It’s safe to say that they don’t make musicians like they used to. It seems a trite point, but in reality, who are there on the contemporary scene that, in terms of personality and cultural relevance, trump the greats of the past? A handful, if that.
One of the most exuberant and influential figures of the golden generation, is George Clinton, a man whose impact on the world can be felt in numerous realms, and whose life story is brimming with astounding moments far removed that of your everyday person’s.
A funk innovator with the Parliament-Funkadelic collective, instrumental in popularising Afrofuturism, and essentially a founding father of hip-hop, it’s safe to say that without him, life as we know it would be completely different. However, due to his eclectic fashion, notorious love of drugs, and the fact that, generally, his life has taken many cartoonish twists and turns, the actual impact of the psychedelic funk master can be easily underestimated.
Yet, without him, Dr. Dre would not have conceived G-funk and sent it stratospheric – a direct descendent of Clinton’s genius psychedelic P-funk blend – Red Hot Chili Peppers wouldn’t have become one of the world’s most successful bands with their own funk-rock, and modern African-American tastemakers such as Kendrick Lamar – with whom Clinton collaborated on the era-defining To Pimp a Butterfly – would be missing the blueprint for how to operate with authenticity and defiance, without ever missing a beat, lyrically and rhythmically.
There’s no doubt that Clinton, alongside his good friend Sly Stone, and ‘Mr. Dynamite’ himself, James Brown, is a founding father of funk. A figure who’s always been in no doubt about the measure of his creative exploits, he’s also clear about what funk really means.
Speaking to The Guardian in 2014, Clinton humorously referred to the decades-old rumour that he was born in an outside toilet, which he said gives him a solid claim to the sound: “My mother just thought she was going to the bathroom. So I do have a legitimate claim on the funk.”
Elsewhere, in an interview with Thrasher, Clinton provided his actual definition of funk: “Most of the time, funk is attitude; anything you need it to be to save your life. Whether it’s music or whatever. You need to jump in and start jamming. You’re free enough to just do it. The funk lifestyle we live is do the best you can and then after that, funk it.”
It’s true, funk isn’t just about groove, it’s about attitude. This is a key similarity that all of his disciples share alongside rhythmic prowess. After all, attitude is what makes a groove really tick.
Editors’ Picks
- Afrofuturism
- Dr. Dre
- funk
- George Clinton
- Hip-Hop Origins
- James Brown
- Kendrick Lamar
- Parliament-Funkadelic
- Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Sly Stone
