Kool & The Gang 'Rated X' (Dynamite Cuts)
5th June 2025
Kool & The Gang
'Rated X' / 'North East South West'
(Dynamite Cuts)
When I first started DJing funk and soul music back in 1993 and started hoovering up vinyl from my local used record stores, the album 'Good Times' by Kool & The Gang made it into my crates fairly quickly. Sitting on side B, the penultimate track, and one of my most fave funk tunes ever is the monster dancefloor cut 'Rated X'. If you could ever atttach the term 'nosebleed' to a funk cut, then this is a prime contender, a bass heavy, wah-wahed, fuzzed-up, percussive, horny as **** belter. Not letting up for 4 mins, it is most definitely up there as one of Kool's very best instrumental grooves. It has been a fave spin for 30+ years for me, so to finally have it on 45 is absolutely joyous. In fact, since Dynamite Cuts has been releasing records, this track has been the one I've been hoping for, and positively expecting on the label, it was just a matter of time!
The flip is 'North East South West', a downtempo wah wah gem from the same album and previous 45 release as a flip to 'Jungle Boogie', consider it a beautiful bonus.
