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funk
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George Clinton performs on stage wearing a colorful robe with cartoon characters, with a band member playing trumpet in the background at Central Park SummerStage. Curtis Mayfield Sly and the Family Stone
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Young girl wearing a demin jacket playing the trumpet (child, musical instruments, Asian ethnicity)
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George Clinton performs on stage wearing a colorful robe with cartoon characters, with a band member playing trumpet in the background at Central Park SummerStage.
Funkmaster George Clinton George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic performing at SummerStage in Central Park, New York City, 1996.

funk

music
Written by
Rickey Vincent
Associate Professor, Critical Ethnic Studies, California College of the Arts. Author of Funk: The Music, the People and the Rhythm of the One and The Inside Story of the Black Panthers’ Band...
Rickey Vincent
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

funk, rhythm-driven musical genre popular in the 1970s and early 1980s that linked soul to later African-American musical styles. Like many words emanating from the African-American oral tradition, funk defies literal definition, for its usage varies with circumstance. As a slang term, funky is used to describe one’s odor, unpredictable style, or attitude. Musically, funk refers to a style of aggressive urban dance music driven by hard syncopated bass lines and drumbeats and accented by...

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