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Funky Friday – Episode 33: Rasta Funk

Updated: Sep 20

Airdate: 09.19.25 - 9am Pacific Time


Rasta Funk
Rasta Funk

🔗 Quick Links:

🎶 Catch the Replay → Here

📖 Full Episode Recaps + Setlists → Here

🎟 RSVP to Episodes → Here

📂 Renegade Radio Site → Here



Happy Funky Friday!


Welcome to Episode 33: Rasta Funk — This week we take the Funky Friday party straight to the beach — where reggae riddims meet funk grooves, where the smoke from the BBQ mixes with the bassline, and where Red Stripe bottles clink to the rhythm of island funk.


Episode 33 is a celebration of crossover energy: the roots of Kingston carried on funky backbeats, the sound of streets and sand colliding, and a one-hour island-style groove session designed to move body and spirit.


We open with Toots & The Maytals’ Funky Kingston, the anthem that gave this fusion its name and sets the tone for the ride ahead. From there, the set will weave through reggae legends, funk icons, and modern hybrid bands that blur the line between riddim and groove.


🎧 Track List – Funky Friday 33: Rasta Funk

  1. Toots & The Maytals (feat. Bootsy Collins) – Funky Kingston (1973/1990s collab)

  2. Ernest Ranglin – Surfin’ (1996)

  3. Third World – Now That We Found Love (1978)

  4. Steel Pulse – Steppin’ Out (1984)

  5. Peter Tosh – Johnny B Goode (1978)

  6. The Heptones – Book of Rules (1973)

  7. Bob Marley & The Wailers – Buffalo Soldier (1983)

  8. Matisyahu – King Without a Crown (2005)

  9. Black Uhuru – Shine Eye Gal (1979)

  10. Jimmy Cliff – Reggae Night (1983)

  11. Groundation – Hebron Gate (2002)

  12. Lee “Scratch” Perry – Funky Dub (1975)

  13. Bob Marley & The Wailers – Could You Be Loved (1980)


Why Rasta Funk?

Because funk and reggae share the same heartbeat — syncopated rhythms, heavy bass, and music built for community. Rasta Funk is where those worlds meet: the party at the crossroads of Kingston and New Orleans, beaches and block parties, roots and groove.


🔗 Quick Links:

🎶 Catch the Replay → Here

📖 Full Episode Recaps + Setlists → Here 

🎟 RSVP to Episodes → Here

📂 Renegade Radio Site → Here



Funk Facts


  • 🎤 Funky Kingston — Toots Hibbert’s anthem that gave this crossover its name. The Bootsy Collins collab version drives home the reggae-funk connection.


  • 🥁 Zion vs. Babylon — In reggae, Zion symbolizes freedom, unity, and spiritual homecoming. Babylon represents oppression and systems that try to silence voices. This duality has biblical roots but became a central theme in Rastafarian music.


  • 🎸 Buffalo Soldier — Written by Marley and King Sporty, this 1983 hit tells the story of Black soldiers who fought in the U.S. cavalry after the Civil War, tying history to diaspora identity.


  • 🎶 Now That We Found Love — Third World transformed a Philly soul tune into a reggae-funk hit, proving how easily the genres dance together.


  • 🎹 Funky Dub — Lee “Scratch” Perry, the mad genius of dub, showed how reggae production techniques could bend funk into new shapes.



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