Underrated Funk: Who's Gonna Take The Weight

When the dust settles in the post-apocalyptic near-future, many fingers will point to the Baby Boomers for their unabashed denial of sustainable practices in exchange for unparalleled short-term opulence. I know fingers from both of my hands may sway that way, in any case.

Thanks to Kool & the Gang, though, we may be able to fly the hashtag of #NotAllBoomers to protect those that fought the good fight. In 1970, Kool & the Gang performed "Who's Gonna Take the Weight" and released it on 1971's "Live at the Sex Machine"--this is several albums and a couple years prior to any mainstream success the band had (their first live album and second overall)--which would become a must-have addition to any crate-digger's collection, as many tracks would end up being sampled by artists in the 80's and 90's hip-hop and electronic music scenes. More on this later.

The opening of the track is the horns playing whole notes with a short speech on what kind of world we live in, and what kind of world we'll leave for future generations--which leads to the hook and premise of the song: Who's Gonna Take the Weight? It's a bold question to be asking at a time when The Carpenters & BJ Thomas were topping the charts with mindless, saccharine crap. Who *is* going to take the weight?

Well, sadly, the question and the song didn't catch on until much later, when artist after artist sampled it; from Public Enemy to A Tribe Called Quest. Funnily enough, Gang Starr even wrote their own track titled "Who's Gonna Take the Weight," though that track does not actually sample the recording, nor anything by Kool & the Gang.

Here we are, now, some 46 years later--another Baby Boomer is preening and blustering and plodding along towards taking the highest office in the land--with a pick for the head of the EPA that doesn't believe in climate change, and has actually sued the organization that he's tapped to lead. I'd say this tune is worth a listen, if you haven't checked it out--pay attention to the words at the beginning, and then vibe with the music as the title question acts as a meditative chant throughout the rest of the song.

Enjoy.