FUTURE WORLD FUNK – ARTIST PROFILE
July 6th, 2006 by LenaK
‘Future World Funk is the funky soundtrack for the 21st century and challenges any clubber who thinks that they have heard it all before’ Time Out Magazine
Over the last five years Future World Funk has risen to be a unique voice on the global-dance scene – one time pioneers of the scene Russ Jones and Deejay Cliffy are now recognised Europe-wide as the leading purveyors of the genre, confirmed by incredible deejay performances at some of the most important European festivals including Glastonbury, Womad, Montreux Jazz Festival, SFinks Festival (Belgium), Dance Valley & Lowlands (Holland), Festate Festival (Switzerland), Big Chill and the Bradford Mela. The Womad festival (where FWF headlined alongside Gilles Peterson & Mr Scuff) summed it up beautifully when they wrote:
“there are maverick figures out there to whom this blinkered and monotone approach is just nonsense and we can thank our lucky stars that they exist. DJs Russ Jones and Cliffy are supreme examples of this breed. Their Future World Funk club nights have been delighting London’s more open-minded club goers for more than four years now and have spawned a compilation series of the same name released by Ocho Records. Russ and Cliffy’s approach is wide open, eclectic, global, innovative and anchored on the need to entertain a crowd. Mashed up Brazilian 2-step, Arabic hip hop , Afro-house, vintage reggae, Latin ragga, Japanese funk, all of these and more find pride of place of the Future World Funk”
Womad Programme 2003
Apart from a presence at the major festivals, FWF have played in almost every serious world beat club on the planet from such diverse location as Beijing, Moscow, Sao Salvador, Toronto, Oslo, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, New York, Japan, Sao Paulo, Zurich, Istanbul and many more.
The full recognition of FWF contribution to the global dance scene came when they were selected from 350 acts to represent the UK at the World Music Expo (WOMEX) in Seville in October 2003, coinciding with a nomination for the BBC World Music Awards for the category of Club Global.
WOMEX is the world’s largest and most significant annual music conference, trade fair, showcase and meeting point for all professionals involved in world and roots music. As one of only 3 deejay acts they will be performing a special showcase (inviting musicians, MCs and VJ to join them) to the leading players on the world music scene from all corners of the planet. This will mean an extremely busy tour schedule for 2004 – just the way the guys like it!
What exactly is the Future World Funk sound? The music policy is simple yet unique, nowhere else in London or beyond can you find this global pastiche of rhythms and sounds. Combining elements of Latin, African, Indian, Arabic and Caribbean music with the nocturnal sounds of breaks, beats and grooves From Ghanian Hip Life to Latin Drum & Bass, South African House to Moroccan Gnawa Dub, Nigerian funk to UK Bhangra, Brazilian Mangue Beat to Digi dub, no country or style dominates.
When Russ and Cliffy aren’t deejaying around Europe they are taking care of Future World Funk Records, a record label which has been responsible for some serious leftfield single releases in the last year including remixes by Rainer Truby (Germany) and Butti 49 (Norway) from artists originating from such diverse locations as Japan and Venezuela.
For 2004 they have some more slamming world beat singles lined up plus the fourth instalment of the FWF compilation series. The series has already sold over 70,000 copies worldwide and volume 4 is set to be the biggest and strongest yet. Volume 4 follows hot on the trail of two spin off projects launched in 2003, FWF presents ‘Desi Nation’ and FWF presents ‘Urban Brazil’ – two genre specific projects that demonstrates the depth of Russ and Cliffy’s knowledge.
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