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The Funk Music

The funk music genre is believed to have been advanced by African-American such as

James Brown in the mid-60s and later adopted by other artists like Stevie Wonders and

Parliament-Funkadelic, among others. The style is characterized by syncopated rhythms, guitar,

vocals that entails shouting or speaking. Also, common in funk songs are basslines and horn

sections, thus sharing similarity with Jazz music due to percussive instrumental effect. Initially,

funk music aimed at addressing political and social issues in America such as black aesthetic and

black is beautiful movement. As a result, funk was popular within the black community. Some

scholars argue that the style was an adaptation of western, sub-Saharan and Latinos culture. This

paper seeks to analyze “Say it loud, and I’m Black and Proud,” written by Alfred Ellis and

performed James Brown. Also, among the band were Waymond Reed, Richard Griffith, Free

Wesley, Macao Parker, ST Clair Pinckney, Jimmy Nole, Charles Sherre, Clued Stubblefield and

Belford Hendricks. The song was recorded in Vox Studios in Van Nuys, California, by now-

defunct Kings Records label. It was first released as a single under the album “The Soulful

Christmas” and later in March 1969 under the album sharing the same title. The song topped

R&B singles chart for six weeks and managed the tenth position in the Billboard Hot 100

(Whitburn). Although James Brown was already popular due to his previous songs especially, “I

Got You,” the “Say it Loud” further increased his popularity, especially among the black
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community. While the song champions for black community social justices, the song uses

multiple instruments that create a polyrhythmic attraction and a smooth sound.

Structure

From the beginning of the song, the band creates a polyrhythmic attraction with every

instrument that used. The first instrument is the drum, which creates a groove the emphasizes on

the drummer feelings and emotions. This is followed by a tempo fluctuation that utilizes a swing

feel. However, the drums are rarely used in the rest of the song. When the songs start, Brown

shouts, the word “Unh,” and the rest of the song follows lyrics, which involve calling and

responding alternating between his vocals and children’s lyrics which are the chorus.

The use of a bass and guitar results in the intense groove. The bassline is thus the centrepiece of

the song. Also, horns play a straight melody in combination with short riffs sound in an

alternating by pausing for few seconds before playing the little short riffs again.

Sound

The sound can be described as a smooth sound. This refers to the power and distortion as used in

song. The artist utilizes more power and vigor in addition to a slightly scooped sound. The

alterations allow him to adjust the vocal styles while allowing instrumental breaks.

Lyrics

In the song, James Brown tries addressing the prejudices that the black community was

going through during that time, as a form of black empowerment. The civil rights movements

were at the peak when Brown released the song in 1968. Dr Martin Luther had been assassinated

prior to the release of the song. From the song, Brown sings “some people say we’ve got a lot of

malice, some say it’s a lot of nerve”. At that time, people of color were associated with arrogance

and violence by the whites. The message from the song meant that black community was tired of
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racial discrimination. Additionally, he adds that “I worked on jobs with feet and my hand, But all

the work I did was for another man.”. Tax policies were unfair, and despite paying them, the

community lacked most of the essential social services such as schools, housing, and hospitals.

Thus, Brown was trying to send a message that black people deserved social justice which would

reflect the kind of work they were doing in supporting the economy. Also, he sings “Now we

demand a chance to do things for ourselves…we’d rather die on our feet Than be living’ on our

knees.” Here, he was calling for black community to pick up arms and resist the oppression. He

encouraged African Americans to fight for their freedom and what they deserve through force

regardless of the associated risks, which included losing lives. Also, the chorus “I am black and

proud” implicitly sent a message to both blacks and white that it was okay being black.

Purpose and Impact

The main purpose was to get African Americans to appreciate who they were, their origin

as well as culture. In one of the interviews, Brown suggested that he was trying to inform people

of color that it was okay to be black and they ought to be proud. The supported black is beautiful

movement as well as black aesthetics, which became an anthem for black community during

(Brown). The song impacted people to rise against white supremacy and fight for their

rights(Morant). Also, it sought to liberate blackness from the inflicted injuries including fear and

hate that were associated with being black. The song further aroused instances of reclamation,

which took different forms. This can illustrated by the way African Americans started

appreciating the dark skin color instead of light-skinned color and natural afro hairstyles. Also,

African Americans identifying themselves as black instead of the white popularized word Negro

which was majorly associated with slavery. Additionally, another popular impact was that
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students started advocating for commencement of black studies program, including African

American studies, which addresses black people culture.

Personal impact, relevance to the musical era, the black community, and society

Personally, if the lyrics and vocals to be original. Considering the fact that the black community

was experiencing discrimination, James Brown tried to address the issues in a creative and

artistry manner. He bridges the gap between self-image infuses it with the need to fight for

freedom through the acceptance of oneself. The song expresses pride and self-confidence among

African Americans, which is a powerful message that resonates up to today. Also, the song is

important for any person struggling with inner self irrespective of the race that comes from to

embrace who they are regardless of their self-image.

James Brown is considered to be among the founders of Funk music. The song “Say

loud, I’m black and Proud” can be argued to have popularized the style. Rhythmically-driven,

the song represented black music as well as acting as a bridge between the earlier versions of

soul-funk music and the later adopted styles in the 70s . The song emerged during civil rights

movements and therefore was associated with black pride as well due to its message that put

emphasis on celebrating traits that depicted African Americans in a negative way. The common

attributes that separated the song with other soul music were the expressiveness. However, the

style was widely imitated in the years that followed as illustrated by the songs from Sly & the

Family Stone and Parliament-Funkadelic. Also, it is arguable that the song played an important

role in the history of funk since it influences other genres, such as hip-hop.

The message intended to transform society’s perceptions, especially after the civil war

revolution. It did so by altering the listeners' perceptions, both those that felt oppressed and those

that facilitated oppression. In most cases, the whites believed that their ideology was correct
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while the black ideology was incorrect. During black aesthetic movement and black is beautiful

movement, the black community used songs and spoken words to highlight and demand social

justice and freedom. The song “say it loud I’m Black and Proud” advocated for pride in being

Black. Also, the song asked for the community to stand up and fight for their rights by proposing

for black people to embrace their inner self in a positive way instead of focusing on the

oppressive nature (Morant). As a result, people realized the power they had by accepting that

they were indeed black, a fact that made them proud.

In conclusion, funk music genre originates from the African-American community. Its

shares similarities with Jazz and other soul music. However, the rhythmic style that involves

different instruments such as guitar and bass makes it different from other genres. The song “say

it loud, I’m black and proud” by James Brown represent funk genre. The songs champions for

black community social justice and freedom.

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Works Cited

Brown, Matthew P. "Funk music as a genre: Black aesthetics, apocalyptic thinking and urban

protest in post-1965 African-American pop." Cultural Studies 8.3 (1994): 484-508.

Morant, Kesha M. "Language in action: funk music as the critical voice of a post-civil rights

movement counterculture." Journal of Black Studies 42.1 (2011): 71-82.

Whitburn, Joel. Joel Whitburn's top country singles, 1944-1988: compiled from Billboard's

country charts, 1944-1988. Record Research, 1989.