of corporate greed.

usic is not free. Radio stations can only play a certain percentage of artists that aresigned and record co$panies wont sign artists based on artistic $erit. (he internet is agreat place to share $usic you wouldnGt otherwise hear unless you know these artistspersonally.

)**J was the beginning of what was called "the dawning of a new funk revolution". 5?artists fro$ all over the world ca$e together on the >ew 3unk :rder's " ro;ect 5". (hevirtual cd contains $usic fro$ artists in the Bnited States, the Bnited @ingdo$, +ra&il,Sweden, and -anada. (he -A is available for free download in the "pro;ects" section ofthis, as is the -A artwork and a video for one of the tracks.

:riginally, the >3: was intended to only include funk and new funk. >ow, $any artistswith different types of $usic are participating, and the >3: welco$es all artists into the>3: co$$unity. ll artists participating in the >3: agree to share at least so$e of their$usic freely with the public.

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