Tentative Andy
I'm in the Meal Deal
In my view the notion of "hardcore continuum" is pretty useless unless its only qualifying requirement is "this is the music that runs things in East London" - all other forms of continuity flow from that really.
But yes, I think that funky has to be seen as something of a reset button returning the sheer physicality of dance music to centre focus. This is why fervent prayers for "dark funky" seem kind of wrongheaded to me: it's not that I don't like darker funky tunes, but wanting darkness to be the organising principle is an implied disavowal of all the positive things that funky has brought to the table (chiefly: dancing as the focus and the capacity to cover a broader range of emotions). Why on earth would anyone want funky that you can moodily nod your head to?
It's not a choice between dark funky, cheesy funky and conservative deep house funky - really, rallying around any one of these notions of funky seems very constrictive to me.
This is a good point, but thinking back over discussions of the music that I've read/heard, whilst some people certainly wanted more darkness (maybe 'cause they were so immersed in dubstep and other dark sounds at the time), a lot of people just wanted it to become more banging, more lively and energetic. This has definitely happened, and what the producers have managed to prove so far is that you can have stuff that is high-energy whilst still being melodic, whilst still containing feminine elements, whilst still seeming cheesy-in-a-good-way, etc. It doesn't all have to be darkness or ruffneck rudeboy attitude, although of course there's plenty of room for those flavour as well.