One Nation Under Jam, and Funkentelechy For ALL: George Clinton

<<back

By Jess Hopsicker

Funkentelechy: "the actualization of funk rather than its potential."
In other words, it means turning all that pent-up potential funk into something ass shakingly kinetic. It’s based on the belief that everyone has the funk bone somewhere inside. It’s all the matter of catching the funkafied vibe and rising against the status quo, stupidity, and the rigidity of society. The credo lies in the Funkadelic phrase and album title, "Free your mind … and your ass will follow."

George Clinton, the grandmaster, unimpeachable president, era-spanning madman made his start some 50 years ago. In the process, he created a whole funkin’ universe. The seeds were sewn with the Parliaments, a quintet inspired by Frankie Lyman and the Teenagers formed by the teen in a NJ barbershop   If "Funk is the DNA of Hip-Hop" P-Funk is the pure uncut stuff or Plainfield, NJ funk. The Sci-fi driven doo-wop gospel group was the vehicle that spawned the whole mythology. In years to come, Mothership became a household term, forever known as the great mystical interplanetary chariot that transports Dr. Funkenstein and Starchild to Earth when all the world's peoples are in the need of a great global spanking.

Due to some legalities, mainly the Parliaments label going under, he formed the acid rock primal funk politically infused band Funkadelic, a concoction psychedelic soul, driving guitars and of course that P-funk goodness. Together they knocked out albums such as America Eats its Young, The Electric Spanking of War Babies, and Uncle Jam Wants You. They tackled the meaty issues such as injustice, poverty, hypocrisy consumerism and the stratification of the classes with the awesome power of overt lyrics and Hendrixian guitars. Funkadelic became the sonic backdrop to a generation. That is until legal wrangling with former managers ground the whole thing to a halt.

This is where it gets confusing, after he loses the Parliaments, he makes Funkadelic. He gains Parliament back and drops the s. He loses Funkadelic, goes solo releases more albums, after a 12-year battle, the interplanetary funkmaster wins Funkadelic back. Even after all that P-Funk stands to have another definition, an abbreviation for Parliament –Funkadelic.

Now, finally, after years and years of creation and litigation, the whole P-funk Empire is under one the one roof of the lord and master of all worlds funky. Ten years past his last disk “T.A.P. O. A. F.O. M. or The Awesome Power of a Fully Operational Mothership, George Clinton resides under yet another label, this time its his own, The C-Kunspyruhzy, LLC.  The aptly named shiny new self released double disk How Late Do U Have 2BB4UR Absent? features Parliament, Funkadelic, the symbol formerly known as Prince, Del the Funkee Homosapien, Joi and Jazze Pha, his granddaughter Sativa and the ever increasing funk mob. The disk is dripping with the stripped down funk, doo wop roots, horny allegory and those booty bouncin’ jams. “ I can’t wait to grow this Pfunk thang all over again,” he laughs, “I got the old roots with the live concerts and the new branches with the various band members, as well as my own solo projects.” Amazingly enough, Its 2006 and he has yet  another generation of followers. We flagged down Dr. Funkenstein himself, George Clinton, at a Los Angeles hotel via a phone and a space age voice activated tape recorder. It appears the crazy music making galatic funk man doesn’t appear to be letting up any time soon.

JESS HOPSICKER: On your quest from NJ hairstylist to interplanetary funk machine, did anybody think you were just crazy?
GEORGE CLINTON: Oh, I’ve been there a couple of times. The madhouse a few times, I think I’m crazy myself.
JH: I was going to say, 50 years of funk later, do they still think you’re nuts?
GEORGE CLINTON: I don’t think so, they’re funkin’ by now.
JH: Can you talk to me about the struggles and challenges you faced while bringing this new disc out?
GEORGE CLINTON: Well, it’s all fun there, I wouldn’t say there are challenges. It’s been fun and I say we’re just getting started.
JH; With your new label, The C Kunspruhzy, are you happy with the outcome so far?
GEORGE CLINTON: For sure, like I say I never want to get to the end of a result. Because I like doing it and as long as I’m doing it I’m fine.
JH: There is a generation of kids who don’t know that you were the inspiration for the Chili Peppers, Outcast, and Dr Dre.
GEORGE CLINTON: They’re finding out in due time, that’s keeps new fans always coming along. They find that out there’s always the new possibility of new fans comin’, and were still working with a lot of new acts.
JH: How do you hunt down these people?
GEORGE CLINTON: They find me. I don’t know what the requirement is. If they’re crazy enough to want go for their ride, then jump on the Mothership, we’ll take off together. Usually they find me; I wouldn’t know what to look for.
JH: Since you’re considered one of the most sampled musicians, is it hard to maintain your originality?
GEORGE CLINTON: Oh, I’ll just sample myself back, sample myself over their records. Somebody sample us I’ll sample myself back.
JH: What other projects are you working on?
GEORGE CLINTON: Just my granddaughter Sativa. You know we got a new album out now right? How Late Do U Have 2BB4UR Absent? And it has a lot of band members on it, a compilation of Parliament, Funkadellic and as well as the band members individually. After that I’m working on a doo-wop one doo-wop techno, techno doo-wop. There’s some techno music from the fifties.
JH: You have realized "the awesome power of a fully operational Mothership". You couldn’t just bring together "one nation under a groove"; you had to go galactic too?
GEORGE CLINTON: I had to do all of that; I’m getting ready to go to the dimensions now.
JH: Dimensions?
GEORGE CLINTON: The sixth and seventh dimensions, we’re gunna skip the fourth and fifth, they booby-trapped already. We’re going to the sixth and seventh ain’t nobody been there to taint it yet.
JH: And what’s that going to be like?
GEORGE CLINTON: I don’t know, That’s what I like about it. I don’t know what’s gunna be there. Fourth and fifth, we probably got some kind of notion of what they should be like. At least the fourth anyway, but I don’t want to take the precaution and go to someplace I know, and just go to where nobody has contemplated yet. The sixth and seventh.
JH: Back to the old Funkadelic Politics, with the albums "The Electric Spanking of War Babies" and "Uncle Jam Wants You" Can you do anything about the current political situation?
GEORGE CLINTON: Its time for the spanking again.
JH: Indeed
GEORGE CLINTON: We need it, we need it real bad right now, that’s why the Mothership, will probably taking off again in the New Year.
JH: We’ll be waiting for it.
GEORGE CLINTON: Okie dokie.