Go-go

Go-go, a style of funk heavy on bass and percussion, originated in Washington, D.C., in the late 1970s. Go-go bands were large ensembles with multiple percussionists who could maintain a steady beat for hours at a time. By 1982 go-go was the most popular music of the dance halls (called go-gos) in the black parts of the capital. The go-go pioneers were Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers, who cultivated the steady, rigid use of the funk beat, and Trouble Funk, who packaged their powerful shows into some of the best studio recordings of the go-go era. Other steady go-go acts were Redds and the Boys, E.U. (Experience Unlimited), and Rare Essence.

Go-go bands were influenced by George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, who frequently played four-hour concerts in the region. The tireless percussive rhythms of go-go also have connections to the Caribbean dance styles of soca and reggae. The rigid beats served some of the early rap sides for New York City hip-hop acts Afrika Bambaataa and Kurtis Blow; and rappers of the mid-1980s, such as Doug E. Fresh, Run-D.M.C., and the Beastie Boys, utilized the distinctive go-go beat in their music. The zenith of go-go’s popularity was E.U.’s “Da Butt,” from Spike Lee’s film School Daze (1988).

Go-go recordings were almost exclusively released on independent labels, the most successful of which was D.E.T.T. Records, founded by Maxx Kidd. In 1985 Island Records made a brief attempt to record and market go-go groups, but the style never became nationally known, and its associations with hip-hop faded as urban rap styles changed in the 1990s.