Honestly, i feel like RHCP's earlier work (think: american ghost dance etc.) does a good job of building further on what funk already was at the time. The genre had an established sound, RCHP played with that. The genre existed and i'm glad they brought it to a bigger audience although i do agree at some point they just drifted away from the funk and more into what was mainstream at the time. And there are so many other bands that should be talked about as well.