I found Central Funk the way most discoveries are made, through chance and circumstance. I’d just moved to El Centro Historico in Mexico City and a friend of mine, one of my favorite rappers from my home state, Val Dagrain, was coming through to play a few shows and see Mexico for the first time.
At the time, I didn’t know anyone in the music scene in Mexico, but I did know this hippie I’d met picking cherries in Canada the summer before who owed (and still owes) my wife $25 — and she was a performer. I reached out to her to find us a gig, and she booked Central Funk. Coincidentally, it was only a few blocks from my house.