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Funk

FUNK

funk is something that can ultimately only be described by one unto itself


for me, funk is more than just music, it is a way of life.
i employ a hedonistic philosophy in which playing and pleasure
are as important as working and discipline.
i also strive to achieve harmony with everything i come in contact with.
the result is success in life and i celebrate this success with the dance.

it seems ive come to the point that FUNK is something an entity has or is when they are completely comfortable with their philosophy, understanding and environment. it seems to appear as a complete relaxed confidence resulting from an inner well being which is free from all or most anxiety. 

it seems to show physically in rhythm, coordination, happy relaxed strong confident movements, disposition and gestures. a “smoothness” from an inner peace and tranquility. from being in a harmony with everything, no fear or apprehension. 

the rhythm may be seen as an animal with funk which is never shaken or knocked off beat. an animal that can maintain a groove and stay on a beat in rhythm effortlessly without a “nervousness” and not be distracted by things around him. 

dominance (forced harmony) over everything can also give an entity this confidence in his philosophy and a relaxed cool disposition, smoothness. but at some point an entity who’s funk is based on dominance must defend or war or do something to maintain that dominance. and thats where a fear to defend and/or at least effort must be exerted. this will usually affect an entity’s outward coolness and disposition.

examples of this “coolness” can be seen in other animals and in the way a lion moves in his natural habitat. as he is dominant, at times he can have a confident stride and gestures that show a relaxedness, like coolness and confidence. but when threatened, fear and other natural tensions or adrenalines kick in to ready the animal to protect itself. same as with humans. (i read cats have a gland that secretes a chemical which calms them in times of nervousness, a chemical coolness)    

an inner well being and never being rattled, shaken or nervous shows as a “coolness” that entities who are comfortable within their understanding, philosophy and environment demonstrate.  

FUNKY is the means and style an entity uses to act out his philosophy and existence. everything is funky as everything is executed and accomplished at a some entity’s personal level. every entity is unique and therefore has an unique ways driving it producing its own funky ways.

i think all the below comes together to make the points above. below i was basically brainstorming ideas i felt were accurate but didnt know how to put them together and/or correctly articulate them 20031213


having the funk vs being funky

every thing is funky

but not all things have the funk


funk 
anything that has its own groove, and everything does at some level. the philosophy an entity chooses or is imposed on it (inanimate objects) for its way of survival. its your way of gettin over. 


Funk is an attitude towards life and all things. it could be a nun or a murderer. it is a way of handling things. it is good and bad. up and down, it is god and evil. its a way.

everything is and has its own funk, it is the quintessence of every individual entity. an entity is something that has separate and distinct existence and objective or conceptual reality

other philosophies use different terminology to describe the essence of a thing-
i call it funk

(this has become too simplistic in that my idea of what funk is has evolved. it must somehow include the certain qualities unique to blacks (especially black americans) that may have created what we acknowledge funk. or black americans are responsible for manifesting “funk” into something that can be acknowledged. )

im struggling with finding a way or if my definition of funk should include the black thing. can i describe funk without including qualities that come from black people? and what qualities would these be? funk can definitely be described as a coolness. a coolness one has when he is in harmony with everything around him. every style has a coolness. this coolness is displayed as a rhythmic movement in life. you have the funk when you are in rhythm with your existence.

funk could be finding your way through life using a philosophy based on dance and rhythm. when i think of funk i do think dancing or rhythmic vibing. funk always has been associated with dance and groove. music on the one. dance is a big part of the culture of black people everywhere. this would be a connection between what funk is and black people.

funk could be the inherent spirit of rhythm of african blackness that evolved inside black americans as they experienced the white western system/environment. funk could be the the instincts of our african culture and evolution as it.


The races which show a tendency for strongly accentuated rhythm must be vigorous by nature. Jazz has come from the negroes, and the syncopation is the secret of its charm and is the natural expression of their racial rhythm. Its rhythm arouses a kind of life among performers and audience alike, and it is the love of this life that has given such popularity to the jazz-band. http://murshid.net/mysticism-of-sound/rhythm.html


somehow i must include that which makes a person “cool.” it feels incomplete to describe funk without somehow including coolness. a calmness in every situation, even when frightened. 

quin·tes·sence 1 : the fifth and highest element in ancient and medieval philosophy that permeates all nature and is the substance composing the celestial bodies 2 : the essence of a thing in its purest  and most concentrated form 3 : the most typical example or representative

the creators of funk did not define it directly. i cannot think of any dialogue in the p-funk writings that clearly state what funk is and what it is not. 

P-FUNK
Just Between You and Me,  the “P” Stands for “Pure”  and that’s Funk Apogee
(The Culmination of a Nation)  -motor booty affair

pure funk
an idea of funk in its purest form. a possibility of funk beyond compare. only attainable in the present as the current purest form. funk can always get stronger and more pure so as long as life exists, there is a chance for a more purer funk.

pure funk is an entity expressing what it really is. its truest nature. completely uninhibited. at its highest reality. zenith. apogee. and as long as an entity exists it always has the chance to find a deeper reality. but there is an ultimate reality. that which can observe and understand everything that exists at every level and in every universe. that which can do that cannot observe himself observing the entire universe so thinking as we presently know it is incapable of knowing reality. the way we process our surroundings for information makes it impossible to observe ourselves, we cant be outside of ourselves. 

once an entity attained the ultimate reality he could then exploit every option available to him to achieve a more pure funk. but would it be pure? 

funky
ultimately they way or style of manner in which an entity goes. if “everything is funky” 

having the funk as opposed to being funky. and it all should be in a groove. good and evil, right & wrong. that which is not in sync is unfunky but even thats funky too at some level. 

everything is funky. funk is everything. funk is failure. funk is success. death is not funky. but there is funk in death. is there something that can describe something like that? can funk be described simply or does is it require deep explanation to properly present all that funk is

entity & funk  
the distinction must be made between the philosophy and the music… funk: a philosophy of the highest understanding. it is pure and is created, controlled & defined only by each individual entity unto itself. everything is and has its own funk, it is the quintessence of every individual entity. (entity:  something that has separate and distinct existence and objective or conceptual reality) other philosophies use different terminology to describe the essence of a thing-i call it funk

this idea ive had since the early days when i created theoryofuniverse.com. understanding funk as being the essence of a thing. and thereby everything has “a” funk. and everything could be funky.  

i also thought entelechy meant the interconnectedness of everything, that which makes everything one. i was wrong. entelechy is the ultimate essence of something, an entity’s deepest nature. 

so actually this early definition and entelechy are very similar  


en·tel·e·chy Etymology: Late Latin entelechia, from Greek entelecheia, Date: 1603 1 : the actualization of form giving cause as contrasted with potential existence 2 : a hypothetical agency not demonstrable by scientific methods that in some vitalist doctrines is considered an inherent regulating and directing force in the development and functioning of an organism 


the music of p-funk helps me to celebrate best the philosophy. i have studied p-funk theory in lyrics, album covers, etc for 28+ years.  p-funk is an extremly deep philosophy that never contradicts itself and is very very consistent. 


the mothership symbolizes funk being brought to a rhythmless planet. with this rhythm, each person’s expression of life (dance & vibration in spacetime) will resonate a perfect synergy that is its own reward

i been p-funky’ since Mothership Connection. The lead keyboard caught me, the concept kept me.


i thought it interesting that this is the first page i have dedicated exclusively to describing funk and this site has been up years. but as i think about it, it has also just been recently that my idea of what is funk has become more clear and solid. when i created this website my idea was that p-funk and funk may have been the same thing.


“aspects of black folks’ funkiness are ultimately what has fueled mainstream american culture and made it distinct from the culture in any other western nation. one might even claim that it is the funky nature of black americans that is the salvation of this nation”“funk is the means
by which black folks confirm identity through rhythm, dance, bodily fluids and attitude”

“…african philosophy, the african roots of rhythm, spiritual oneness with the cosmos, and a comfort zone with sex and aspects of the body…”

“funkiness for our purposes is an aesthetic of deliberate confusion, of uninhibited, soulful behavior that remains viable because of a faith in instinct, a joy of self, and a joy of life, particularly unassimilated black american life”

“there are many aspects of the funk that are intimately tied to an african value system that has propagated through black culture since the middle passage”

“funk is deeply rooted in african cosomology- the idea that people are created in harmony with the rhythms of nature and that free expression is tantamount to spiritual and mental health”

“in traditional western society, the maintenance of rationality, civility, and pomp, with deliberate disregard and disdain for the natural urges of the body and soul, has become a goal unto itself. the influence of technology has in many ways provided a further impetus for most westerners to obsess with the aesthetics of curbing their instincts”

“…funk in its modern sense is a deliberate reaction to- and a rejection of- the traditional western world’s predilection for formality, pretense, and self-expression.”

“the idea and the importance of funk comes from the depths of black american life, particularly that aspect of black america which never got around to integrating”

from: Funk: The Music, The People, and The Rhythm of the One by Rickey Vincent. New York: St. Martins Griffin, 1996

(chapter 18: the metaphysics of the p: the mothership connection
IS A MUST READ as it has articulated very well a very deep concept!!)

i do not have any legal, contractual or business connection to, nor am i a member of or have ever been a member of george clinton and the p-funk allstars and/or parliament/funkadelic any and all affliation i have with the mob is purely spiritual.