If you were standing in the middle of a Chicago dance floor in 1984, the air would have felt thick. It wasn’t just the sweat or the basement humidity. It was the sound of a drum machine—specifically the Roland TR-808—thumping so hard it felt like your heart was being recalibrated. At the center of this sonic storm was a man named Farley Keith Williams. Most people know him as Farley Jackmaster Funk.
He’s often called the "King of House," a title that isn’t just some marketing fluff.
Honestly, without Farley, house music might have stayed a local Chicago secret, a niche sound played in dark clubs like the Warehouse or the Playground. Instead, he took that raw, jacking energy and threw it across the Atlantic, effectively changing the trajectory of global pop music. You’ve probably heard "Love Can’t Turn Around" at a wedding or a late-night lounge without realizing it was the first house track to actually crack the UK Top 10 back in 1986.
The Hot Mix 5 and the Birth of a Movement
Farley didn't just wake up one day and decide to be a legend.
He started as a teenager, hungry for a sound that hadn't been fully defined yet. In 1981, he became a founding member of the Hot Mix 5 on WBMX-FM. This wasn't just a DJ crew; it was a revolution. Along with Mickey "Mixin" Oliver, Ralphi Rosario, Kenny "Jammin" Jason, and Scott "Smokin" Silz, Farley turned radio into a laboratory. They weren't just playing records; they were editing them on the fly with reel-to-reel tapes and drum machines.
The city was hooked.
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Think about that for a second. Before the internet, before Spotify, these guys were the gatekeepers. If they played it, it was a hit. Farley was the brash one. He went by "Farley Funkin' Keith" or "The Rude Boy," names that captured his aggressive, high-energy mixing style. He eventually settled on Farley Jackmaster Funk because, well, he was a master of "jacking"—that frantic, rhythmic dance style that defined early house.
The Track That Changed Everything
We have to talk about "Love Can't Turn Around."
It’s a weird story, actually. The song is basically a cover of an Isaac Hayes tune called "I Can't Turn Around." Steve "Silk" Hurley, another Chicago pioneer and Farley's roommate at the time, had already done a version of it. Farley heard it and thought he could make it bigger. He teamed up with Jesse Saunders, grabbed a songwriter named Vince Lawrence to tweak the lyrics, and brought in Darryl Pandy.
Pandy was a force of nature.
He was a gospel singer with a six-and-a-half-octave range and a stage presence that could blow the roof off a stadium. When they released the track in 1986, it didn't just stay in the clubs. It went to number 10 in the UK. Suddenly, this "subculture" from Chicago’s South Side was being performed on Top of the Pops by a man in a glittery tuxedo. It was the moment house music grew up. Or at least, the moment it went global.
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Why People Get the History Wrong
A lot of folks get confused about who "invented" house music. They’ll point to Frankie Knuckles, and they’re right—Frankie was the godfather. But Farley was the one who codified the "jacking" sound. Tracks like "Jack the Bass" and "Funkin' with the Drums" weren't about soulful melodies; they were about the beat.
Pure rhythm.
It was skeletal. It was hypnotic. It was "jacking."
- Fact: Farley's "The Acid Life" (1988) provided the uncredited backbone for Technotronic's massive hit "Pump Up the Jam."
- The Conflict: The early house scene was a bit of a Wild West. Everyone was sampling everyone. This led to decades of legal squabbles over who owned what.
- The Alias Game: You'll find his work under names like Jackmaster Dick, The Housemaster Boyz, or even A Black Man. It was a way to get more music onto the shelves without saturating his own brand.
The King's Resurgence in 2026
You might think a guy who peaked in the 80s would be resting on his laurels by now. You'd be wrong. Just this week, in January 2026, Farley released a new anthem for the Chicago Bears called "We Are Da Bears." He debuted it on ABC7 from a "mobile studio" that looks like something out of a sci-fi movie.
It's classic Farley.
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He’s still playing sets at festivals like the My House Music Festival in Pilsen and doing "Intimate House Sessions" in Chicago clubs. He’s outlived many of his peers, and he's still protective of the culture he helped build. He’s seen house music turn into a multi-billion dollar EDM industry, and he’s not afraid to remind people where it actually came from.
What You Should Take Away From the Legend
If you're a DJ or a producer today, Farley is your blueprint. He proved that you don't need a massive studio to change the world. You just need a drum machine and the guts to play something that hasn't been heard before.
Basically, he took the remnants of disco, stripped them down, and made them faster and tougher.
He taught the world how to jack.
If you want to understand the roots of what you're listening to today, go back and listen to the original 12-inch versions of his Trax Records releases. Don't just look for the radio edits. Find the "beat tracks." That's where the real magic is.
Actionable Steps to Explore the Farley Legacy:
- Listen to the Hot Mix 5 archives: You can find old WBMX rips online. Listen to how they layered drum machines over disco records in 1983. It’s a masterclass in creative DJing.
- Compare the covers: Listen to Isaac Hayes’ original "I Can’t Turn Around," then Steve Hurley’s version, then Farley’s "Love Can’t Turn Around." It’s the perfect lesson in musical evolution.
- Check out the aliases: Dig for "House Nation" by The Housemaster Boyz. It’s arguably just as influential as his bigger hits but has a different, rawer energy.
- Support the local scene: If you're in Chicago, look for his residencies. The man is still behind the decks, and there is no substitute for hearing a pioneer play his own tracks in the city where they were born.
Farley Jackmaster Funk isn't just a name on a dusty record sleeve. He's the reason the four-on-the-floor beat dominates the world today.