Straight Up Go-Go Documentary

“Out of the chaos that is DC, can come this intense, dark, powerful, beautiful music, and I think that people have to know about it.”

There is six-part documentary about D.C.'s Go-go movement on YouTube. Noz from XXL mag and Cocaine Blunts posted this too, I just think it's relevant to the whole Go-go thing I touched on earlier so I thought I'd share as well.

Go-go documentary, Part 01/06
Go-go documentary, Part 02/06
Go-go documentary, Part 03/06
Go-go documentary, Part 04/06
Go-go documentary, Part 05/06
Go-go documentary, Part 06/06

Chuck Brown - Bustin' Loose

Chuck Brown - Bustin' Loose (1979)

Yesterday, I was watching Tabi Bonney's "Pocket" video on YouTube when the last couple of frames caught my eye. In the video, a man wearing a jacket opens up his tee shirt displaying the message "KEEP D.C. BLACK". The shirt kind of sparked my interest as I have a been there a bunch of times and always sought to understand the culture beyond its clean, tourist-friendly facade. Most of my day today was spent reading about Go-Go, a mutation of funk native and isolated to the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that is to this day the predominant black musical form in the city. What I know now is that D.C. is an anomaly of a city that has a very distinct black culture (which is why they listen to Go-Go instead of hip-hop in the first place). The phenomena of white flight there is even more concentrated and polarized than in other cities, because employment (mostly government related) is still located in a central business district that is its own municipality (D.C. proper). When the businessmen and politicians leave for the suburbs in Maryland or Virginia, D.C. becomes a hub for black culture that is separated politically and socially from the mainstream. It is under these conditions that regional musical traditions like Go-Go flourish. I find the topic incredibly interesting and I'll post more as I discover it. I'll leave you with some tracks from Chuck Brown, the godfather of Go-Go.

Chuck Brown - We Need Some Money
Chuck Brown - Woody Woodpecker
Chuck Brown - Bustin' Loose

Zapp & Roger - Do It Roger/Computer Love

My roommate, Thomas, and I were downloading a bunch of rare regional funk compilations yesterday and I thought that was what I was going to write about until I realized that most people don't really have a starting point for the funk. I did find a little website for those that would care to partake, but for efficiency's sake I think I'll just use a quote:

What is Funk?
Funk is a many splendored thing. Funk is a nasty vibe, and a sweet sexy feeling; Funk is funkiness, a natural release of the essence within. Funk is a high, but it is also down at the bottom, the low-down earthy essence, the bass elements. Funk is at the extremes of everything. Funk is hot, but funk can be cool. Funk is primitive, yet funk can be sophisticated. Funk is a way out, and a way in. Funk is all over the place. Funk is a means of release that cannot be denied. *
*FUNK ~ The MUSIC, the PEOPLE and the RHYTHM OF THE ONE ~ Rickey Vincent

I could start at the beginning and end (James Brown), but that's a little too beginner. Then I remembered that I had recently rediscovered Zapp & Roger Troutman, an extremely underrated electrofunk ensemble from the 1970s and 1980s. Roger Troutman basically invented using the talkbox (Frampton Comes Alive my ass), plus the beats are pure P-Funk. The music sounds so modern, and their dress was always top notch. Sadly Roger Troutman was found shot in his recording studio on 25 April 1999 never to produce sweet, sweet funk again.

Zapp & Roger - Do It Roger
Zapp & Roger - Computer Love