We Want The Funk: Review. By Joe Muldoon.

“What is funk? …When you hear it, you know what it is, and perhaps more importantly, you know it when you feel it.” – Dr Todd Boyd.

Directors Stanley Nelson and Nicole London’s doc is a groovy journey through the history of funk, from its postwar origins, to its lofty heights with James Brown, and its evolution and influence upon today’s music. Locating the genre within the sociopolitical context of 20th-century Black America, we see funk’s growth in the face of the Jim Crow era and its use as an act of rebellion and a vehicle for social change.

With talking head features from some of the greatest living musicians – including funk royalty Parliament and Funkadelic’s George Clinton, Kool of Kool & The Gang, The Roots’ Questlove, and Talking Heads’ David Byrne (excuse the pun) – we’re treated to personal anecdotes from some of the genre’s biggest names, an astonishing roster of interviewees. And amongst these clips, we’re met with tidbits from genre scholars, yet Nelson and London avoid dry academic lecturing; the feel of the music itself remains central.

Though longtime listeners may not find much new ground covered, fans will still undoubtedly be pleased by the offerings – and perhaps more importantly, the film serves as a fantastic entry point to funk for casual listeners and curious ears. But it also speaks to something that other music documentaries don’t: that funk, groove, dancing, is something innate within us, as natural to our souls as anything else – and with scientific backing, no less.

We Want The Funk, indeed!

By Joe Muldoon

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