Britfunk is a subgenre of Funk music which emerged out of Jazz-Funk nightclubs in the UK. The style was originally distinctive for its raw, energetic and more up-tempo sound, reflecting British club culture, as well as its emphasis on dance. Originally, Britfunk took influence from American acts like Brass Construction and Roy Ayers, particularly via the use of vocal chanting, extended track lengths and a disco-friendly jazz-funk sound. Although a danceable funk genre that could crossover into Disco, the influence Britfunk's practitioners took from Jazz, Reggae and Dub sometimes reflected their upbringing and affected the genre's sound, and the use of hooks and Pop influence gave it commercial appeal, while its energy and DIY aesthetic drew links with Punk and New Wave.

British funk groups like Average White Band, Gonzalez and Olympic Runners had preceded the genre, but the emergence of Hi-Tension is considered to inaugurate Britfunk as a distinctive sound, the group's 1978 eponymous song being a British hit. The genre was popularised in London and Home Counties nightclubs, where jazz-funk dancing became popular and all-dayer, nighter and weekender events became popular outlets for Britfunk groups. The music was the centrepiece of a grassroots scene of bands, club nights and pirate radio shows. The use of call-and-response chanting at Britfunk nightclubs was soon reflected in the music of groups of the genre, such as Linx, Light of the World, Shakatak and Level 42. With support from DJ Chris Hill and disco columnist James Hamilton helping to popularise the music, many Britfunk groups began their recording careers releasing independent twelve-inch singles catered to DJs, before major labels like Ensign and Chrysalis began signing groups in the genre and promoting them nationally.

The image and sound of many Britfunk bands was also marked by a sternness and art mentality comparable with funk-inspired Post-Punk groups, whom they would regularly appear alongside in DJ sets at London nightclubs such as Cabaret Futura and Le Beate Route, and it was from this club scene particularly that pop and new wave-oriented Britfunk facts like Funkapolitan and early Spandau Ballet emerged in the early 1980s. Alongside this, the original, more dub-influenced Britfunk sound lived on numerous small independent labels like Pink Rhythm and Floppy Discs. By 1983, Britfunk acts like Loose Ends, I-Level, 52nd Street and Imagination began incorporating electronic instrumentation and reflecting contemporary American funk music.

Although the popularity of Britfunk declined in the wake of Hip Hop and Electronic Dance Music in the mid-1980s, the success of the genre in the early 1980s provided a pivotal point in the success and media exposure of Black British music, with acts like Linx, Imagination, Freeez, Beggar and Co and Junior all achieving hit singles and appearing on British flagship pop show Top of the Pops. It would prove an important role in British music, directly influencing the sounds of emergent pop groups like Heaven 17 and Haircut One Hundred and towards the end of the 1980s helping form the backbone of the sound systems of Soul II Soul and The Wild Bunch, becoming an important touchstone in their own productions. In later times, artists like STR4TA have brought about a revived Britfunk sound.