Funk is an American musical style that originated in the mid- to late-1960s when African American performers blended soul music, soul jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Like much of African music, funk typically consists of a complex groove with rhythm instruments such as electric guitar, electric bass, Hammond organ, and drums playing interlocking rhythms. Funk bands also usually have a horn section of several saxophones, trumpets, and in some cases, a trombone, which plays rhythmic "shots". Influential African American funk performers include James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, George Clinton, The Meters, and Prince. Notable 1970s funk bands included Parliament- Funkadelic, Earth, Wind & Fire, Tower of Power, The Commodores, and Kool & the Gang.

Funk music was a major influence on the development of 1970s disco music and funk samples are used in most styles of hip hop music.

African-American musicians originally applied "funk" to music with a slow, mellow groove, then later with a hard-driving, insistent rhythm because of the word's association with sexual intercourse. This early form of the music set the pattern for later musicians. Funky typically described these qualities. In jam sessions, musicians would encourage one another to "get down" by telling one another, "Now, put some stank ("stink"/funk) on it!" At least as early as 1907, jazz songs carried titles such as Buddy Bolden's "Funky Butt." In the mid-1950s Little Richard and his saxophone-studded road band were the first to inject funk in the Rock n Roll beat, according to James Brown and others. When Little Richard abruptly left Rock n Roll for born-again Christianity and the ministry, members of his band joined with James Brown and the Famous Flames, which led to the development of funk into a distinct genre in the 1960s. As late as the 1950s and early 1960s, when "funk" and "funky" were used increasingly in the context of soul music, the terms still were considered indelicate and inappropriate for use in polite company.

Listen pays tribute to the FUNK that invaded our ears in the late 60’s and 70’s and still inspires today the Music and Culture know as Hip Hop. A two color design of the Parliament-Funkadelic font logo reading LISTEN on the front center. T-shirt features a Listen logo embroidery on the left sleeve.

Price:$26.00