Of all the obnoxious, nonsensical electronic styles out there, how the hell didn’t ghetto funk get to be the biggest? Back in 2011, we so badly wanted it to be the next big thing, but didn’t happen. All the decent ghetto funk hits were remixes and the much more garish electronic styles owned the years up ’til now.
The reason I’m such an advocate for this style of electro funk is that like the thing it’s attached to most, remixes, ghetto funk is meant to be taken lightheartedly with a sound much more for mindless dancing – in the best sense of the word – than anything else. I’d actually say it’s my favorite style to dance to overall, though individual songs are a different story.
It kind of reminds me of what swing might have felt like back in the day.
Independent record labels are sprouting up all over the place — in location & style. And the ones that are doing it right not only have a choice selection in catalogue, but also take the time to artfully craft their image as they do their artists.
Each of these 12 labels sport some of the most well respected producers & musicians that belong on this blog and create a culture with style around their music. On here I may point out a few that lack in proper online presence, but they are all doing it right when it comes to the perception of this era’s evolution in music labels.
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Bobby C has been the go to guy for my Ghetto Funk needs lately and now the label has released a quad-banger of his for all of us. The Bobby C Sound TV EP is comprised mostly of rap & reggae funksters signed with that BCST carefree, lazer funk sound. If we only had more Ghetto Funk like Bobby on our radios this wouldn’t be such an underground gem. Spread it wide, people.
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Like too many SoundClouders before them, Pimpsoul & Neon Steve decided not to include the vocals they sampled for what I’m guessing is out of copyright fears… or is it something else Whatever it may be, we’ve got to find a solution so musicians get the proper credit they deserve. Thankfully, after a lil’ digging around, I found out who these two sampled.
When I first heard ‘Merry Go Round,’ I thought Pimpsoul & Neon Steve were sampling the Jackson 5. But after getting these things wrong more than once, you tend to check your work before posting it to the public. ‘Merry Go Round’ actually takes an obscure Supremes’ vocal sample and gives it a “complete funk facial.” And as much as I love the bass buzzing ghetto funk, how they perform the vocal breaks is what impresses me most.
[audio:Merry-Go-Round.mp3|titles=Merry Go Round]
The Indian dialect is one of the very few outside the US that I actually enjoy listening to musically. I guess it comes down to the beat and how they flow to it that gives ’em their charm.
In Bobby C Sound TV’s latest, ‘Yogi Fire’ has that Indian-style finesse with the ghetto bass Bobby C helped make so popular, at least on here. And although the vocals on the track may remind me too much of the Bollywood stereotyped song & dance, once that bass kicks in, all things go good!
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Funk Ferret is known ’round these parts for his dirty bass ghetto funk and his new edit for Sisi’s ‘Stay’ does not disappoint. FF does lay off the dirty bass a lil’ and goes for more of a brass funkiness. All & all, it’s just nice to hear from this dude again, it’s been too long.
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Here’s a collection of all the best of lists for 2011. I gotta admit there’s a lot of remixes & mashes on here, but when you’re working with underground producers, their access to great vocals is limited to well-known acapellas (for the most part). But don’t let that get you down, music snobs, there’s still some find work all over here!
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How the shit isn’t Ghetto Funk lightin up every living room in the Western hemisphere This shit is the grooviest thang since my days of Earth Wind & Fire
In this latest Ghetto Funk installment, DJ Wood mashes up Sean Paul & Asteroids Galaxy Tour’s ghetto grooviness. Some of y’all may not be the biggest Sean Paul fans, but you can’t deny his swaveness in this shit! (or you best not)
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Bobby C is know around here for his television ghetto wobblin’ and now he’s up to no good on a classic hip-hop soundtrack. If you haven’t heard the Geto Boy’s “Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta” or the movie that made it so popular, Office Space, then what the shit kinda movies have you been watching all these years Either way, his upbeat, ghetto funk rendition of this gangsta ass beat is a hell of a romper.
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DJ Soo & Tim Livingstone bring us one “Boom!” filled track with hip-hop legends mixed into a break beat, Ghetto Funk fabuloso. I don’t know about y’all, but 2012 sure as hell feels like the Ghetto Funk revival to me.
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