If Funk Had a Mount Rushmore, These Four Are on It

No matter the genre, Mount Rushmore debates are usually complicated, spark debates and rarely end peacefully. And that’s because it’s subjective and someone always gets left off. There’s always an argument about why the entire premise of a Mount Rushmore is flawed to begin with. And when it comes to funk, one of the most influential genres in modern music, narrowing the conversation to four faces feels almost impossible. But we’re going to do it anyway.

Besides, that’s part of the fun. Why? Because when you start talking about funk’s Mount Rushmore, one name that almost always appears on the mountain without much debate is Sly Stone. 

Not just because of the music he made with Sly & The Family Stone, but because of what that music created. Funk, soul, rock, gospel, psychedelia. These were all sounds that Sly blended before “genre-bending” became a talking point.

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So if funk had its own mountain, who stands next to him?

James Brown: The Blueprint

Every genre has that turning point. For funk, it’s James Brown.

Before him, music leaned more on melody and structure. Brown undoubtedly changed that. Everything started locking into the rhythms — drums, bass, horns — all moving together in a way that felt new at the time.

You hear it in records like “Cold Sweat,” “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” and “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine.” That wasn’t just a sound, it shifted how artists approached rhythm altogether.

And you can still hear that impact — especially in hip-hop, which has been pulling from his catalog for decades.

At a certain point, it’s simple. Without James Brown, there’s no funk.

Sly Stone: The Bridge

If James Brown laid the foundation, Sly stretched it further than we could’ve imagined.

Sly & The Family Stone were doing things in the late 1960s that still feel ahead of their time. Songs like “Everyday People” and “Stand!,” even the makeup of the band, all stood out. These things weren’t the norm back then.

Sly Stone — The First Rap Superstar?

Cloaked in otherworldly, funky style, Sly Stone was a rap superstar before hip-hop even existed.

But musically, Sly’s true innovation was fusing sounds together.

Funk, rock, gospel and pop all lived in the same space. Songs like “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” and “Dance to the Music” didn’t just sound good, they altered how artists built their records.

You still hear Sly’s DNA in so much of what’s out now. In hip-hop, in R&B, in how artists glide between sounds like it’s second nature.

It’s quite clear, now, that Sly wasn’t just making funk. But hindsight is 20/20. Instead, he was building the bridge between generations.

George Clinton: The Universe

If Sly helped stretch what funk could be, George Clinton launched them into orbit.

With Parliament-Funkadelic, Clinton built an entire world around the music. The sounds were psychedelic, playful and unpredictable. It was colorful, unique and broke the mold. The Mothership, Dr. Funkenstein, it all became part of his musical ethos.

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Albums like Mothership Connection and One Nation Under a Groove showed just how far funk could go without losing what made us feel in the first place.

And Clinton’s sonic fingerprints would later shape West Coast hip-hop, especially during the G-funk era.

Prince: The Expansion

If James Brown built the foundation and Sly Stone pushed the boundaries, Prince showed how far funk could go.

Coming out of Minneapolis in the late 1970s, Prince took funk’s DNA and blended it with rock, pop and synth-driven experimentation. The result was something completely his own.

Songs like “I Wanna Be Your Lover,” “Kiss” and “1999” proved that funk didn’t have to stay in one lane to stay true to itself.

Prince didn’t just carry the sound forward. He redefined how it could exist in modern music.

Mount Rushmore debates never really end, but they’re not supposed to. There’s always another name that could make the case. 

But when the conversation turns to the artists who shaped funk and pushed it to new heights, the same four names keep coming up: James Brown, Sly Stone, George Clinton and Prince.

Different eras and different approaches, but together, they built a sound that still shows up in the music we hear today.

The Sly & The Family Stone Songs That Became Funk Anthems

From “Everyday People” to “Family Affair,” these songs capture the joy, protest and spirit that made Sly & The Family Stone one of funk’s most influential forces.