Stylistic origins Funk
R&B
neo soul
breakbeat
electronica
P-Funk
acid jazz
jazz-funk
big beat
hip hop
trip hop Cultural origins Early 1990s, United States and United Kingdom Typical instruments Turntables
synthesizer
keyboard
drum machine
strings
piano
guitar
upright bass
bass
saxophone
flute
trumpet
trombone
clarinet
drums | ||
Nu funk is a contemporary genre of funk.
Since mid-1990s and further into the 2000s, a number of new bands have emerged that played original compositions intended to imitate the sound of deep funk bands. The concept usually includes using vintage musical instruments and recording equipment, as well as distribution via analogue record discs. However, an updated tighter sound is not uncommon as well. Stylistically, nu funk is somewhat close to jam bands.
Nu-funk originated in Brooklyn in the 1980s. The music was slow, riff-oriented and danceable. Listeners would often dance and "jive" during the riffs.
Unlike original funk that was primarily US-based, nu funk is a worldwide phenomenon. Most notable bands such as The Quantic Soul Orchestra and The New Mastersounds come from the UK. Other countries are also well represented with bands like The Poets of Rhythm from Germany and The Bamboos from Australia. Since the late 2000s however, the Nu-Funk sound has adapted influences from hip hop, funky breaks, dubstep and big beat and became a more diverse sample-based form of music but keeping with the funk motif. This style of nu-funk has been popularised by the likes of Featurecast and A Skillz, and is usually played around 100-120 BPM. A notable label of this kind of Nu-Funk is Boogie Boutique Records (London, UK)and the GoodGroove Records label in Bath, UK.
Nu funk artists
In addition to the new wave of funk revivalists, music critics had cited other artists as having nu-funk sound (most of whom are usually classified as acid jazz):