All three music genres are parts of bigger sub-cultures created in the 1970s by disenfranchised and frustrated youth searching for a means of expression. As a music genre Rap music took off into the stratosphere and almost 5 decades after its birth in the modern day it shows no signs of slowing down, while Punk Rock barely penetrated popular culture outside of a few bands gaining some national exposure in the 1980s and an Alvin & The Chipmunks Punk Rock parody album. That isn’t a slight to Punk Rock, the music was far too angry and rebellious to be transformed into commercial music for the masses. While Go-Go has been sampled heavily by major rap artists, featured in movies and the subject of documentaries, it has still remained a regional music and movement for the more than four decades that its been in existence.

One of Go-Go’s architects is the band Trouble Funk. Trouble Funk leader Big Tony credits the late Chuck Brown as the Father of Go-Go. “Chuck Brown's early records weren’t Go-Go. Chuck was doin’ Go-Go but he wasn’t recording it. Trouble Funk was the first to actually record Go-Go. 'Bustin’ Loose' (by Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers) was a top 40 funk record with Go-Go ingredients. 'E Flat Boogie' (by Trouble Funk) and 'Bustin’ Loose' were the first recordings with Go-Go in them. The very first Go-Go recording ever released was 'Straight Up Funk Go-Go Style' by Trouble Funk. People don’t acknowledge that.”

“The only real way to record Go-Go is live. That’s what Go-Go is about. It has to be recorded live. Even if you record in the studio you have to have a crowd! You have to have an audience. We had a controlled environment, but we kept it live," explained Big Tony of Trouble Funk.

Even though many D.J.’s outside of the D.C./Maryland/Virginia area may have been unaware of Go-Go as a music and movement, they knew what was funky. The percussive breakdowns of records like “Knock Him Out Sugar Ray” by E.U., “Bustin’ Loose” by Chuck Brown and The Soul Searchers and “Pump Me Up” by Trouble Funk were already being mixed and manipulated by D.J.’s before the title Go-Go was applied to them.

Since the early 1980s there have been Go-Go and Rap collaborations. Trouble Funk’s first big record was 1980s “Pump Me Up” which they actually rapped on. “Pump Me Up” became a favorite amongst D.J.’s to create routines with and it became a breakbeat in Hip Hop. Grandmaster Mele Mel remade “Pump Me Up” in 1985 with his new faction of The Furious 5. When the first recorded Rap artists began to tour nationally, they noticed that the local D.C. bands would always blow them away on stage when they played in the city, because they played Go-Go which the D.C. crowd absolutely demanded. Kurtis Blow’s first Go-Go collaboration was with E.U. (Experience Unlimited) and it was called “Party Time?” from the 1983 album of the same name. Kurtis would collaborate with Trouble Funk for “I’m Chillin’” in 1986 as well. Blow says that his E.U. collaboration was based on being out performed by Go-Go bands when he played the Capital Centre with them in the early 1980s.

Doug E Fresh recognizes the need to perform Go-Go when playing in D.C. and he recognized the power of Go-Go early. Doug collaborated with Go-Go legends Rare Essence in 1989 for his remix of “I’m Gettin’ Ready” which became the basis for the song “20 Minute Workout” by D.C.’s legendary D.J. Kool.

Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor, the hitmaking producer for Salt N Pepa and Kid n Play, used Go-Go samples in many of his productions for both groups. One of his fellow producers in The Invincibles Ron “Amen Ra” Lawrence was attending Howard University in D.C. and was sending Go-Go records to Hurby. “I was around Go-Go at Howard and I wasn’t really into it, but the beats were funky and you couldn’t deny “EU Freeze” and “Pump Me Up”. Hurby says “I loved 'Da Butt' by E.U. and I wanted to make an actual Go-Go song that wasn’t samples, so we did “Shake Your Thang” with E.U. and it was a huge record.” With “Da Butt” playing a major part in Spike Lee’s 1988 film School Daze, and the other collaborations between Rap and Go-Go artists Go-Go still failed to catch on nationally.

Even with major labels signing Go-Go acts, the music has yet to break through nationally. Even though they weren’t a major label, Sugar Hill Records signed Trouble Funk in 1982 releasing “Hey Fellas” and re-releasing classics like “Drop The Bomb” and “Pump Me Up” on a full length album. Def Jam Records signed The Junkyard Band and released “Sardines/The Word” in 1985; and even the songs getting featured in Run-D.M.C.’s 1988 film Tougher Than Leather failed to get the group much exposure nationally. Trouble Funk and E.U. both signed deals with majors, Island and Virgin respectively but Big Tony says that once the bands signed to the labels, the labels attempted to move them in the direction of R&B and away from Go-Go.

Just as emcees and deejays in Hip-Hop’s infancy battled, Go-Go bands battled for the title of number one. Big Tony discusses the early rivalry between Trouble Funk and Experience Unlimited. “There were constantly battles. E.U. and Trouble Funk were like the Dallas Cowboys & The Washington Redskins. Sometimes they would really bring it, I’m not gonna lie! We would have to go back to the wood shed and discuss how we would play against them next time. Sugar Bear was always hype on the mic. You catch him on a good night and he would bring it. As a group I never felt that they could touch Trouble. They had those big cardboard posters. They would have Trouble Funk inside one boxing glove versus E.U. in the other, with battle of the bands at the top. I would love to have one of those posters! Some of the groups took it too literal & too personal, but it was fun for us. E.U. and the Peace Makers would actually get into fights! We never had that problem ‘cus they knew we didn’t play. We had linebackers in our band!! They didn’t call us Trouble for nothin’ back then.”

Another similarity between Rap artists and Go-Go bands was the remaking of popular songs. Just as Hip Hop had a love affair with Trans Europe Express by Kraftwerk, so did Go-Go. Trouble Funk released “Trouble Funk Express” in 1982 and it’s one of their best selling and most popular singles. One of the staples of a Go-Go show is to re-do popular songs. Chuck Brown performed a very popular live rendition of “Im Bad” by L.L. Cool J. Brand Nubian basically remade Trouble Funks “Drop the Bomb” for their rendition – at least the hook and intro.

Clearly the music is funky. Everyone from KRS-ONE and Public Enemy to the Beastie Boys and Kid n Play has sampled Trouble Funk. Amerie and Jill Scott have had hits using Go-Go—so why does it remain regional? One reason lies in Big Tony’s explanation that Go-Go is a live music. The records are great, but to experience Go-Go live is to truly experience it. The songs at times don’t contain a hook and never adhere to the 3 minute and 30 second standard radio length. These factors prevented Go-Go from receiving radio play in the big radio days of the 1980s and 1990s. Greed and envy could be a factor as well. Big Tony explains “The thing is the business foundation of Hip Hop is stronger. Here in D.C. you have some smart people, but they’re all crooks. The honest people don’t know enough. In Hip Hop the rappers battle and talk about each other, but when it’s time to make money they can work together. These cats here in D.C. take stuff too personal. They don’t like each other, and don’t want to work with each other. Chuck Brown got rich right here locally. These guys have that foolish pride where they can’t put their differences aside and work together.”

The spirit of D.C. Go-Go cannot be broken. It’s still the heartbeat of the city today as much as it was forty years ago. The fact that the music never broke through nationally did not slow down the artists or the fans passion for it in the least. A visit to D.C. at any given time will expose you to Go-Go blasting from places of business and automobiles on the streets. Gentrifiers attempted recently to shut down the public broadcasting of the music by merchants. They lost. Go-Go won't stop.