Funky DL started earning props when his music received regular air play on stations such as Kiss FM, Choice FM and Radio one by the likes of veteran Jockeys such as DJ 279, Max LX and Dave VJ and Tim Westwood.
In 1996 Funky DL went on to win the well known Fosters Ice Breakers competition and released his first record The Individual, this consequently led to DL being firstly offered a two single deal with Almost records which developed further into an album deal with Almo Sounds and a publishing deal with Rondor Music.
Equipped with unlimited studio access, DL set about crafting his debut album Classic Was the Day. The album was released in the late summer of 1997 and was widely received by the UK’s hip hop fraternity and veered DL on to win a MOBO award for the best hip hop act of 1997.
In the same year Funky DL went on to remix records for artists such as Missy Elliott, Keith Sweat, Adina Howard, and Connor Reeves, as well as going on to spearhead The London All-stars project (a collaboration of London's finest rappers) including MCD, Blak Twang, TY, Skinnyman, ESP, Kwestmann, Q-Tee, Phoebe One, Fallacy and Rodney P. This was a unique one of a kind release and stunned the scene as no record had ever before been released with such a high profiled caliber of rappers from the UK.
In 1998 DL signed to an independent label “Utmost Records” and released his sophomore album Heartfelt Integrity. Another MOBO nomination was presented which reflected DL’s consistency and helped him to further cement his name and efforts in the scene.
Funky DL went on to tour Australia, France and Israel, the latter being an unusual destination for rappers but was overwhelmingly received, returning to London to support the likes of The Roots, K-Ci & JoJo, Ras Kas, Killah Priest, and stole the show in front of 3,000 people at the Hippodrome Leicester Square from an early Destiny's Child at the Choice FM 8th Birthday Party.
After a very rewarding year, DL left Utmost Records to run his own label Washington Classics and in 1999 Washington Classics released numerous Funky DL records including the 12-inch “Stoppin and Startin” which surprised many of DL’s critics because of the amazingly tight lyricism. DL released his third album “One Another” (a first for any rapper in the UK) which led to yet another MOBO nomination and propelled him to even greater heights, touring in Japan where his music was being so widely received.
Single-handed, Funky DL had earned himself the title of “the hardest working man in hip-hop”, now synonymous with his name. Another successful year saw DL support the superstar “Eminem” for his UK tour and was recalled in early 2000 to join Eminem and Dr. Dre in the Brixton Academy. 2000 also saw DL do his second tour of Japan and also fly out to New York to work with the rapper Miilkbone and also feature on Bobbito Garcia’s radio show along side N’Dea Davenport and hip hop heavyweight producer Easy Mo Bee...
Funky DL’s fourth album When Love Is Breaking Down was released which led to DL’s return to Japan for its promotion, Touching down at the infamous Club Harlem Shibuya Tokyo and making several public appearances in HMV stores in Tokyo and Yokohama for signing and performing tracks in store live.
DL spent the next few years expanding his name in Japan by licensing many albums to established labels and touring extensively in many cities across Japan such as, Tokyo, Osaka, Mito, Hamamatsu, Wakayama, Utsunomiya, Fukuoka, Kyoto, Sapporo, Gifu, Nagoya, Okayama, Yokohama and Akita. DL also used this period to write, produce for and record with his R&B outfit Thursdays Love. The Debut Thursdays Love album For the Love of Jazz and Thursdays was so well received in Japan it was re-released after being licensed by a major Label in Japan.
This led DL to go on to produce “Life When You’re Driving” a yet to be released album by R&B vocalist Dyanna Fearon featuring the incredible talents of Xantonè Blacq (Current Keyboardist for Amy Winehouse).
Funky DL then went on to New York to produce for an up and coming rapper from Far Rockaway Queens named Sekz, and featured with Sekz on The Showbiz and A.G single “The Street.” DL released his 5th and 6th albums Blackcurrent Jazz and The Classic Fantasy (The most vivid and vibrant Funky DL albums yet) which have been so widely received in Japan making DL one of the UK’s most unique international artists to date as no other UK hip-hop act has been able to equal Funky DL’s achievements from then till now..
In 2005 the album Street Love, which the UK smash “Little Mike” is taken from, was a special limited release, meanwhile the album Since 77 saw seen its Japanese release to co-inside with DL’s five date summer tour of Japan as well as the launch of the funkydl.com and website as DL started to prepare idea’s for what was to be the now evident The 4th Quarter album.
A Funky DL Greatest Hits album was released in Japan in 2006, marking DL’s many accomplishments and was well received followed by a Latin styled release of old titles re-recorded and remixed with fresh visions.
DL then took the fork in the road in late 2006 and once again decided to do something different by flying out to New York to clear his head and write what was to be Street Swagger. A 24 track promotional CD which was to be a completely free release for 2007 to celebrate 10 years since the birth of Washington Classics and also a decade since his first album emerged. The Washington Classics Street Team went out in the streets of London to circulate 10,000 CD’s in the capital at no charge as well as making 10,000 downloads available from the website again for no cost to the consumer and this promotion proved as an invaluable asset to DL’s whole outfit.
DL then intensively worked to complete the album The 4th Quarter, which he has himself remarked as one of his “greatest moments in his career creatively” as it embodies the 4 elements and styles which he specializes in. The album is segmented into 4 areas which represent soul, new age, jazz and authenticity and was a listening experience which intrigued even the most subtle of hip-hop heads there are.
In Early 2008 DL recorded a unique album entitled The Jazz That Was Forgotten, which was to be an album that concentrated on 10 musical instruments heavily used in Jazz where each track on the album was a representation of that instrument with the said instrument providing the prominent melody or break within the track. This album along with a best of album was released in Japan in September of 2008 and was met with great responses from hip-hop fans who appreciate the connoisseurship element to real music. In the meantime Funky DL co-wrote and produced an album entitled Imagine Me for UK sensation Lei-an and with the business experience he had picked up over the years, was the key player behind the project management of this release in November 2008.
The productivity didn’t stop there as DL went back into the studio to produce the album The Interview, released on BBE Records in 2009. The album concept structured as a radio interview with radio personality Dave VJ, where in between the tracks VJ asks DL a question and the very last words of DL’s answers are the titles of the proceeding track which often go on to elaborate on DL’s answer(s). The album was created to give the listener much more than just an album but an insight to DL’s thoughts, feelings and views on various music related topics as DL was aware that all the fans of his music are not always able to catch him on the radio and this serves as a highly interesting listen.
As a producer, DL was requested to submit some music for the famous MTV show “Runs House” and his contributions were aired in the final episode of season two “Baby Comes Home”
Funky DLAs no stranger to the studio DL started to work on a soulful dance music project with production collective Gemini Infinity and set about to craft the brilliant album LOVECHASEDREAM, which was immediately signed by a Japanese Record label and subsequently released in September of 2009. The project featured the creative talents of some of DL’s most favored collaborates including Xantonè Blacq, Giorgio Serci, Sienna, Dukus Alemay and Lei-an.
Again DL went straight back in the studio to produce The Comfort Zone, a new album by UK hip-hop artist Pyrelli, completely and solely produced by DL himself. This is the first “hip-hop” album Funky DL has ever produced for another MC and features a wider variation of his production styles than usual. At the same time DL produced a few track for “Little Brown Girl”, an up and coming R&B vocalist from East London as well as a few production credits for UK hip-hop sensation Klashnekoff for his forthcoming mix-tapes project.
DL then embarked on his first tour opportunity in Europe playing at “Banana Split” in Cologne, Germany in front of an audience at capacity and also The Merrker in Baden, Switzerland with surrounding European countries to follow.
Washington Classics then set up the release of “Funky DL / The Ultimate Collection”, a 36 track double CD encompassing the most favorable musical moments from DL’s entire history as a recording artist.
DL took a little twist in the road in January 2010 and recorded Back To Frank, an amazingly interesting conceptual album in which DL sampled moments from Grammy Award Winning artist Amy Winehouse and her debut album Frank, and recreated and reprogrammed these samples into a whole hip-hop album which was promoted as FREE online download to which the masses scooped up immediately with over 180,000 downloads to date.
In June 2010 DL then followed with Back To Rap, the sequel to Back to Frank, where he took on the creative sampling techniques lifting from Amy Winehouse's Back to Black album and again released this as a FREE online download, but this time including features from various UK urban acts such as Pyrelli, MCD, and Addictive, to name a few.
Also in 2010 funky DL released of his next studio album entitled A Classic Example of a… and did a 3 date tour in Japan in August performing in Tokyo and Osaka. On top of this Funky DL has recorded with Japanese Producers Melodiverse and CM Smooth, featuring their production as well as his own for his 2011 album Blackcurrent Jazz 2, which he himself remarks as “one of my best albums if not the..”
Blackcurrent Jazz 2 was an instant success with rave reviews of the genuine creativity and polish that brings the album together in such a refined and mature way. Funky DL also released a 4 album instrumental series entitled Cool Classic Jazzstrumentals, which encompasses some of the smoothest beats from his catalogue. DL visited Shanghai, China for the first time in July 2011 for a performance at the Casio "G-Shock - Shock The World Tour" and in addition, has explored further into Europe, performing shows in Berlin Germany (Club Cassiopeia) in September 2011 and also (The Merkker) in Badan, Switzerland in October 2011.
The frightening thing about all of DL’s accolades is that he feels as if this is just the beginning... So in summing up... For a young man who at 19 scored a 5 album deal with no management, won a MOBO and was the only X3 consecutive UK hip-hop nominee period, remixing for well known acts, travelling the world touring and producing for underground and established acts, owning and running a respected record label dealing with main stay labels… at the age of just 33 you could agree.. DL is the about one of the greatest and successful hip-hop inspirations the UK could offer!!!!
Mana The Girl From Kanagawa
Funky DL Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
V. I.P. staff got us trying to pay for some bub'
I see this figure on the dance floor so I walk through
this girl is lip syncing to Ne-Yo's "Because of You"
I walked up and put my arms around her and her friend
hoping that my being forward probably wouldn't offend
"E" and "P" then announce that they ready to bounce
gave em' a pound each cos I'm staying put and they out
and I whispered to this girl, what's your name? Where you from?
She said Mana from Kanagawa, she was sexy as hell
close danced for half an hour and I love how she smelled
sweet feminine fragrance with long brown hair
she didn't know that I was famous, no she wasn't aware
but she quickly found out and became all shy
which probably made her more cuter but I couldn't say why, Ms Kanagawa
so what can I say?
I don't know, I just don't know
and what can I do?
I don't know, I just don't know
She didn't speak much English so it's hard to converse
but she asked me what I'm drinking, I was dying of thirst
I said "a China Blue cocktail loaded with ice"
she came back, took a sip, so refreshingly nice
I'm thinking she must be the most prettiest thing
the type of girl that you want for just more than a fling
plus I loved the way she moved to the musical grooves
I got to try and go through cos I got nothing to lose
she wore faux fur boots or maybe they real
cupid got me in a handcuffs, he knows how I feel
Mana from Kanagawa, capital Yokohama
is she from Kawasaki? Or maybe Kamakura?
I wanted to explore her but that's if she let me
and now I'm trying to tell her but she probably don't get me so
as we say in London "I probably got to allow her"
but she the beautifulist from Kanagawa
so what can I say?
I don't know, I just don't know
and what can I do?
I don't know, I just don't know
She said she worked at the dentist as an apprentice
compared to an MC, very momentous
she sent me a photo of her and Yasuko
I'm looking for her weakness searching for loopholes
but no way through cos she don't understand me
I feel like I kid who has lost all his candy
unhand me, yo' but she so damn gorgeous
enough to make me write this and wanna record this
she's flawless and got such a nice personality
but everything is fantasy and never reality
knowing how it is to be lost in translation
our telephone calls don't get no duration
Mana from Kanagawa, capital Yokohama
is she from Kawasaki? Or maybe Kamakura?
I wanted to explore her
cos truthfully I adore her
so what can I say?
I don't know, I just don't know
and what can I do?
I don't know, I just don't know
The lyrics of "Mana The Girl From Kanagawa" by Funky DL tell a story of a chance encounter with a girl named Mana in a club. At first, he is hesitant to approach her but eventually works up the nerve to dance with her. Despite a language barrier, the two seem to connect and he is smitten with her. However, he also realizes that their connection may only exist in a fantasy realm and may never be realized in reality.
The song captures the sense of longing and vulnerability that often come with infatuation. Additionally, the lyrics explore themes of cultural differences and the challenges that can arise in communication when two people come from different backgrounds. Overall, the song is a poignant reflection on the fleeting nature of romantic connections and the complexities of human interaction.
Line by Line Meaning
Chillin' with "E" and Parris up in the club
The singer is hanging out with his friends, E and Parris, at a club
V. I.P. staff got us trying to pay for some bub'
The VIP staff is trying to get them to pay for drinks
I see this figure on the dance floor so I walk through
The singer notices a person on the dance floor and approaches them
this girl is lip syncing to Ne-Yo's "Because of You"
The girl on the dance floor is mouthing the words to Ne-Yo's song "Because of You"
I walked up and put my arms around her and her friend
The singer embraces the girl on the dance floor and her friend
hoping that my being forward probably wouldn't offend
The singer hopes that his actions aren't too forward and don't offend the girl
"E" and "P" then announce that they ready to bounce
The singer's friends, E and P, announce that they're leaving
gave em' a pound each cos I'm staying put and they out
The singer fist-bumps his friends goodbye and decides to stay at the club
now I walk back over so cool like gum
The singer walks back to the girl on the dance floor with confidence
and I whispered to this girl, what's your name? Where you from?
The singer whispers to the girl and asks for her name and where she's from
She said Mana from Kanagawa, she was sexy as hell
The girl's name is Mana, she's from Kanagawa, and the singer finds her attractive
close danced for half an hour and I love how she smelled
The singer dances closely with Mana for half an hour and enjoys her fragrance
sweet feminine fragrance with long brown hair
Mana has a sweet feminine fragrance and long brown hair
she didn't know that I was famous, no she wasn't aware
Mana doesn't know that the singer is famous
but she quickly found out and became all shy
Mana eventually finds out that the singer is famous and becomes shy
which probably made her more cuter but I couldn't say why, Ms Kanagawa
The singer thinks that Mana's shyness makes her even more attractive
She didn't speak much English so it's hard to converse
Mana doesn't speak much English, which makes it difficult to have a conversation
but she asked me what I'm drinking, I was dying of thirst
Mana asks the singer what he's drinking because he looks thirsty
I said "a China Blue cocktail loaded with ice"
The singer tells Mana that he's drinking a China Blue cocktail with lots of ice
she came back, took a sip, so refreshingly nice
Mana takes a sip of the singer's drink and finds it refreshing
I'm thinking she must be the most prettiest thing
The singer thinks that Mana is the most beautiful girl he's ever seen
the type of girl that you want for just more than a fling
The singer wants a serious relationship with Mana, not just a casual fling
plus I loved the way she moved to the musical grooves
The singer likes the way that Mana dances to the music
I got to try and go through cos I got nothing to lose
The singer decides to take a chance with Mana because he has nothing to lose
she wore faux fur boots or maybe they real
Mana is wearing boots that may be faux fur or real fur
cupid got me in a handcuffs, he knows how I feel
The singer feels like he's in love with Mana, and he thinks Cupid is responsible
She said she worked at the dentist as an apprentice
Mana tells the singer that she works as a dental apprentice
compared to an MC, very momentous
Mana's job is significant compared to the singer's job as an MC
she sent me a photo of her and Yasuko
Mana sends the singer a photo of herself with Yasuko
I'm looking for her weakness searching for loopholes
The singer is trying to find out more about Mana and looking for a way to win her over
but no way through cos she don't understand me
The language barrier prevents the singer from communicating effectively with Mana
I feel like I kid who has lost all his candy
The singer feels helpless and frustrated like a child who has lost something important to them
unhand me, yo' but she so damn gorgeous
The singer feels captivated by Mana's beauty
enough to make me write this and wanna record this
Mana's beauty inspires the singer to write a song about her
she's flawless and got such a nice personality
Mana is perfect in the singer's eyes and has a great personality
but everything is fantasy and never reality
The singer realizes that his feelings for Mana may not be based in reality
knowing how it is to be lost in translation
The singer understands the difficulty of communicating across different languages
our telephone calls don't get no duration
The singer's phone calls with Mana are short and don't last long
I wanted to explore her but that's if she let me
The singer wants to get to know Mana better, but it's up to her whether or not she lets him
cos truthfully I adore her
The singer truly adores Mana
so what can I say?
The singer is at a loss for words
I don't know, I just don't know
The singer doesn't know what to do or say about his feelings for Mana
Contributed by Evelyn O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@newnengates3764
Dagggg. This album just keeps getting hotter and hotter every time.
@joanshanitaify
Awwwww this song gives me chills everytime!
@TheNightBandit1
Smooth lyrics, sick beat
@DaanHeijnis
Love the jazz chords in the second verse
@bennyehlers3917
Mana from wakanda is one favorite song, why I listen youtube
@jrailman
That end beat
@violino1995
love this
@djdazoowu
damnnnnnn this shit right here its dopeeeee respect from venezuela! .. peace
@GrannyGr
Cool stuff
@regulata213
Damn i love this guy... Why dont you dudes support him on Itunes.?