Funk Music: A Critical Enquiry - Paperback

by James A. Williams (Author)

Funk Music: A Critical Enquiry renders Funk Music through revealing interdisciplinary perspectives, focusing on its roots, P-Funk, and the classic 1960-70s era. The author, Williams, challenges his readers to understand Funk Music in new ways. Funk Music: A Critical Enquiry asks fundamental questions about the context of Funk music; whether it was simply the result of a historical moment or the commodification of Black struggle, to notions of 'Black voice' and authenticity in performance. Williams offers an alternative analysis of the Funk Music sound, focusing on ways to approach the music where traditional musicology has failed. Williams also traces the roots of the P-Funk aesthetic through Biblical ideology and African ontology asking whether the Mothership Connection really was just about a pimp in a spaceship-shaped papier-m ch Cadillac. This phenomenological analysis presents readers with a starting point for a range of further reading, exploring links between Funk Music and musicology, semiotics, historical study, cultural analysis, political discourse, race relations, as well as a range of ontological, metaphysical and religious perspectives. Little else has been written specifically about Funk music in any academic context, whether purely or jointly from musical, historical, cultural, or political standpoints. This book brings all these stems together in one place.

Author Biography

James A Williams BA MA PGCE DipABRSM is an independent music scholar working in the UK.