Dance-Funk Pop
tagStarted 1979Peak 1981-1987Last big hit still active
Funk engineered for the dancefloor and the singles chart: a hard, danceable backbeat, slap-and-pop or synth bass, tight rhythm-guitar chops, gated drums, and chant-along hooks. More propulsive and club-aimed than mid-tempo funk-pop, it fuses funk's syncopation with the four-on-the-floor energy and big, immediate choruses of pure dance music.
History
Took shape as funk artists embraced post-disco club production around 1980, with Michael Jackson's 'Off the Wall' and 'Thriller' fusing funk grooves to dancefloor pop. Prince, Rick James, and the Minneapolis sound pushed it through the 80s; later acts like Jamiroquai and Daft Punk kept funk-driven dance-pop on charts.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off_the_Wall
- https://www.allmusic.com/style/dance-pop-ma0000004557