GEORGE CLINTON
George Clinton is an American treasure. As one of the foremost innovators of Funk, Clinton is the mastermind behind the legendary Parliament/Funkadelic, creating a uniquely identifiable and timeless art which has lifted Funk to an internationally recognized and respected musical genre. His ingenuity has earned Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic a prominent seat in music history: Clinton was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.
Clinton started his career with the Parliaments, a barbershop doo-wop ensemble, which scored a major hit with "I Wanna Testify" in 1967. Clinton developed a sound which merged the polish of Motown acts, the rawness of James Brown, the bohemian style of Sly Stone and the pop sensibility of the Beatles, and forever set himself apart from the Motown era. By the early ’70s, the group's songs evolved into sprawling jams drenched in funky rhythms. They dropped the "s" from the band’s name and Parliament was born. Around the same time, Clinton spawned Funkadelic, a rock group which fused acid-rock guitar, bizarre sound effects and cosmological rants with danceable beats and booming bass lines. Funkadelic recorded a number of influential concept albums, including Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow, Maggot Brain and America Eats Its Young. Rolling Stone and Spin recently named Parliament/Funkadelic as one of the top bands of all time.
1975 was a revelatory year for Clinton. With the country engrossed in the fallout from Watergate and the Space Race, Clinton was busy redefining the possibilities of Funk music and advancing the rise of Afrofuturism. That year, Parliament released two albums: Chocolate City, which envisioned a post-Watergate America with Muhammed Ali as president and Aretha Franklin as First Lady, and Mothership Connection, a sci-fi tale in which Black aliens land on Earth with a simple message to earthlings: “Ain’t nothin’ but a party y’all.” With music designed to “put a dip in your hip and a glide in your stride,” the album included songs like “P-Funk (Wants to get Funked Up),” “Mothership Connection (Star Child)” and the group's first gold single, “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker).”
These releases became instant dancefloor anthems and sparked Funk's biggest movement to date. The live performances were equally otherworldly, as Clinton would emerge from a giant spaceship at center stage as “Dr. Funkenstein” to transport listeners into a different dimension.
Clinton's dancefloor dominance continued throughout the ’70s and into the ’80s with releases like “Flashlight,” “One Nation Under a Groove,” “(Not Just) Knee Deep” and “Aqua Boogie,” eventually culminating with the 1983 solo release of “Atomic Dog,” which took his vision to new heights. With its infectious beat and unique melodic structure, “Atomic Dog” remains as popular with young audiences today as it was when it was first released. Today “Atomic Dog” can be heard not only in the clubs, on campuses, and at the cookout, but also in commercials for brands such as E-Trade and numerous movies including 102 Dalmatians, Trolls World Tour, Menace II Society and more. It was sampled countless times, most notably by Snoop Dogg on his smash-hit “Snoop Dogg (What’s My Name Pt. 2).”
Indeed, Clinton’s P-Funk, with its infectious groove and irresistible beats, became a go-to source for countless early Rap recordings. As Clinton has said, "Funk is the DNA of Hip-Hop and Rap." Being one of the most sampled artists, Clinton has become recognized as the godfather of modern urban music. Beats, loops, and samples of P-Funk have appeared on albums by 2Pac, OutKast, Dr. Dre, Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliot, De La Soul, Fishbone, Ice Cube, Public Enemy and Childish Gambino, to name but a few. Clinton has collaborated with Kendrick Lamar on the influential rapper’s Grammy-winning album To Pimp a Butterfly.
Through it all, Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic have maintained a rigorous touring schedule that would test artists 50 years his junior. Considered by many to be one of the original jam bands, Parliament/Funkadelic’s hours-long performances draw attract many of the same fans that populate concerts by The Grateful Dead, Phish, and Dave Matthews.
Celebrating his 82th year on planet Earth, Clinton is as busy as ever. In addition to touring, he is working on three recording projects that feature collaborations with a “who's who” of top artists from the last four decades. And he has started a new career as a fine artist; his paintings were prominently displayed during Art Basel in Miami, and he was celebrated with a solo exhibition at the Jeffrey Deitch gallery in 2022.
For more information on George Clinton please visit his official website www.georgeclinton.com and Instagram @yolikegeorge