Phunk Junkeez

The Phunk Junkeez formed in Los Angeles in the early 1990s, with vocalist Kenny Walker and guitarist Nick Hernandez at the core. They built a lineup that included keyboardist Michael Frost, bassist Keith Lattimore, and drummer Jon Clark. Their first album came out in 1996, and the single 'Snapped' became a hit that crossed over from R&B charts to wider radio play.

Their sound pulled from funk, soul, hip-hop, and jazz, drawing on influences like James Brown and Stevie Wonder without trying to update them too much. Songs like 'Chuck' and 'American Pimp' kept a live-band feel, built around grooves rather than studio tricks. They put out two more albums before the decade was out, 'Sweet, Sexy, and Nasty' in 1998 and 'Return of the Original Phunklords' in 2000.

By the late 1990s they were dealing with a legal fight with their former label, which slowed things down for a while. The band kept playing shows, and tracks like 'Adrenaline' and 'B-Boy Hard' stayed in their set lists, holding onto that early-90s L.A. funk-hip-hop blend when a lot of other groups had moved on.