It is significant as the first hip-hop song to be released by a female rap group (and by a rap group from the Southern United States, as all three members of The Sequence were natives of Columbia, South Carolina), and was the second single released on Sugar Hill, following "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang.
[1] The opening guitar and synth-drums were sampled in Organized Rhyme's single, "Check the O.R."
Erykah Badu's version contained rap vocals from herself, Queen Latifah, Bahamadia and Angie Stone a.k.a.
In 1997, En Vogue sampled the song on their remix of "Whatever" featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard.
[3][4] In 2022, Katy Perry did an advertisement for food delivery service Just Eat which interpolated "Funk You Up" (There were alternative versions for the Menulog and SkipTheDishes ads).