VA - Sister Funk Special (2024)

When the late, great James Brown (God rest his funky soul) gave us 'It's a Man's Man's World' over 50 years ago, the musical declaration went further than the lyrical content – funk was man's music. Brown's funk was pure soul but with hard, aggressive rhythms that did away with much of the sentimentality and sweet flourishes of the more orthodox soul sound at that time. However, when Brown added to those lyrics the one crucial caveat, 'it would be nothing, without a woman or a girl' he was leaving the door open for many a female vocalist to lay down a heartfelt, feminine and soulful cry. And when female vocals are backed up with tough, syncopated and funky rhythms, a bewitching, intoxicating and irresistible brew is created.

When released on vinyl & CD in 2007, Ian Wright's hugely popular Sister Funk collection saw the renowned collector and DJ drawing on his phenomenal hoard of rare funk 45's, mixing up the ultra rare, the classic and the downright impossible to demonstrate how a female funk compilation really should be done. Sister Funk 2 managed to rock the funk world and make instant classics of previously unknown songs, whilst Ian's fixation with these obscure female gems, many of which were plucked from unsuspecting soul dealers throughout the '90s, had suddenly spawned a new genre that would be uttered in reverence by funk collectors, DJs and ebay listings across the globe.