Duke Charelle Rewrites the Funk Playbook with “Tangerine Sky”

There’s something off-kilter in Duke Charelle’s “Tangerine Sky,” but in the best way, like the sun setting sideways. It’s hot, humid, and doesn’t wait for permission. Greg “G-Rock” Sanders lays down basslines like suspension bridges, while Dean Ragland’s drums, courtesy of his P-Funk All Star legacy, sound halfway between ritual and rebellion. The trio then invited rapper Chavis Chandler, who slips in with a verse that feels like an ice cube down the back of your neck… sudden, specific, and strangely welcome.

Duke Charelle’s not rummaging through Funk’s thrift store for old fits. He’s taking measurements, forging new patterns, and setting the whole thing on fire with a wink. His origin story reads like a gig poster designed by chaos: church choir, jazz brass, solo guitar experiments channeling Hendrix’s feedback loop and Prince’s closet. 

“Liquid Galaxies” threw elbows on the chart, reaching the Top 20 in Billboard’s Funk Compilation rankings and hitting #6 on iTunes Funk. Then came the curveball: AMGCorp’s OKTaeler used samples from it to craft entirely new sonic landscapes. The result feels less like a remix and more like an audio conspiracy theory in motion. Their sonic experiments, built from fragments of “Liquid Galaxies,” speak volumes. Signed to AMGCorp, the rising artist is already bending funk into strange, new shapes. Charelle’s influence is multiplying.

“Tangerine Sky” marks Duke Charelle’s return to the indie-funk scene after the success of “Liquid Galaxies.” It isn’t retro, nostalgic, or reverent; it stares history down, pokes it in the ribs, and asks if it’s still hungry. The instrumentation feels like fragments of a dream you didn’t quite finish: brass with memory loss, bass that philosophizes, and percussion like a heated debate. It’s speculative fiction made of groove.

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