Once You Get Started
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Album Summary
Released in 1974 on ABC Records, 'Once You Get Started' stands as Rufus & Chaka Khan's third studio album, produced by the group's own David 'Hawk' Wolinski alongside the core band members who were, by this point, cooking with serious fire. Recorded during a stretch of real creative momentum for the group, this record captured a band that had already tasted success and was hungry to push deeper into the fertile territory where funk, soul, and R&B converge. Chaka Khan's voice was becoming a force of nature all its own, and the rhythm section behind her was as tight and dangerous as anything coming out of that era.
Reception
- The album achieved moderate commercial success on the Billboard charts, further cementing the group's standing as one of the premier funk and soul acts of the mid-1970s.
- 'Once You Get Started' solidified Chaka Khan's emergence as a truly distinctive lead vocalist in the soul and funk landscape, earning the group growing radio appeal across R&B audiences nationwide.
Significance
- This album exemplifies the sophisticated funk and soul architecture of mid-1970s R&B, showcasing Rufus's rare ability to marry scorching instrumental interplay with Chaka Khan's raw, gospel-drenched vocal power in a way that felt both urgent and timeless.
- The record helped establish the creative and commercial template that would define Rufus & Chaka Khan's legacy — proving that a group could live in the pocket of deep funk while still crafting songs refined enough to light up the radio dial.
- As a snapshot of 1974's Black music scene, the album reflects a pivotal moment when funk was evolving beyond its rawer roots into something more polished and compositionally ambitious, and Rufus was right there at the forefront of that evolution.
Samples
- Once You Get Started — one of the most recognized and sampled grooves in the Rufus & Chaka Khan catalog, with its infectious rhythm and Chaka's vocal hooks appearing across numerous hip-hop and R&B productions over the decades.
Tracklist
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A Once You Get Started —
3:28
-
B Rufusized —
3:16
Artist Details
Rufus featuring Chaka Khan was a powerhouse funk and soul outfit that came together in Chicago in the early 1970s, blending rock grit with deep groove rhythms and the kind of raw, sanctified vocals that Chaka Khan made her own like nobody else on the planet. These cats were laying down stone cold classics like Tell Me Something Good — written for them by none other than Stevie Wonder — and Ask Rufus, cementing their place as one of the defining acts of the decade where funk, R&B, and rock kissed each other goodnight. Their legacy runs deep because they helped pave the way for the entire urban contemporary movement of the late seventies and beyond, and Chaka Khan herself went on to become one of the most celebrated voices in Black music history.
