funk | Musicosity

funk

Mayer Hawthorne & The County

Mayer Hawthorne grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, just outside of Detroit, and vividly remembers, as a child, driving with his father and tuning the car radio in to the rich soul and jazz history the region provided. “Most of the best music ever made came out of Detroit,” claims the singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, who counts Isaac Hayes, Leroy Hutson, Mike Terry, and Barry White among his influences, but draws the most inspiration from the music of Smokey Robinson, Curtis Mayfield, and the legendary songwriting and production trio of Lamont Dozier...

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Steve Spacek

Steve Spacek, the acclaimed voice behind the ground-breaking genre-pushing group Spacek (who were championed by everyone from Entertainment Weekly to Mos Def), made a name for himself at the turn of the century with the song “Eve’ (recently covered by Dwele). The song set off a worldwide buzz on Steve as a singer and his group’s futuristic sound. Imagine a robot performer in the future, in love with hip hop beatology and skillful enough to twist it into new shapes, programmed with an infused knowledge of the biographies of Marvin Gaye...

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The Revenge

The Revenge is part of the Five20East squad. Productions include re-edits, house, hip-hop and techno. He has worked with several other producers over the years including Sub Club's Harri, who he records under the Mothership Inc moniker with. Other productions include work for 6th Borough Project, OOFT Music, Deportivo Street Team, Cronk Family Enterprises and more.

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Poetikool Justice

Rising up from the western suburbs of Adelaide, Poetikool Justice in three years have established themselves at the forefront of Adelaide’s ever-growing music scene. Named as part of the 2007 top 20 up and coming live acts to watch out for in South Australia, Poetikool Justice produce a catchy fusion of Hard Funky*Reggae*Hip Hop which is influenced musically by a wide range of rootsy underground styles.

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G. Love

Garrett Dutton III (born October 3, 1972), better known as G. Love, is the front man for the band, G. Love & Special Sauce. Dutton, born in Philadelphia, began playing guitar at age 8. He wrote his first song by the time he was in the 9th grade and began playing harmonica in a wire rack. Dutton credits Bob Dylan and John Hammond Jr., as well as then-contemporary "old school" hip-hop sounds of Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys, and Philadelphia's own Schooly D as influences.

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George Clinton

George Clinton (born July 22, 1941) is an American musician, widely considered one of the forefathers of funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and was a solo funk artist as of 1981. He was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina, grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey, and currently resides in Tallahassee, Florida. In Plainfield, he ran a barber salon, where he straightened hair, and soon formed a doo wop group, inspired by Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers, called The Parliaments.

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Charles Bradley

Charles Bradley is no stranger to hard times. Born in Gainesville, Florida in 1948 and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Charles spent the better part of his childhood living on the streets. One of the more optimistic moments of his childhood came in 1962, when his sister took him to see James Brown at The Apollo. Brown’s energy formed a lasting impression on Charles. He went home and immediately began practicing microphone tricks with a broom attached to a string, imitating the Godfather’s every move.

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Leon Thomas

Amos Leon Thomas Jr (born 1937, died May 8, 1999) was an American avant garde jazz singer from East St. Louis, Illinois. He changed his name to Leone in 1974. Thomas is best known for his work with Pharoah Sanders, particularly the 1969 song "The Creator Has a Master Plan" from Sanders' Karma album. Thomas's most distinctive device was that he often broke out into yodeling in the middle of a vocal. This style has influenced singers James Moody and Tim Buckley,among others.

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Funky Meters

The Funky Meters are give or take the same group as "The Meters", an American funk band based out of New Orleans, Louisiana. They were active between the late 60s until their breakup in 1977. They reunited later on, and went through a few new members, which resulted in the name change to "The Funky Meters". They were never extremely popular, and didn't receive much airtime on the radio, but are considered one of the leading funk predecessors.

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