jaklumen
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response 21 of 26:
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May 20 11:05 UTC 2002 |
I did a little research, and I found the hip-hop group Digital
Underground was responsible for popularizing P-Funk samples in rap
music. Here's a review of their debut (and most notable)
recording, "Sex Packets" from Real One, as follows:
*
While hip-hop was consumed by the hardcore, noisy political rap of
Public Enemy and the gangsta rap of N.W.A., Digital Underground
sneaked out of Oakland with its bizarre, funky homage to Parliament-
Funkadelic. Building most of their music from samples P-Funk records
and developing a similarly weird sense of style and humor, highlighted
by Shock-G outrageous costumes, and the whole band's parade of alter
egoes. Of all these alter egoes, Shock-G's Humpty Hump -- a ridiculous
comical figure with a Groucho Marx nose and glasses, and a goofy,
stuttering voice -- was the most famous, especially since he was
immortalized on their breakthrough single, "The Humpty Dance." Over
the course of their career, Digital Underground has featured a
numerous members, but throughout it all, Shock-G has remained at its
core, developing the band's sound and style, which they had from the
outset, as their 1990 debut Sex Packets proved. Sex Packets was an
instant hit, thanks the loopy single "The Humpty Dance," and while
they never scaled such commercial heights ever again, their role in
popularizing George Clinton's elastic funk made them one of the most
important hip-hop groups of their era.
Shock-G (b. Gregory E. Jacobs, August 25, 1963) had spent most of his
childhood moving around the East Coast with his family, eventually
settling in the Bay Area of California. He dropped out of high school
in the late '70s and spent several years pursuing a life of crime
before eventually finishing his degree and going to college to study
music. Along with Chopmaster J, Shock G formed Digital Underground in
1987, and the duo released a single, "Underwater Rimes," that year
which went to number one in the Netherlands. In 1989, the group signed
with Tommy Boy and that summer "Doowutchyalike" became an underground
hit. By that time, Digital Underground had expanded significantly,
featuring DJ Fuze, Money-B (b. Ron Brooks), and Schmoovy-Schmoov (b.
Earl Cook). Sex Packets, the group's debut album, was released in the
spring of 1990, and "The Humpty Dance," which was rapped by Shock G's
alter ego Humpty Hump, climbed all the way to number 11 on the pop
charts, peaking at number seven on the R&B charts. With its P-Funk
samples, jazzy interludes and innovative amaglam of samples and live
instrumentation, Sex Packets received positive reviews and went
platinum by the end of the year.
Digital Underground followed Sex Packets in early 1991 with This Is An
EP Release, their first recording to feature rapper Tupac Shakur. The
EP went gold and set the stage for their second album, Sons of the P,
which was released that fall. On the strength of the gold single "Kiss
You Back," Sons of the P also went gold, but it received criticism for
its similarity to Sex Packets. By the time Digital Underground
delivered its third album, The Body Hat Syndrome in late 1993, hip-hop
had become dominated by gangsta rap, particularly the drawling G-funk
of Dr. Dre, which ironically was heavily indebted to George Clinton.
Consequently, their fan base diminished significantly, and The Body
Hat Syndrome disappeared shortly after its release. Nearly three years
later, Digital Underground returned with Future Rhythm, which spent a
mere three weeks on the charts. Who Got the Gravy? followed in 1998. ~
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
*
Of course, Snoop Dogg also sampled George Clinton as well-- "What's My
Name" is essentially a cover of "Atomic Dog."
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jaklumen
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response 22 of 26:
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May 22 08:15 UTC 2002 |
Also, having done a little research on Heatwave, of "Boogie Nights"
fame, it would seem that soft funk evolved somewhat into connections
to disco, and soul would seem to be the slow-tempo counterpart to funk.
Heatwave was apparently an influence on the second sound of Kool & The
Gang. Here's Real One's notes at the artist guide again, on the album
_Central Heating_, as follows:
If you could use only one adjective to describe Heatwave's sound, it
would be "smooth." The band's romantic ballads and slow jams were the
epitome of smooth, and that adjective also describes many of their up-
tempo funk grooves. This isn't to say that Heatwave's funk lacked
grit -- it had plenty of grit, but even so, it was an undeniably
smoother style of funk than Parliament/Funkadelic, James Brown, Tower
of Power, Rick James, or the Bar-Kays. In fact, when Kool & the Gang
switched to a smoother, sleeker approach in 1979 and hired J.T. Taylor
as its new lead vocalist, Heatwave was a big influence. The Kool & the
Gang that emerged on 1979's Ladies' Night is certainly a lot more
Heatwave-like than the gutbucket, down-and-dirty Kool & the Gang
of "Jungle Boogie" and "Hollywood Swinging." And it isn't hard to hear
the parallels between Taylor and Heatwave's Johnnie Wilder. It's safe
to assume that when Kool & the Gang was reinventing itself, its
members had Too Hot to Handle and Central Heating in their
collections. With this excellent sophomore effort, Heatwave lived up
to the promise it showed on Too Hot to Handle. The invigorating funk
smash "The Groove Line" became a disco-era anthem, and the album's
other big hit, "Mind Blowing Decisions," is a quiet-storm classic.
From up-tempo funk grooves like "Party Poops" and "Put the Word Out"
to the romantic Northern soul of "Happiness Togetherness" and "Leaving
for a Dream," Central Heating is among Heatwave's strongest releases.
~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
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jaklumen
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response 24 of 26:
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Jun 2 08:40 UTC 2002 |
resp:19 and resp:22 As discussed before, funk smoothed out in the
late 70s to merge somewhat with disco. Soul, on the other hand,
picked up the tempo a bit to mainstream into contemporary "lite rock,"
although I suspect that it was merely mingling with its "white sound"
contemporaries (think AM dial for "white sound," I guess). Heatwave,
Kool and the Gang, Earth, Wind, and Fire, and Lakeside are all
reference points; as is Lionel Richie during and after his work with
the Commodores.
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