According to The Washington Post, Chuck Brown, considered the driving force behind the subgenre of funk known as "go-go", died on Wednesday at the age of 75 in Baltimore.

Brown developed the sound as an alternative to disco in the 1970s, and ended up with the music that has dominated the sound of black Washington, D.C. for decades. Occasionally, go-go crept into the national consciousness -- first in 1978 when Brown's band, the Soul Searchers, had a No. 1 R&B smash with "Bustin' Loose". Then, as Brown helped the genre grow, it happened again when another go-go act, E.U., had a hit with "Da Butt" from Spike Lee's movie School Daze in 1986. Though hip-hop ignored go-go at first, eventually the two genres did join together, as Nelly sampled Brown's music for his 2002 hit "Hot in Herre". Brown continued to perform well into his 70s in Washington, though he didn't make as many performances as he got older.