This Is Funk is a three-disc box set from the U.K. that attempts to encapsulate all that was funky back in the day of the Afro- and hotpants-bedecked cover model and what still is. It goes about doing this in a unique and commendable way. The first of the three discs is where the classics meet, starting with
Sly & the Family Stone's seminal "Dance to the Music" and working its way through floorburners by
Funkadelic,
the Meters,
Maceo Parker,
the Average White Band,
Curtis Mayfield and more. The second disc, and the most interesting, is given over to what the compilers dub "Messages and Funk Anthems." This is where you'll find social and political commentary, black pride rallying cries, and fist-thrusters, among them
Gil Scott-Heron's "The Bottle,"
the Last Poets' "When the Revolution Comes,"
Bobby Womack's "Across 110th Street," and
Mayfield's "Freddie's Dead." Lastly, the third disc contends that the funk is still very much with us, and goes about proving it with contemporary jams from the likes of Speedometer and the amazing neo-soul royals
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. It would be easy to point out all that's not included here, but despite its declarative title,
This Is Funk isn't claiming to be the be all and end all, just a different way of seeing where the music's been and where it is now.