Crack

While the term may have fallen from widespread use (except for those tweedy teachers and uncles that will never give up trying to get down with the kids), ‘funky’, to some, continues to define a way of life. The planet’s top funkster lives deep, deep in the funk, in Leimart Park, Los Angeles.

To put the brick marked funk in the wall of popular music, is the self-proclaimed solo mission of Damon G. Riddick, better known as Dam Funk. Born into a ‘blood’ neighbourhood in Pasadena, Dam (pronounced Dame) hails from the same generation as the likes of Ice Cube and DJ Quik.

After purchasing his first synthesizers whilst still in high school and scraping around to get enough cash to afford a LinnDrum drum machine, Dam began bunking off lessons to construct his first tracks.

Not long after graduating he picked up work as a session musician and after a chance encounter with Leon Sylvers, (the front man of the renowned funk family The Sylvers and legendary producer of Shalamar and The Whispers) Dam earned his money and the respect of many playing keys for late '90s rap acts such as Westside Connection and Mack 10.

However Dam continued to believe that true funk music was being muddied by gratuitous sampling and ridiculous outfits. It was at this point he began the now infamous Funkmosphere night. It still runs every Monday night at a small bar in Culver City and the founder’s belief that the night’s music belongs to the people and not the DJ, draws a sea of heady funk disciples every time it runs.

Released in the autumn of last year, Dam’s first album Toeachizown (pronounced to-each-his-own) is made up of five LPs. Each LP constitutes a different volume with a different name and the tracks on each reflect that name in some way or another. For example, Volume 3 is entitled Life and contains songs that, as Dam explains: "Focuses on relationships; good ones and weird ones.”

In describing Dam Funk, Eric Ducker of the LA Times has summed up his style brilliantly, saying: “Dam is one of those rare artists who look the way his music sounds." Smooth shades and a soulful exterior purvey an underlying cool, consistently prevalent in funk music through the ages. Dam Funk is the embodiment of this aura. The roots and inspirations for Dam are clear. But one thing to get straight is he is anything but a revival act. While his music conjures similarities to older funk material like Slave, Aurra and early Prince, Dam Funk makes totally new and unique music; with the kit the original funksters used back in the day.

Don’t forget that Dam has been doing his thang for almost as long as Slave, Aurra et al. Check out his recent vinyl, It’s My Life, which features two tracks, one from the '90s and one from the '80s. The title track is the older of the two and is more of a documentary on funk. The second track Big Azz Girl, is effortlessly contrasting to the first and features a reassuringly post-pubescent Dam on vocals.

One of Dam Funk’s many quirks is his use of numbers or single letters in place of whole words, as on his track Love Is Here 2nite (I Can Feel It), or I Wanna Thank U (4 Steppin' into my Life). The only disappointment is that he’s planning on calling it a day after only three albums, or as he puts it, 'after three funk bombs', to start writing movie scores.

Current projects include his mad guest vocal spot on Hudson Mohawke’s track Tell Me What You Want from Me. Also, try downloading his mix for Clae footwear and keep an ear out for his band, Master Blazter. If nothing else, check out his new, Funkmosphere channel on YouTube.

Watch any interview with him and you’ll see just how much of a smooth cat he is. As already outlined, it’s obvious a wider range of musical styles than you may have imagined have influenced him. He admits in his teens he went on journeys into the music of bands like KISS and Mötley Crüe and is planning to reveal more of what he calls his dark side through an upcoming a synthesized metal project. Keep your eyes and ears open for next chapter in this fascinating artist’s story.



Tune: Fantasy

http://www.myspace.com/damfunk

Words: Joe Smith

- - - - - - - - - - -