Rare Essence has been waving the flag for go-go music for four decades. So, what is go-go music? Not to be confused with go-go dancing or go-go boots, go-go music is an offshoot of funk that combines elements of R&B, hip-hop and blues. It's built live thanks to the audience and the band feeding off one another's energy. Fans frequently sing lines back during the show. And those shows are at their most intense in Washington D.C., go-go's birthplace and home. There, Chuck Brown, leader of The Soul Searchers and the man credited as the godfather of the genre, created a vibrant culture of go-go in the 1970s.

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