What exactly is "Future Funk"?

Future Funk is one of my favorite genres of all time. It's held close to my heart because of my experiences with it and how dynamic the songs can be. But I know what you're wondering. Just what is future funk? Well, future funk stems from the existing sub-genre of electronic music known as "Vaporwave." Future funk is a genre popular among amateur artists who simply make music out of passion and use platforms such as Youtube, Soundcloud and Bandcamp to promote their works. Future funk is incredibly creative because it encorporates 80's vibes, electronic sounds, jazz, disco and a mixture of both English and Japanese singers. Famous artists include Night Tempo and Agrume.

Future funk surfaced in early 2017. It's an incredibly niche genre associated with a specific aesthetic of retro-style purple and blue coloring and is heavily influenced by 80's music and Japanese culture. Future funk also takes inspiration from the previously mentioned vaporwave genre that became popular in 2010. Using edited mixes of funk, disco, rap, jazz, dance and techno, future funk is the ultimate compilation genre.

As stated before, the biggest influences on future funk are the "aesthetic" and culture of 80's and 90's American and Japanese culture, featuring grids, deep blue and pink coloring and a lot of old school anime characters. The odd choices in people use for their aesthetic images is a large sign of why this genre is so creative and inspiring. The colors and imagery are simply appealing to the eye. Music videos often consist of a crowded city at night, full of colorful neon lights and imagery due to being so inspired by the looks and sounds of the 1980's.

The other trends in the genre including soft drinks, greek pillars, old technology, palm trees and Japanese characters used for text which are referred to as Kanji 漢字

So who are the people behind such a creative and expressive genre? well, while the famous artists are few, there are still enough to be recognized for the talented individuals they are. The problem with this is that future funk artists hide behind their iconic names and leave their personal lives away from their music, since a lot of their music is mostly mixing and editing, even their voices go mostly unknown. One of the most reputable future funk artists is Yung Bae who is known for his edits of Japanese disco songs and love of Sailor Moon. He was made popular by his single "Selfish High Heels". Possibly the most well-known future funk artist and my personal favourite, is マクロスMACROSS 82-99. He does a lot of remixing with electronic noises and jazz instruments as well as making pre-existing tracks simply better, like when he took Rye Rye's song "Bang Bang" and turned it into his own work: "Sailor Team". Other famous artists include Lazerhawk and Agrume

I think it's obvious. But I love this musical genre. The sheer creativity and fantastic beats never fail to keep me entertained from start to finish. I can only hope that this style of music lasts forever because of the expressive nature, despite the common lack of lyrics. This is a way for small-time artists to express themselves, even if they don't get the popularity of common musical stars.