TOP 10 MUSIC (MOJO & FUNK)

 

Talking about pop music – and by pop music, I mean contemporary popular music, which I playfully like to quip falls into one of two categories (as parenthesised in my title), mojo and funk.

So what is mojo? What is funk?

Which leads me to another one of my favorite quips, when I describe something as funky. Funky – as in possessed of funk. You do know what funk is, don’t you?

Essentially, my definitions of mojo and funk are playing by my own rules – I make my own rules and break them anyway. I’m serious and I’m joking.

Funk at least has a definition beyond my own.

“Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the mid-20th century…Funk typically consists of a complex percussive groove with rhythm instruments playing interlocking grooves that create a “hypnotic” and “danceable” feel.”

However, I extend my definition of funk beyond the strict technical definition to a wider definition including rap, hip-hop, house, and dance music in general, reflecting my dance-bunny youth.

As for mojo, my focus tends to be more on the lyrical content albeit also the instrumentation – of a nature evoking the archetypal psychedelic rock of the 1960s, particularly that of my top two entries, or similar evocative quality, at least for me.

That said, this is my top ten list for music (mojo & funk).

 

 

 

(10) FUNK: SOMBR – 12 TO 12

 

“In a room full of people, I look for you”

 

Well, looks like I’ve found my standout song for 2025 and hence my new wildcard tenth place entry, according to my usual rule reserving that place for my favorite entry from the present or previous year.

Sombr is the stage name of Shane Michael Boose – essentially a play on his initials and the word somber – “an American singer, songwriter, and record producer”.

Although he released his debut single in 2021 and first EP in 2023, it was two singles (“Back to Friends” and “Undressed”) in 2025 that went viral on social media and became his breakout hits. That was followed by his debut studio album (I Barely Know Her – a title that encapsulates his recurring themes of “heartbreak, unrequited love, and emotional introspection” throughout his songs, including this one). That album included those two previous singles, as well as two follow up singles, including this entry.

“The song mixes ’80s-style synth-pop and new wave with hints of ’70s funk and blues, highlighted by Sombr’s vocals that shift between falsetto and rough growls…The track was described as walking the line between “repurposed funk with fuzzy blues licks” and hints of “bongo hits”. Sombr’s “shifting” vocals, alternating between a “lustful falsetto” and a “hungry, distorted growl” throughout the track were said to “ooze suave and mischievousness”. Sombr sings to a love interest, uncertain whether his feelings are being reciprocated.”

I don’t quite know the meaning of repurposed funk with fuzzy blues licks but it had me at funk, as the song did, with what seems to me more than hints of ’70s funk. That is reinforced by the video, which features a mirror-balled disco dance floor – where a sunglass-wearing Sombr has incongruously parked his car but damn it looks good. Social media personality and singer Addison Rae features as his love interest of the song – one that looks pretty requited in the video but the scenes of Sombr floating unconscious in a pool (with a great shot past him to the two police officers looking at him in the pool) suggests otherwise, and in my mind that the whole video might be his dream life flashing before his eyes so to speak.

 

RATING:

X-TIER (WILD TIER)

 

 

 

(9) MOJO: GNARLS BARKLEY – GOING ON (2008)

B-SIDE: Run (I’m a Natural Disaster) (2008)

 

“But I’m going on

And I’m prepared to go it alone

I’m going on

May my love lift you up to the place you belong

I’m going on

And I promise I’ll be waiting for you”

 

A song from my life soundtrack – or the soundtrack of the film in my mind.

Psychedelic soul duo Gnarls Barkley (or Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo Green) are better known for their first album St Elsewhere and its hit single “Crazy”, but I prefer this song from their second album The Odd Couple in 2008.

As is clear from the lyrics, the song is about leaving something (and clearly someone) behind and, well, going on – to answer a powerful call, whether a call to freedom, the mythic hero’s call to adventure or even a mystical call to something beyond this world altogether. Hence it’s another song from my life soundtrack as it coincided with a time in my life when I was going on (and had to go on) from someone and something.

Indeed, for me, this song has echoes of Hendrix’s otherworldly Voodoo Child, not so much in its instrumentality (as Hendrix’s guitar is, after all, unmatched), but in how it similarly casts “an even more powerful spell by delivering the lyric in the voice (or chorus) of a voodoo priest” – something that is even clearer in the music video for the song.

As for my B-side, I have to go with Run (I’m a Natural Disaster), a single from the same album – perhaps best known as a song from a film soundtrack, the X-Men: First Class film.

 

 

RATING: 

B-TIER (HIGH-TIER)

 

 

*

(8) FUNK: HILLTOP HOODS – NOSEBLEED SECTION (2003)

B-SIDE: Cosby Sweater (2014)

 

“Ladies come chill, come rock with me hunny

I got like half a mill in monopoly money

There’s no stopping me honey, so you can take my hand

We can lay on the beach and count grains of sand

Or take a plane to Japan, and drink sake with mafia

Fly to Libya for some Bacardi with Qaddafi a

Dinner date, followed by a funk show

We’ll rip off our tops and jump around in the front row” 

 

Another song from my life soundtrack – which is the running theme of my sixth to ninth places.

For this funk entry, we’re in the genre of hip hop. Australian hip hop, that is. After all, what would any music list be without some Australian hip hop. (What? It has its own Wikipedia entry!).

This was the Hoods’ breakthrough song, The Nosebleed Section, from their third album in 2003 (albeit effectively their first commercially available album), with its chorus and backing beat sampled from The People in the Front Row sung by Melanie Safka. The unsophisticated video reflects their underground origins and corresponding limited budget – albeit showcasing impressive riding skill (by former BMX flatland rider Simon O’Brien).

There’s just something that resonates about life turning out like nothing you had planned – with nothing but dreams or “writing rhymes on the bus” – and inverting that into the “upbeat themes of parties, concerts, good times and living the high life”, even if only for the night.

The Hilltop Hoods have continued to produce and perform songs through the next decade, including surprisingly soulful songs (and videos) at times, such as their singles Higher and Won’t Let You Down.

As for my B-side, I have to go with the unfortunately named Cosby Sweater (a title the band itself regretted after the fact) because it’s so damn catchy.

 

 

RATING: 

B-TIER (HIGH-TIER)

*

 

 

 

(7) MOJO: BOMB THE BASS – BUG POWDER DUST (1994)

B-SIDE: Beat Dis (1988)

 

“I think it’s time to discuss your, ah, philosophy of drug use as it relates to artistic endeavor”

 

Yeah, that opening narration pretty much sums up this 1994 single, “Bug Powder Dust”, by Bomb the Bass.

Well that and it’s effectively the four minute musical version of Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs, as suggested by the title. Indeed, it’s quite the game trying to unpack all the references to Burroughs and his novel as well as other pop cultural references in the relentlessly dense, ‘cut and splice’ lyrics. I’ve heard it said that songwriter and guest vocalist Justin Warfield essentially just tried to cram in as many references as possible – along with other lyrical oddities, “never been a fake and I’m never phony / I’ve got more flavor than the packet in macaroni”. In fairness, it makes about as much sense as the novel by Burroughs and its notorious ‘cut-up’ style. The lyrics get a little spicy – watch out for the recurring references to mugwump bodily fluids, particularly in the chorus accompanied by the titular bug power dust. Again – not too different from the original novel.

Arguably, Bomb the Bass – musician Tim Simenon’s electronic music ‘trip hop’ alias – is as much funk as mojo, as reflected by my B-side “Beat Dis”. Bug Powder Dust itself samples Alphonso Johnson’s bassline from Brazilian jazz fusion singer Flora Purim’s 1976 album title track “Open Your Eyes You Can Fly”.

I’m going to go more with mojo on this one, namely because of those trippy lyrics and because of the reference(s) to Jim Morrison, literally as Mr. Mojo Risin’ – “Mr. Mojo Risin’ on the case again”. (I’m pretty sure there’s another Morrison or Doors reference in “Waiting for the sun on a Spanish caravan / Solar eclipse and I’m feeling like staring, man”). Despite its relative (and esoteric) obscurity, those dense trippy lyrics and the reference to Mr Mojo Risin’ sees it as an enduring entry in the soundtrack in the film in my mind, hence its top ten placement (and top tier ranking).

 

“I think it’s time for you boys to share my last taste of the true black meat; the flesh of the giant, aquatic, Brazilian centipede”

 

RATING: 

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

(6) MOJO: DEPECHE MODE –
PERSONAL JESUS (1989)
B-SIDE: I Feel You (1993)

 

“Reach out and touch faith”

A song from my life soundtrack.

Depeche Mode might well have been a funk entry, with their bubble-gum synth-pop from the early 1980s, such as “I Just Can’t Get Enough” but then they took a turn to mojo later in the eighties with a harder sound as well as a darker and more sexual tone.

“Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who cares
Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who’s there”

Their new mojo brought them to world fame and their creative peak with albums Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion – but for me their highlight was the 1989 single, “Personal Jesus”, from the former album, with a distinctly lapsed or pagan Catholic feel to it (or a play on that old evangelical refrain of a “personal relationship with Jesus”. She is the goddess and this is her body – o yes!)

“Feeling unknown
And you’re all alone
Flesh and bone
By the telephone
Lift up the receiver
I’ll make you a believer ”

It is also one of my ‘soundtrack’ songs for the film in my mind. I was delighted that the music video evoked something of the neo-Western road movie in my mind’s eye, although I had imagined it a little differently.

“Take second best
Put me to the test
Things on your chest
You need to confess
I will deliver
You know I’m a forgiver ”

And I was also delighted when the man in black himself, Johnny Cash, covered the song in a stripped-back acoustic version in 2002 – “probably the most evangelical gospel song I ever recorded”.

“I feel you
Your sun it shines
I feel you
Within my mind
You take me there
You take me where
The kingdom comes
You take me to
And lead me through
Babylon”

My B-side is a single in a similar vein from their Songs of Faith and Devotion album – I Feel You.

 

RATING:
B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

 

(5) FUNK: THE WEEKND –
CAN’T FEEL MY FACE (2015)
B-Side: I Feel it Coming (2016)

 

“I’m a m***********g starboy!”

Of course, that’s the titular chorus from his song Starboy (featuring Daft Punk because they make everything funkier), but it encapsulates Abel Makkonen Tesfaye a.k.a The Weeknd. Also, it is funky – but my funk favorite still goes to this 2015 single from his Beauty Behind the Madness album, my introduction to The Weeknd.

The Weeknd has been so consistently funky through the 2010s to the 2020s – and so ubiquitously funky, as each time my ears prick up for any funk recently, it’s usually The Weeknd – that I’ve had no choice but to rank him in my Top 10 Mojo & Funk (and also ultimately compile my Top 10 Weeknd songs). And how can you not like the Weeknd? We all love the weekend!

“I can’t feel my face when I’m with you
But I love it, but I love it”

Anyway, I can’t resist this tagline for “Can’t Feel My Face” from Billboard – “The Weeknd’s irresistible, Michael Jackson-esque “Can’t Feel My Face” is so perfectly crafted that it’s impossible to imagine a world or alternative reality in which this song isn’t number one”. And it’s not every music video that ends in the immolation of its singer.

As for my B-side entry, I have a soft spot for “I Feel It Coming” (once again featuring Daft Punk, again making it funkier).

“You’ve been scared of love and what it did to you
You don’t have to run, I know what you’ve been through
Just a simple touch and it can set you free
We don’t have to rush when you’re alone with me”.

As for the balance of my Top 10 The Weeknd songs:

(3) Starboy (2015). Obviously
(4) Blinding Lights (2019)
(5) Take My Breath (2020)
(6) Ariana Grande / The Weeknd – Love Me Harder (2014)
(7) The Hills (2015)
(8) Save Your Tears (2020)
(9) Swedish House Mafia ft The Weeknd – Moth to a Flame (2021)
(10) Sacrifice (2022)

 

RATING: 4 STARS****
A-TIER (TOP TIER)

 

 

 

 

 

(4) FUNK: DAVID GUETTA –
SXY BTCH (One Love 2009)
B-Side: Sweat (Nothing But the Beat 2011)
ALBUMS: One Love 2009 / Nothing But the Beat 2011 / Listen 2014 / “7” 2018)

 

 

Hmm – I’m trying to find the words to describe this song without being disrespectful. You know, as opposed to its title, which are the words they found to describe a girl without being disrespectful?

David Guetta falls in the electronic dance funk end of the funk scale and is a prolific producer or mixer of dance music – indeed, between him and Calvin Harris, they might be said to predominate dance music in the new millennium. Guetta had a career playing clubs as a DJ in his native France from the 1980s and releasing his first album in 2002 but achieved international mainstream access with his fourth album One Love in 2009. And that album featured this undeniably funky single, still my personal favorite.

Close runner-up is 2011 single “Sweat” from his Nothing But the Beat album – his remix of Snoop Dogg’s “Wet”.

And the balance of my Top 10 David Guetta songs:
(3) When Love Takes Over (One Love 2009)
(4) Memories (One Love 2009)
(5) Little Bad Girl (Nothing But the Beat 2011)
(6) Play Hard (Nothing But the Beat 2.0 2013)
(7) Lovers on the Sun (Listen 2014)
(8) Flames (“7” 2018)
(9) I’m Good (Blue) (2022)
(10) Baby Don’t Hurt Me (2023)

 

RATING: 4 STARS****
A-TIER (TOP TIER)

 

 

 

(3) FUNK: CALVIN HARRIS –
FEEL SO CLOSE (18 Months 2011)
B-SIDE: How Deep is Your Love (non-album single 2015 – compilation album 96 Months 2024)
ALBUMS: Ready for the Weekend 2009 / 18 Months 2012 / Motion 2014 (compilation album 96 Months 2024)

 

“And there’s no stopping us right now
I feel so close to you right now”

Calvin Harris falls in the electronic dance funk end of the funk scale – electronic dance music or house, sometimes termed electro pop or nu disco. He’s been a prolific producer or mixer of electronic dance music since his debut album I Created Disco in 2007 – both in the sense of number of singles and also in the profile of those singles, rising to international prominence with his third album 18 Months.

Of course, it’s electronic dance music, so don’t look for lyrical depth – or much in the way of lyrics in general, as the lyrics tend to be fairly basic verse mixed through the music. However, it is irresistibly funky.

And as for the balance of my Top 10 Calvin Harris songs:
(3) You Used to Hold Me (Ready for the Weekend 2010)
(4) Drinking from the Bottle (18 Months 2013)
(5) Thinking About You (18 Months 2013)
(6) Under Control (Motion 2013)
(7) Summer (Motion 2014)
(8) Outside (Motion 2014)
(9) My Way (single – compilation album 96 Months 2016)
(10) Stay With Me (Funk Wav Bounces 2 2022)

 

RATING: 4 STARS****
A-TIER (TOP TIER)

 

 

 

 

(2) MOJO: JIMI HENDRIX –
VOODOO CHILD (Electric Ladyland 1968)
B-SIDE: Purple Haze (Are You Experienced 1967)
ALBUMS: Are You Experienced 1967 / Axis: Bold as Love 1967 / Electric Ladyland 1968
(Posthumous compilation album: First Rays of the New Rising Sun)

 

“Well, I stand up next to a mountain
And I chop it down with the edge of my hand
Well, I stand up next to a mountain
Chop it down with edge of my hand
Well, I pick up all the pieces and make an island
Might even raise just a little sand
‘Cause I’m a voodoo child
Lord knows I’m a voodoo child”

 

It doesn’t get much more mojo than Jimi Hendrix.

Well, obviously it does in my first place entry, but not apart from that.

Hendrix could make that guitar sing (and sing the Star-Spangled Banner as he did at Woodstock). Or set it on fire – literally.

In the words of his Wikipedia entry, “he is widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music, and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century” – and “arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music” according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

His three studio albums – Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold as Love and Electric Ladyland – are three of the best and most iconic albums in music.

Ultimately however, there is one song with the most mojo for me – “Voodoo Child”, or more precisely, “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”, from his Electric Ladyland album in 1968.

Again to quote a review in Wikipedia – “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” is “a perfect example of how Hendrix took the Delta blues form and not only psychedelicized it, but cast an even more powerful spell by delivering the lyric in the voice of a voodoo priest…”Opening with a simple riff on the wah-wah pedal, the song explodes into full sonic force, the guitarist hitting the crunching chords and taking the astral-inspired leads for which he became infamous. The real guitar explorations happen midway through the song, while the basic, thundering riff is unrelenting”.

Joe Satriani said it simpler – “It’s just the greatest piece of electric guitar work ever recorded. In fact, the whole song could be considered the holy grail of guitar expression and technique. It is a beacon of humanity.”

“I didn’t mean to take up all your sweet time
I’ll give it right back to you one of these days
I said, I didn’t mean to take up all your sweet time
I’ll give it right back to you one of these days
And if I don’t meet you no more in this world
Then I’ll, I’ll meet you in the next one
And don’t be late, don’t be late
‘Cause I’m a voodoo child
Lord knows I’m a voodoo child”

For my B-side, what else but his signature song Purple Haze?

As for the balance of my Top Ten Jimi Hendrix songs – from the classic Hendrix album trinity of Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold as Love and Electric Ladyland:

(3) 1983: A Merman I Should Turn to Be (Electric Ladyland 1968)
(4) The Wind Cries Mary (Are You Experienced 1967)
(5) Hey Joe (Are You Experienced 1967)
(6) Foxy Lady (Are You Experienced 1967)
(7) Little Wing (Axis: Bold as Love 1967)
(8) Castles Made of Sand (Axis: Bold as Love 1967)
(9) All Along the Watchtower (Electric Ladyland 1968)
(10) Angel (posthumous)

Honorable mention, well, for pretty much every other song on these albums. Seriously – they’re awesome! But my highlights

Are You Experienced:
Fire
The title track – Are You Experienced

Axis: Bold as Love –
Wait Until Tomorrow
The ‘title track’ – Bold as Love

Electric Ladyland –
The ‘title track’ – Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****
S-TIER (GOD TIER)

 

 

(1) MOJO: THE DOORS (JIM MORRISON)
L.A. WOMAN (L.A. Woman 1971)
B-side: The End (The Doors 1967)
ALBUMS: The Doors 1967 / Strange Days 1967 / Waiting for the Sun 1968 / The Soft Parade 1969 / Morrison Hotel 1970 / L.A. Woman 1971

 

“Are you a lucky little lady in the City of Light
Or just another lost angel?”

 

And here we are at the apex of mojo – The Doors with their “dark, theatrical blues-influenced psychedelic rock”, led by the poetic lyrics, deep silky voice and charismatic persona of Jim Morrison “aka Mr. Mojo Risin’ aka The Lizard King”.

At the suggestion of Morrison, their name came from the title of Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception, itself taken from William Blake – “When the doors of perception are cleansed, man will see things as they truly are, infinite” (from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell).

And for this entry, there can only be one song, the title track of their album with Morrison – a song with so much mojo that it famously features as Mr. Mojo Risin’, an anagram of Jim Morrison no less, in the song’s break with its rising crescendo of unmistakably sexual rhythm (and a figure I’ve adopted into my own pagan mythology – I believe in L.A. Woman and Mr. Mojo Risin’).

Mr Mojo’ Risin’, Mr Mojo Risin!. Whoa yeah!

For my B-side, what else but the sprawling trippy Oedipal epic The End

And as for the balance of my Top 10 The Doors (Jim Morrison) songs:
(3) Light My Fire (The Doors 1967)
(4) Queen of the Highway (Morrison Hotel 1970)
(5) Hyacinth House (L.A. Woman 1971)
(6) Break on Through (The Doors 1967)
(7) Touch Me (The Soft Parade 1969)
(8) Peace Frog (Morrison Hotel 1970)
(9) Love Her Madly (L.A. Woman 1971)
(10) Riders on the Storm (L.A. Woman 1971)

Honorable mention – well for pretty much every song on their classic six albums from The Doors in 1967 to L.A. Woman in 1971 (for the hardcore Doors fan), or at least those two albums as their best albums.

But some highlights I missed from their Strange Days album and Waiting for the Sun album

Strange Days (1967) –
People Are Strange
Love Me Two Times

Waiting for the Sun (1968)-
Hello I Love You

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****
S-TIER (GOD-TIER)

 

 

 

 

MOJO & FUNK (MUSIC): TOP 10 (TIER LIST)

 

S-TIER (GOD TIER)

 

(1) MOJO: THE DOORS – L.A. WOMAN

(2) MOJO: JIMI HENDRIX – VOODOO CHILD (SLIGHT RETURN)

(3) FUNK: CALVIN HARRIS – FEEL SO CLOSE

(4) FUNK: DAVID GUETTA – SXY BTCH

 

If The Doors and Jimi Hendrix are my Old Testament of mojo, Calvin Harris and David Guetta are my New Testament of funk

 

A-TIER  (TOP TIER)

 

(5) FUNK: THE WEEKND – CAN’T FEEL MY FACE

 

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

(6) MOJO: DEPECHE MODE – PERSONAL JESUS

(7) MOJO: BOMB THE BASS – BUG POWDER DUST

(8) FUNK: HILLTOP HOODS – NOSEBLEED SECTION

(9) MOJO: GNARLS BARKLEY – GOING ON

 

X-TIER (WILD TIER) – BEST OF 2025

 

(10) FUNK:  SOMBR – 12 TO 12