The Funk Division, once known as The Soul Garden is a soul
jazz and funk group formed by Mark Duffus (Blak Prophetz) in
2005 in Walsall near Birmingham in the United Kingdom. They
were a studio production band that rehearsed in Mark's custom
built recording studio on a weekly basis with session
musicians and friends. They were involved in remix projects
for established recording artists like Joyce Sims, Justin
Timberlake, Preeya Kalidas, Warren Stacey and more.
Mark represents the Funk and Soul sides of the band where as
Derek (DK) King later joined to represents the House & Garage
mixed versions of the songs that he produced. The two have
since worked together as a key outfit with different session
singers and musicians whilst still providing not just their
own material but also remix/productions for many other well
known recording artists including Fonda Rae, Glen Goldsmith
and more. In 2019, Xiomara Mukwendi later joined the band as
their lead vocalists.
One of the first known release as
the Funk Division came out in 2015 with a retro type song and
music video entitled Want You written and produced by Mark
Duffus which was a clear combination of Jazz Swing & Funk.
Ed
Potten, Music Journalist from The Times,The Sunday Times
newspaper described it as "A Soulful, organ-driven funk with a
twinkle in its eye". The song achieved a review from Chris
Wells, editor of Echoes_(magazine) who described it as
"uncluttered, attidinous, energetic funk. DeRobert fans ought
to love it". A similar review came from Camilla Cassidy of The
Edge Magazine who was also very impressed with the power of
the delivery of the same song. In her review she said that
"The song starts somewhat 60s, with strong and slick female
vocals with power that echoes the song’s statements of
independence and self-affirmation. Choruses build to deliver a
rich sounding take on modern jazz; power and bluesy
instrumentation are layered with quick lyrics to give a
smooth, polished sound."
The next song to follow was an
uptempo dance hit entitled Tell Me Something which contain two
individual mixes by the duo. On 18th April 2016 a review by
Soul, Jazz & Funk Magazine described the song as "hugely
insistent, picking up plays in the more discerning soul
clubs". An additional review by Andrew Gee of USA's Impact
Global Magazine described the track as one that "Takes you
back to the future of black music".
The third release
from the duo entitled Right On written and produced by Mark
Duffus which contained a photography cover image provided by
one of New York's most respected Hip Hop photographers Joe
Conzo. It also included a cool House/Garage mix by Derek (DK)
King.
Not so soon after came very soulful release
entitled If You Were Mine which included a disco mix and house
mix. The dance and disco mixes was produced by Mark whereas
the House/Garage mix versions were produced by Derek (DK)
King. When Bill B, Editorial of Soul, Jazz & Funk magazine
discovered the song he favoured the Soul mix saying "It's a
steady, tight modern soul groove with convincing vocals; it's
very insistent too ... bit of an earworm". A similar liking to
the song's House version came from Adam Giddens, Editor of
IHouseU magazine.