I have jokingly talked about Knuckles the Echidna being black, and I stand by that joke. An angry red person with dreads and brass knuckles who is constantly duped by the white antagonist….can’t be black 🙂 I AM NOT JOKING WHEN I SAY THE FUNK IS BLACK (it has transcended race)! and that original Sonic music on the Genesis is funky!
(CLICK THE LINKS, HEAR THE MUSIC ON YOUTUBE!)
This is inspired by a VGMpire podcast I heard recently (Link Here) that showcased old Sonic music.
Let’s start by hearing some real funk! I am talking Parliament Funkadelic. George Clinton.
Normally, I do a lot of research for these but not this time. I was raised funk, I have lived funk, funk is life. I spent years of my life listening to and watching bootleg Parliament tapes and VHS. My childhood was littered with long road trips colored with maggot brain in the background. I played Bass from 5th grade through college.
The closest I have ever come to swimming was listening to Motor Booty Affair. I don’t like flying but I take flight on the Mothership regularly. I played bass growing up, and funk bass lines give us life on “the 1”. When I compare Sonic music to the funk, it comes down to the bass lines for me.
Is funk black? Yes, but the funk transcends race as much music does. Justin Timberlake can be as funky as Sly on a good day.
Funk and Sonic? I thought all these games were made by Japanese people. Fair question, the Japanese are funky, but lots of people worked on the music of Sonic. Sonic CD, and the soundtrack of Sonic 3 have very interesting developments. The most interesting one being Michael Jackson’s involvement with Sega on Sonic 3. (Off the Wall is one of the funkiest albums of my life!).
*Side note* Sonic was working with Michael Jackson on the soundtrack for Sonic 3 then his scandal with…the children went public. Sega wanted to distance themselves from that scandal. People from Jackson’s team are in the credits and people are on record saying MJ was working on music. The credit theme is supposed to have laid the ground work for “Strangers in Moscow”. Â
Sonic in Moscow- Sonic MJ MashUP
Sonic 1 “Spring Yard Zone”-Â This track is amazing. That heavy bass line drives the what should be a light jaunt through a star lit night into what feels like a casino night.
Sonic 1 “Staff Credits (medley)- All the songs are so good, and the bass drives the album.Â
Sonic 2 “Emerald Hill Zone”-Â This bass line almost sounds like blue grass and if you look for the roots of funk it meanders from Jazz, Rock, and even bluegrass and country.
Sonic 2 “Chemical Plant Zone”– Smooth McGroove kills this song! All his voice! Amazing.
Sonic 2 “Oil Ocean Zone”– This song is almost middle Eastern in theme. Makes sense…Oil…war….nevermind…Great song!
Sonic 3 “Hydrocity Zone Act 1 & 2”
Sonic 3 & Knuckles “Mushroom Hill Zone”–
Those were the funkiest Sonic jams in my humble opinion.
What I think is interesting about music in games is that original music doesn’t get the attention or credibility that licensed music gets. If Grand Theft Auto has a Funkadelic song in it, then it’s funky and a great sound track. While Toe Jam and Earl might blow the speakers out on Funktron nobody really appreciates it.
I think one of the reasons I was always drawn to Sonic more than Mario is the music. I play Sonic music all the time. Mario music didn’t appeal to me until Koopa Beach from Mario Kart was played. That shit is dope. The Genesis was very good at replicating guitar sounds and thumping bass. Good composer made the most out of that and I think Sonic is a sterling example of Genesis era music.
J3Blackgamer 