Chicago ghetto house pioneer DJ Funk has died

Influential Chicago producer and musician DJ Funk has died, aged 54.

His death was confirmed and publicly announced by collaborator DJ Slugo on Wednesday (March 5) who said in an Instagram video: “I didn’t want to say nothing myself until I officially got the word from his family. I had seen a lot of people posting, a lot of people with misinformation – I didn’t want to say anything until I got official word from his family. DJ Funk has passed… It’s cool to send your prayers, it’s cool to send your condolences but let the family grieve. Let them deal with the loss of their loved one.”

“They do have plans to do something big in Chicago. He’s not in Chicago right now, he’s in Georgia but once the family has time to grieve and put a plan together to show some love, I’ll definitely come back on here and let y’all know what’s going on,” Slugo continued.

“It’s just crazy… it’s a really sad day. It’s a touchy moment for me… All of us came up in the ghetto house world. Still to this day, the music we created isn’t respected throughout the world. Still to this day, people are like ‘What’s ghetto house?’ like we didn’t make our mark in the world at all.”

DJ Funk’s death comes after a long battle with stage four cancer. His family had launched a GoFundMe campaign on February 25 to seek financial aid for a funeral service and a fitting tribute to the Chicago icon.

The campaign read: “DJ Funk, a talented artist who has brought so much joy and inspiration to so many through his music, is now facing the heartbreaking reality of planning for his final farewell. He has been bravely battling stage 4 cancer and now doesn’t have much longer left. We are raising $10,000 to cover funeral arrangements and give him the tribute he deserves.” At the time of writing, $34,353 has been raised.

The DJ and producer – real name Charles Chambers – was one of the Chicago house scene’s most prominent innovators, helping pioneer the ghetto house genre that saw producers take house music’s basic beats, bass and vocals and speed them up while mixing in raunchy lyrics.

Throughout the years in the late 1980s and early ’90s, DJ Funk’s productions, namely ‘Work Dat Body,’ ‘Run’ and ‘Pump It’ took off in Chicago and eventually performed well in the international circuit, landing consistent plays in clubs and parties.

His fame hit an all-time high in 1999 with the release of his first album ‘Booty House Anthems’. In 1997, iconic french duo Daft Punk gave DJ Funk a shoutout on their debut album ‘Homework’ and it’s track ‘Teachers’.

In 2006 and 2014, DJ Funk produced official remixes for Justice, who have labelled him as one of their influences.

Speaking to The Guardian in 2015, DJ Funk discussed how he’d like his life to be celebrated: “I really don’t want a funeral. I’d like to have a party so people remember all the good times and aren’t sad. Then at the afterparty there’ll be a lot of booty shaking with all my music played.”

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