Funk Is Its Own Reward with Lloyd Bradley

Funk Is Its Own Reward with Lloyd Bradley takes place at Clapham Library, 91 Clapham High Street, London, SW4 7DB, on Friday 29 May 2026 at 7:00 pm. The event is free and is organised by Lambeth Libraries.

Written by Lloyd Bradley, Funk Is Its Own Reward traces the development of funk between 1968 and 1978, from Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud to Off The Wall, and from the Third Harlem Cultural Festival to the P-Funk Earth Tour. The book places funk within a wider African American cultural movement, drawing on the Black Arts Movement, the Black Panthers, the rise of HBSUs, and Black political involvement.

Lloyd Bradley will explore topics including the wah-wah pedal, George Clinton’s time in a hippie commune, Sesame Street as a funk-related television programme, Blaxploitation and its intended audience, and the early connection between Earth, Wind & Fire’s Maurice White and the “cosmic pyramid”.