Future funk is one of those internet-centric genres that gets people pretty emotional. The basic idea behind it is…take an older funk song (or city pop cut) and maybe speed it up a bit and add in some extra beats, maybe make a few other small modifications to it. For the most part, this approach results in what amounts to barely touched remixes. Best case scenario…a way for folks to find some cool artists, Japanese or otherwise, they might not have known about before. Worst case scenario…dude makes tons of money on Bandcamp by adding an extra kick to a Tatsuro Yamashita song and does it for years.
Kissmenerdygirl is a future-funk-leaning producer in Japan, but he’s teamed up with rising rapper Kokosemami to form Kissmeofficelady to create the song “Amour D’été” which shows another way for the future funk crowd to evolve. The song follows in the footsteps of Cool Japan’s magnificent “Rush Hour,” which used a slightly edited loop of an ‘80s jam as a foundation for Sara Bonito and Lovely Summer Chan to absolutely flourish over. “Amour D’été” follows a similar formula, using a future-funk-ish base as a springboard for something more exciting than the usual future funk offering. The beat is a lovely, vaguely tropical breezer which is optimal for Kokosemami to flex over, bouncing lightly over it but adding her own personality to the tune. Kissmenofficelady ends up creating a lovely summer pop number, one that shows the potential the idea fueling future funk could lead to. Listen above.
(While researching this one, I found another rap album Kokosemami appeared on earlier this year…one song, but the whole thing is an intriguing listen, and probably worthy of a post after more listening. You can get to a link to it here.)