When Kool & The Gang released their funky treatise on getting down in 1981, they had no idea that it would lead to three decades of white people dancing awkwardly at weddings. Me and you, your Momma and your cousin, too, have all been convinced to step away from the chocolate fondue station and dance when Kool and his gang make their compelling case to get down on it. They so much believe that one needs to get down on it, that they repeat the mantra 57 times in under five minutes

For years, academics have attempted to understand on what, in fact, we are supposed to get down. Those at Oxford posit that the “it” represents another fundamental question of metaphysics, the school of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world. In England, Kool is viewed as a jerry-curled, white-patent-shoe-wearing Aristotle.

Across the ocean, researchers at Harvard approach the “it” through the lens of the Cold War, and site Kool’s rabid anti-Communist tendencies. Few people know that Kool’s musical inspiration stems from the writing of Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Regardless of the origins of “it,” we find the track so funky that we can’t seem to stop playing “Get Down on It.”

- Danny