'Ghetto house' DJ Funk dies at 54: Key member of Chicago scene has passed away following cancer battle

The music star who coined the term 'ghetto house' - DJ Funk - has passed away at the age of 54, one of his close friends has confirmed. Real name Charles Chambers, DJ Funk was a key member of the Chicago scene, becoming known for dancefloor giants such as Work Dat Body, Pump It and Run.

Friend and collaborator DJ Slugo announced the news via a post on Instagram after the star had been living with stage four cancer. In a video, Slugo said he had confirmation from DJ Funk's family that he has passed. He said: "I didn't wanna say nothing myself until I officially got the word from his family, I had seen a lot of people post and a lot of people with misinformation," he said. "DJ Funk has passed."

His family had previously launched an appeal to help pay for his funeral. The GoFundMe page set up by Shontae Chambers has now exceeded $30,000.

DJ Funk is cited as an influence by the likes of Daft Punk, DJ Assault, DJ Deeon and DJ Houzman, who also issued music on Chicago labels Dance Mania and Pro-Jex. Throughout the 1990s, he built a reputation in the Chicago-Detroit region and in the Midwest rave scene.

His 1999 album, Booty House Anthems, sold a reported 1 million copies in the US, while Jeff Mills and Jackmaster both included DJ Funk tracks on influential mixes.

In a previous interview, DJ Funk said "not giving up, doing my thing" was key to his long-standing career at the forefront of the scene. "One thing I got mad at a lot of artists for is that they would make a genre or sound, and then they wouldn’t do it no more, they went super pop and sold their souls to the devil," he added. "I think that you need to keep doing whatever you are doing."

In 2015, in an interview with the Guardian, he spoke of his own demise, saying: "I really don’t want a funeral. I’d like to have a party so people remember all the good times and aren’t sad. Then at the afterparty there’ll be a lot of booty shaking with all my music played."