Funk and “Let’s Get It On”

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In the 1960s, funk as a genre grew in parallel to traditional Motown sounds. While Motown was suited to and created for a mainstream and middle-class white audience, funk grew as an underground musical movement from the black aesthetics of 1960s African American communities. Funk took musical characteristics from earlier, fundamental black-centric genres like soul, jazz, blues, and R&B, and used those elements to comment and reflect on the social problems facing the African American community. Allusions and references to prevalent blaxploitation and urban protests were common and were often the central focus of funk lyrics (Proctor 2019). Due in part to its roots as an underground genre, funk, too, became a reflection of and voice for black sexual cultures and expression (Proctor 2019). Many popular funk songs were characterized by their danceable and groovy downbeat as well as the prevalence of sexual innuendos and double entendres. Early underground performances of funk music, too, involved a freedom and fluidity that was seductive and complementary to the lyrics. Funk music, in general, spoke to broader underground, nontraditional, and underrepresented groups like black sex workers and black queers, and provided an outlet for sexual freedom and expression throughout the 1960s (Horton-Stallings 2015). 

As popular musical genres shifted and evolved in the 1970s, elements of the more polished and white-washed Motown became creatively entangled with elements from the more free-spirited and black-centric funk genre. Though produced as a Motown record, Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” was instrumental in ushering funk music aboveground and establishing it as a mainstream genre. “Let’s Get It On” incorporated the funk spirit and artistic elements of soul, doo-wop, and quiet storm with a musicality that differed starkly from earlier Motown records. Further, the song incorporated sexually suggestive lyrics and erotic overtones that were deviant from Motown productions yet highly reflective of the seductive quality and raw sexuality of the funk sound. Similarly, Gaye’s live performances of the song were seductive and interactive in similar ways to underground performances of funk artists in dance clubs (Gaye). Gaye’s alluring physical and theatrical performances of “Let’s Get It On” were stark deviations from typical Motown performances and helped set a mainstream precedent for live performances that influenced black artists for years to come.

Video: “Let’s Get It On” Live in Amsterdam (1976) • Uploaded by YouTube user Lovely Nights

Marvin Gaye’s incorporation of fundamental elements of funk music in his sexually charged album Let’s Get It On allowed the funk genre to garner a certain mainstream appeal that it had previously lacked. What once served almost exclusively African American communities and underrepresented sexual cultures came to appeal to a broader and more diverse audience. With its new position as a mainstream genre in the 1970s and its evident influence on popular artists like Marvin Gaye, the pure sexuality and freedom of funk music, artistry, production, and performance has come to greatly influence the musical and performative styles of many black artists.

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