Changing it from the upbeat to the downbeat

It all began when James Brown "changed from the upbeat to the downbeat… simple as that really." Brown is referencing a music genre originating in the 1960s, known as funk. This genre began in the later 1960's when African-American musicians blended soul music, soul jazz and R & B. Funk de-emphasizes the harmony and the melody of the music and brings forth a strong rhythm and bass. Usually funk uses a variety of instruments such as electric guitar, drums, electric bass and often times an electric organ, saxophone or horn section. 

Brown began to use a strong, loud and simple baseline and his vocals became more frantic after the release of singles such as "Cold Sweat" in 1967 and "Sex Machine" in 1970. Soon following, the genre began to expand and other notable bands began to adopt the funk style. The Isley Brothers had "It's Your Thing," a #1 hit, and Jimi Hendrix began to improve solos with a funk downbeat. 

In the 1970's and 1980's funk continued to grow and develop many funky sub-genres. Funk was at its finest in the 70's and at the peak of its popularity. A few bands, such as Sly and the Family Stone with "Family Affair" and Herbie Hancock with the album, Headhunters in 1973, made it to the mainstream and had #1 hits on the charts. 

With the 70's came disco, another popular genre which was fun, danceable and heavily influenced by funk music. Many popular bands such as Earth, Wind and Fire blended funk and disco heavily to produce their sound. 

The man with the most funk bands, George Clinton, is responsible for combining a lot of funk and rock artists. He has worked with and put together bands such as Parlet, The Horny Horns, and The Brides of Funkenstein. Perhaps the most notable of his combinations was his two bands, Funkadelic and Parliament, to create Parliament Funkedelic. P-Funk adds influences from jazz and psychedelic rock into the mix. The whole crew still performs today under the name. 

As disco faded out in the 1980's, funk evolved once again, with "synth" keyboards and funky drummers and bands such a Kool and the Gang and Rick James, known for ‘explicit funk' songs such as "Super Freak." Although funk music is not explicitly played these days, many artists still use funk influence in their music. Many early 90's artists use funk samples in their songs to fuel the beat. Also, jam bands such as Galactic and Robert Randolph and the Family Band draw from funk's downbeat to produce their music.

Good Funk and Funk Influenced songs to check out:

James Brown: 

"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag"

"I Feel Good"

The Isley Brothers:

"Shout!"

"It's Your Thing"

Earth, Wind and Fire:

"September"

"Let's Groove"

P-Funk:

"Flashlight"

"We Want the Funk"

Sly and the Family Stone:

"M'Lady"

"Dance to the Music"

The Gap Band:

"Burn Rubber on Me"

"You Dropped a Bomb on Me"

Kool and the Gang:

"Get Down on It"

"Fresh"

Galactic: 

"Hustle Up"

"Think Back"