The scene originated in southern England and spread with support from DJs including DJ Froggy, Greg Edwards, Robbie Vincent, Chris Hill[3] and Colin Curtis.
Hi-Tension co-founder Paul McLean has also suggested that the Caribbean roots of many Brit funk musicians also influenced their music, resulting in "a looser rhythm (and) hints of reggae in the sound".
[7] Although the scene enjoyed significant underground popularity – a 1980 all-day event at Knebworth featuring Light of the World attracted 12,000 people – it attracted little mainstream media attention outside of Robbie Vincent's show on BBC Radio London: the BBC did produce Black Current, a TV pilot featuring Hi-Tension which was intended to launch a show conceived as a British equivalent of Soul Train, but this was not picked up for a full series.
[7] Another portion of the Brit funk scene emerged from the light entertainment circuit with a number of acts performing cabaret, working men's clubs, and US army base venues during the early 1970s.
National exposure for these acts was sometimes achieved through television programmes such as Opportunity Knocks and New Faces as was the case for the Manchester group, Sweet Sensation.
While Brit funk drew heavy influence from American music, the young and diverse demographic spearheading the genre created a much more inclusive and fluid space.
[7] This scene was significant in reducing racial boundaries in the clubs and raised the profile of black and white musicians working together, notably Spandau Ballet who collaborated with Beggar and Co to produce the hit single "Chant Number One".
However, a popular theory is that Brit funk's success in the British mainstream is due to its classification as pop music with lighter themes that are less concerned with the politics and identity found in reggae.
Songs like Linx's "You're Lying" (1980), Beggar and Co's "Somebody Help Me Out" (1981)[15] and Central Line's "Walking into Sunshine" (1981) appealed to those who wanted either relationship or sociopolitical commentary.
Beyond this vocally feminine sound, the way consumers heard Brit funk shifted as the role of live performance joined the popularity of the 1970s DJ in clubs.
[16] In 2017, former members of Hi-Tension, Light of the World and Beggar & Co formed a new band, The Brit Funk Association and began reviving the genre performing a repertoire from their respective catalogues.
To start, Britfunk was significant for expressing Black British identity and drew from a range of African American music genres such as soul, jazz, electro, and hip-hop.
Writers including Tim Lawrence, Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton discussed how disco ushered in a unique moment in which gender and sexuality queerness gained "recognition" in mainstream music.