Happy 15th Anniversary to Chaka Khan’s eleventh studio album Funk This, originally released September 25, 2007.
They called her the Wild Child. Leather-and-feathers Chaka with lips, hips, and bare midriffs. Those who romanticized Chaka Khan in the early 1970s met her as the spunky frontwoman of otherwise-male funk band Rufus. Together they forged hits like “Sweet Thing,” “Tell Me Something Good,” and “Ain’t Nobody,” but Khan’s solo career soon eclipsed the group entirely.
By the mid-1990s, Khan had collected seven GRAMMYs and no longer needed a major label. Epiphany (1995) put a tidy cap on her association with Warner Bros. Records. Independent and free to explore, she issued the Prince-backed Come 2 My House (1998) and an elaborate big band venture, ClassiKhan (2004). Even with satisfying results from those projects, the question followed: Would she ever record with Rufus again?
In short? Hell no.
Where outfits like Fleetwood Mac, ABBA, and Pink Floyd would routinely squabble and reconvene, the dissolution of Rufus & Chaka Khan was uniquely contentious. Creative differences, money gripes, jealousy, and addiction led to one member physically attacking Khan while she was pregnant. Although she would never do another Rufus album with them, she eventually did one without them.
To accomplish this, Khan paired with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Bobby Ross & Issiah Avila, and the late Big Jim Wright. Their work with Earth, Wind & Fire, The Isley Brothers, and Barry White found them proficient at studying an artist’s signature sound and recreating it. After signing with Sony imprint Burgundy Records, Khan crafted her eleventh project Funk This where the organic grime and loose grooves of her primordial work with Rufus meet contemporary R&B of the 2000s.
“We were trying to make a Rufus album in 2007,” Jimmy Jam confessed. “I mean, really that’s what it was. It was about instrumentation…strings, live drums, rock guitar, all the things that Rufus was back in the day. Because… they were funky.”
It comes through on the nostalgic opener “Back in the Day” where Khan reflects on her Chicago childhood listening to Carmen McRae, Charlie Byrd, and Aretha Franklin. She turns her childhood protest into a bratty hook (“Put me in the bed when it’s light outside / Missin’ the funk of the night”). Rufus alumnus Tony Maiden’s guitar work authenticates the tune and sets the tone for Funk This.
Watch the Official Videos (Playlist):
The gritty, percussive lead single “Disrespectful” topped the dance chart straightaway. This fiery Mary J. Blige duet crashes, bangs, and lets both soul sirens unleash their fury on a trifling ex. Its soulful and sagacious follow-up “Angel,” however, became the record’s most enduring success. Evoking the gravitas of earthy Rufus tunes like “Egyptian Song” or “Best of Your Heart,” this Big Jim co-write addresses Khan’s younger self (“Troubled little angel / Inconsistent flying blind most of the time / Drama queen / Preening and untangling feathers in her wings / Captured by her dreams / Desperately, she sings”).
Sandwiched between snappy originals is a diverse array of electrified covers. You can smell the smoldering contempt wafting from “Foolish Fool” like cigarette smoke. Originally recorded by Dionne Warwick’s sister Dee Dee in 1968, Khan belts it like she’s trying not to beat some silly girl down for getting too close to her man.
The same energy fuels her Michael McDonald-assisted retelling of The Doobie Brothers’ “You Belong To Me.” They build soap opera drama with their intermingled adlibs (“Tell him you were foolin’!” / “Tell her you been drinkin’!”). Khan puts an exclamation point on it with her octave-stacked “Better get that woman out of our bed!” It’s popcorn-worthy, satisfying, and repeatable.
Jam & Lewis mine their connection to The Time, enlisting guitarist Jesse Johnson for updates of Jimi Hendrix’s “Castles Made of Sand” and Prince’s “Sign O’ The Times.” Khan makes the latter her own by adding a custom verse and mixing in the whoa-whoa-whoas from “I’m Every Woman.” Aretha Franklin mirrored this when she crossed “I’m Every Woman” with elements of “Respect” in 2014. If that’s not meta enough, Khan also covers herself, tackling a Rufus medley of “Pack’d My Bags” and “You Got the Love” with Maiden joining in the musical reminiscence.
These sit nicely beside fresh material like the daydreaming “One For All Time” or the midtempo hip-swiveler “Will You Love Me” that tops bubbling guitar-and-bass roux with slick R&B à la The Gap Band. On the Ira Schickman-produced final track “Super Life” penned as a promise to her grandchildren, Khan vows to be her best self going forward.
Enjoying this article? Click/tap on the album covers to explore more about Chaka Khan:
By next year’s awards season, Funk This captured two GRAMMY wins for Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals (“Disrespectful”). Until the lighthearted, electro-dance excursion Hello Happiness (2019), Khan was uninterested in releasing new music. She instead focused on touring, exploring her love of jazz, and occasionally releasing one-offs like “It’s Not Over,” a housy, optimistic continuation of “Super Life.”
Like a dormant volcano, Khan could easily fire up another Funk This in her sleep. If her new release is any indication, she might soon. Her range and skill remain intact. It’s only a matter of when the queen decides to come down from her throne and remind us why she is not to be funked around with.
LISTEN: