After a recent post on the scrawniness of the Washington, DC, music scene, the backlash was severe. And by that, I mean the once-DC-based brother of this lady who went to college with my wife sent me a slightly disapproving text regarding my irreverence toward go-go music. What is go-go music? Here’s an ultra-quick primer.
The Basics
Go-go is a subgenre of funk music developed largely by DC-based African American musicians in the 1960s and 1970s.
Defining musical genres is a bit like defining race—it’s kind of bullsh*t. Keeping that in mind, go-go is characterized by an emphasis on percussion (often using conga drums), high energy, call and response, and the live performance over the recorded product.
Some of the big names in the scene—taken straight from Wikipedia—were Rare Essence, Experience Unlimited (E.U.), Trouble Funk, and Chuck Brown.
For simplicity, you can file this separately from go-go clubs/dancers and the all-female rock band the Go-Go’s (though as with all art, there could have been some crosstalk).
Some Tunes
Check out a few essentials.
“Bustin’ Loose” by Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers (1979)
Brown had a rough start to his life, spending eight years in prison for aggravated assault that became murder when the victim died. He eventually got things together and became known as “The Godfather of Go-Go”. You’ll recognize this track for its progeny “Hot in Herre” by Nelly, on which Brown has a songwriting credit.
“Da Butt” by E.U. (1988)
Spike Lee helped make this E.U. track famous by including it on the soundtrack of his film School Daze.
“Shake Your Thang” by Salt-N-Pepa featuring E.U. (1988)
Sticking with the same part of the human body, E.U. teamed up with the now-legendary Salt-N-Pepa for this classic.
Now
Fast forward to modern times, and the DC go-go scene is not what it once was. That said, a local following still exists, and in 2020, the genre was named the official music of Washington, DC.
And outside the region?
Well, most are still asking, what is go-go music?
