"Funky Sensation" is a disco-boogie song released in 1981 by American soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 singer Gwen McCrae

Gwen McCrae

Gwen McCrae is an American R&B singer, best known for her March, 1975 hit "Rockin' Chair".-Career:...

.

The song was written by Kenton Nix who also wrote "Heartbeat

Heartbeat (Taana Gardner song)

"Heartbeat" is a 1981 dance single by Taana Gardner. It was arranged by Dennis Weeden and Kenton Nix, and released by West End Records, with the more famous club mix created by Larry Levan...

" for Taana Gardner

Taana Gardner

Taana Gardner is an American disco and post-disco singer who found her success through West End Records from 1979 to the present day. She is also a former member of the Aural Exciters....

. It was produced by Nix and Henry Batts.

"Funky Sensation" peaked at #22 on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Black Singles

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

 chart and #15 on the Club chart

Hot Dance Club Play

The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...

.

This song is also included in her self-eponymous 1981 album Gwen McCrae and it was sampled by numerous artists.

1982 release

12" vinyl

• US: Atlantic / DMD-286

Personnel

• Arrangement, producer, songwriter: Kenton Nix
• Co-producer: Henry Batts
• Executive producers: Henry Batts, Kenton Nix, Milton A. Simpson

Chart performance

Chart (1981)	Peak position
US Billboard Black Singles Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...	22
US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...	15

Legacy

• In 1981, an old school hip hop
  Old school hip hop
  Old school hip hop describes the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music , and the music in the period preceding it from which it was directly descended . Old school hip hop is said to end around 1983 or 1984 with the emergence of Run–D.M.C., the first new school hip hop group...
  
   musician Afrika Bambaataa
  Afrika Bambaataa
  Afrika Bambaataa is an American DJ from the South Bronx, New York who was instrumental in the early development of hip hop throughout the 1980s. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the three originators of break-beat deejaying, and is respectfully known as the "Grandfather" and the Amen Ra of Universal...
  
   sampled the song for "Jazzy Sensation
  Jazzy Sensation
  "Jazzy Sensation" is a classic old school hip hop song released in 1981 performed by hip hop pioneers Afrika Bambaataa and the Jazzy Five. The song's lyrics consist mainly of routines from the Jazzy Five's stage shows along with a revamped chorus from Gwen McCrae's "Funky Sensation."Afrika...
  
  ".
• in 1996, Rahsaan Patterson
  Rahsaan Patterson
  Rahsaan Patterson is an American singer and actor, best known for portraying "The Kid" on the popular 1980s television show Kids Incorporated. He is a native of The Bronx, New York. He was named after '60s jazz saxophonist Rahsaan Roland Kirk...
  
   sampled the song for "Where You Are
  Where You Are (Rahsaan Patterson song)
  "Where You Are" was a single released in 1997 by American Neo soul singer Rahsaan Patterson. The song was released in support of his debut studio album, Rahsaan Patterson. Where You Are peaked to number 53 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song was also released as a single in the UK...
  
  "
• In 1996, Shyheim sampled the song for "Can You Feel It?"
• In 2006, Leela James
  Leela James
  Leela James is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter. James cites singers James Brown, Roberta Flack, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, Gladys Knight, Mavis Staples, and Stevie Wonder as her influences...
  
  sampled the song for "Good Time"