The Legacy of Jump n Funk: DJ Rich Medina’s Tribute To Fela

Close to four decades after the creation of Afrobeat, the life and music of the legendary Fela Anikulapo Kuti has finally reached mainstream U.S. audiences, thanks to the success of FELA! on Broadway and the excitement it has generated through vinyl re-issues, national television broadcasts and ubiquitous FELA! billboards featuring the iconic Queens.  For many who follow NYC’s vibrant dance scene, the success of FELA! on Broadway marks the culmination of a decade-long underground cultural movement that began with the introduction of Fela’s music to U.S. dance floors by DJ Rich Medina’s groundbreaking event known as Jump n Funk.

Before 2001, when Jump n Funk made its debut at Shine on Canal St. and W. Broadway (which is now the Canal Room, a much different venue), Fela’s music was barely heard on dance floors, and was mostly relegated to vintage record stores, world music festivals, and the living rooms of musicologists with crazy vinyl collections.  But Rich Medina changed all that when he ventured to dedicate an entire evening of music to Fela and his Afrobeat progeny.  The beauty of it was that Rich wasn’t playing for a lounge, he was playing for a dance floor of underground NYC club-goers – house dancers, b-boys, experimentalists, capoeiristas, hipsters – who had yet to exchange late-night dance floor energy to the hypnotic beats and ancestral chants of Fela Kuti.

The introduction of Fela’s music to New York City dancefloors in the early part of the millennium paralleled in some ways the re-introduction of James Brown and the soul/funk/jazz revival that transpired back in the early 90’s, with parties like Soul Kitchen and Giant Step.  The difference with Jump n Funk, however, was that unlike the music of James Brown, most club-goers had never heard the music of Fela before, and they had certainly never seen a dance floor of 400+ people getting down to Afrobeat for six straight hours.  That was revolutionary: a social urban dance scene in the U.S. that revolved around the music of a West African musician.

After Shine closed, Rich moved the party to Greenpoint, Brooklyn in the summer of 2003, to the much loved but short-lived Martinez Gallery.  That summer, going to a Jump n Funk party at Martinez was like stepping back in time to Lagos in 1973 – the dancers even dressed the part.  With its outdoor garden patio, vast wooden dance floor, and afrocentric Brooklyn vibrations, the music of Fela enveloped Martinez Gallery well into sunrise with a spirit that felt like it was directly from the indigenous land of Yoruba.

After the magical summer of 2003, Jump n Funk ventured into smaller quarters, the Coral Room on 28^th St. and 10^th Ave.  By 2005, the event made its debut at the Marlin Hotel at Winter Music Conference (WMC) in South Beach, another milestone for Afrobeat fanatics.  Around the same time, more dance events based on the fusion of Afrobeat and House music began to surface, such as Africa Hi-Fi in Chicago (DJ Ron Trent), Brooklyn Mecca in New York (DJ Sabine), Spread Love in Atlanta (Dj Kemet), Bembe! in the Bay Area (DJ Carlos Mena), and Libation in New York (DJ Ian Friday).

By 2006, Jump n Funk had settled at S.O.B.’s as a monthly soiree and moved out of an underground cult following into a more mainstream nightlife crowd.  The event has now gone international to such countries as Japan and the U.K., and according to Rich, is bigger outside of New York than it ever was in New York, setting the stage for the energy that has captivated audiences on Broadway.

It is often said that dancers are translators of music into three-dimensional movement – they channel sonic vibrations into the physical realm.  Thanks to DJ Rich Medina and the Jump n Funk tribute event, a second generation of dancers were able to bring Fela’s music and message to life in the Americas, helping to lay the groundwork for the surge in Fela’s U.S. popularity.

- Santiago Freeman

Rich Medina speaks about Afrobeat

Jump N Funk in Paris