Prince and George Clinton, ‘diss’ tracks and respect

George Clinton & Prince – Paisley Park – December 18, 1999

I hollered ‘help’ and Prince came to the rescue.

George Clinton

Introduction

In August 1988 Prince and George Clinton appeared together in public in London. Two months later rumors were confirmed: Prince had offered a contract to George Clinton on the Paisley Park Records label.

George Clinton

Following the collapse of the Parliament Funkadelic kingdom (both bands were disbanded in 1981) George Clinton started a solo career. In 1982 he signed a deal with Capitol Records, using two monikers: George Clinton and P-Funk All-Stars. That same year Computer Games was released, once again bringing George Clinton back to the top of the charts. He released 3 more albums up unto 1986: You Shouldn’t-Nuf Bit Fish (1983), Some Of My Best Jokes Are Friends (1985) and R&B Skeletons In The Closet (1986). 1986 also saw the release of The Mothership Connection – Live From Houston under the moniker George Clinton Parliament Funkadelic. The album consisted of 1976 live recordings and 3 songs off the earlier Capitol Records albums. In 1985 Clinton was asked to produce the second album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Freaky Styley. At the time it wasn’t successful, though the music and the production are not at fault.

The P-Funk All Stars released their debut album , Urban Dancefloor Guerillas in 1983, which was followed by a 1983/1984 tour. Prince witnessed the band on this tour, an occasion that inspired him to write and record Erotic City that very same night. As far as we know, the first recordings for Erotic City stem from March 25, 1984, so Prince must have visited the show then. In a 1997 speech Prince indicated that the show that inspired Erotic City took place at the Beverly Theater in California (the date being either April 23 or April 24, 1983). So either Prince spiced the story up or he saw them play again in 1984. Recordings of the April 23/24, 1983, shows were released in 1990 using the title Live At The Beverly Theater, a truly magnificent live document. Funny detail is that Prince was in the audience at those shows.

Initially the solo albums signaled a reboot of George Clinton’s stalled career with fantastic songs like Atomic Dog, Quickie, Double Oh-Oh and Do Fries Go with That Shake?. But financial trouble was never far away and he had to file for bankruptcy in 1984. The Capitol Records contract expired in 1986. Clinton had no record deal and no money.

George Clinton 1980s

Prince and George Clinton pre 1988

At first there was no connection between the two, except mutual (musical) respect. The worlds of the 100% anti-drugs Prince and George Clinton, who almost single handedly invented drug use, were miles apart. Even though Clinton moved in the same musical periphery as Prince during the early 1980s, using drum computers and synthesizers, there was no synergy, no aversion either.

“Diss” tracks

In 1983 George Clinton and de P-Funk All Stars released the Urban Dancefloor Guerillas album, which included the song Copy Cat. It contained a specific “diss” at The Time singer Morris Day:

From a meow to a roar…woof!
Hey! Yakety-yak, bring in the dog
Let’s put out the cat, baba!

…

Dog, pussycat, they all try to copy me now
(Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow)
They imitate, they duplicate, they can never copy my meow
(Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow)

George on my pussycat
Bump on my pussycat
Fritz wants my pussycat
Morris wants my pussycat

Copy Cat, P-Funk All Stars, 1983

The Time – Tricky

This didn’t pass by the Prince camp unnoticed. On January 12, 1984, Prince and Morris Day recorded a song at the Sunset Sound studio in Hollywood. The song was called Tricky and was aimed at George Clinton and Bootsy Collins.

Why U big, tossed-salad, hairdo-havin’
Long, tall, snaggly gold-toothed
Funkin’ habit-formed, leather-wearin’
Beanpole-lookin’, black

…

What Tricky say? Yakety-yak?
Yakety-yak, my ass, motherfucker…, uh!

…

It’s time for you to … It’s time for you to retire
Ya over…wait, wait, wait!

Why you, you
You old, Michelin Man, fat, black

…

That’s all I know, U’re just old and U’re fat
U know it 2, don’t U?

Tricky, Prince, 1984

Following the Morris Day intro, Prince uses his Morris Day imitation voice in this very funny song, which was released on May 30, 1984, as the B-side to The Time single Ice Cream Castles. The song was also used as the B-side to the Jungle Love single, released on December 12, 1984. Tricky is credited to Morris Day, but is a Prince & Morris Day composition.

On June 23, 2021, Morris Day was interviewed on Questlove’s Supreme podcast and confirmed that Tricky was indeed a reaction to the Copy Cat song:

‘Toss-salad hairdo-havin’ was Bootsy. The ‘Michelin Man’, that was George Clinton. So we went in and had a field day as a rebuttal to them talkin’ shit about us.

However, it remains to be seen whether or not George Clinton used the name “Morris” in Copy Cat as a “diss” towards Morris Day. Late 1970/early 1980s American television broadcast ads for 9 Lives cat food. The cat featured in those adds was known as “Morris the Cat”. See the commercial on YouTube.

Luckily, things weren’t as bad as the “diss” tracks seemed they were. March 25, 1984, Prince recorded Erotic City, arguably the best Prince B-side ever. The song was inspired by George Clinton, as Prince would publicly admit to later on in his career. In November 1984 George Clinton and Prince finally met in Detroit where Prince And The Revolution opened the Purple Rain Tour.

In the famous 1985 Rolling Stone Prince interview George Clinton is namechecked when Prince is asked if he reads what’s written about him.

Not long ago I talked to George Clinton, a man who knows and has done so much for funk. George told me how much he liked Around the World in a Day. You know how much more his words mean than those from some mamma-jamma wearing glasses and an alligator shirt behind a typewriter?

Prince Talks, Rolling Stone, September 12, 1985

Prince note to George Clinton

Prince offers help

In 1987 Prince’s own label Paisley Park Records had been underway for two years. Next to his own albums, satellite acts like Sheila E., The Family, Madhouse and Jill Jones were also released on his label. Many of those acts were given songs by Prince, enabling them to do their thing on them. Prince had signed many new acts and/or talent, but wanted to broaden his options.

Having his own label also provided Prince with the opportunity to help older/former heroes. Mavis Staples was signed, ensuring she was without any debts and giving her the chance to revive her career. Around that time Prince heard about George Clinton’s troubles.

George Clinton was contacted and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Prince and Paisley Park Records not only offered him the chance to create music again, but also redeemed his $150,000 debt with the American tax authorities. In August 1988 Clinton was present at a show on the fantastic Lovesexy Tour in London. Rumors about an upcoming cooperation of record deal were all over the place. Two months later the rumors were confirmed.

George Clinton and Prince publicly celebrated one another. In the BBC documentary Prince A Musical Portrait which was broadcast in 1989, Clinton states:

You say ‘Oh shit… who’s doing?’ But then it’s Prince. Okay, it’s accepted, it’s good. He is that positive nuisance right now.

George Clinton, Prince A Musical Portrait, 1989

It’s not entirely clear when Prince wrote the note pictured at the top of this paragraph, but I suspect it stems from the period surrounding the release of Clinton’s first album on Paisley Park Records.

The overall conclusion has to be that the “diss” tracks from late 1983, early 1984 were a thing of the past. Prince was happy (and proud?) that he was able to help funk pioneer George Clinton. Clinton probably was even more happy. He made music again and was freed of the financial burden that had followed him for years on end.

George Clinton – The Cinderella Theory

Album: The Cinderella Theory

On August 2, 1989, the first Paisley Park Records album by George Clinton, titled The Cinderella Theory, was released. The album didn’t contain any Prince composition, yet his influence was clearly audible.

George Clinton received carte blanche for his first album. Prince didn’t meddle with the music, but Prince musicians were involved with the process. Horn players Matt “Atlanta Bliss” Tristan and Eric Leeds in particular contributed a lot, including horn arrangements.

Songs

• Airbound (Tracey Lewis)
• Tweakin’ (Bob Bishop, Chuck D, David Spradley, Flavor Flav)
• The Cinderella Theory (Amp Fiddler, George Clinton)
• Why Should I Dog U Out? (Amp Fiddler, DeWayne McKnight, George Clinton)
• Serious Slammin’ (Greg Crockett)
• There I Go Again (Amp Fiddler, George Clinton, Joe Harris)
• (She Got It) Goin’ On (Amp Fiddler, Shawn Clinton)
• The Banana Boat Song (Irving Burgess, William Attaway)
• French Kiss (Andre Foxxe Williams, DeWayne McKnight, George Clinton, Steve Washington)
• Rita Bewitched (George Clinton, Tracey Lewis)
• Kredit Kard (Clip Payne, George Clinton)
• Airbound (Reprise) (Tracey Lewis)

Both Rita Bewitched and Kredit Kard were not part of the album’s vinyl release. Tweakin’ and Why Should I Dog U Out? were released a singles. The 12-inch version of Tweakin’ contained a number of remixes done by Prince.

George Clinton – The Cinderella Theory – Booklet back cover

Musicians

• George Clinton – forerunner, vocals
• Joseph Fiddler, David Spradley, Bill Brown, Greg Crockett – keyboards
• Bootsy Collins, DeWayne “Blackbyrd” McKnight, Andre Foxxe Williams, Steve C. Washington – bass
• DeWayne “Blackbyrd” McKnight, Bootsy Collins, Tracey Lewis, Andre Foxxe Williams – guitar
• William Payne, Dean Ragland, Lelan Zales, Richie Stevens – drums, drum programming
• Anthony Jones, Darrin – scratchin’
• Eric Leeds – saxophone
• Matt “Atlanta Bliss” Tristan – trumpet
• Michael Harris – flute
• Larry Fratangelo – percussion
• AJ – spoons
• Pat Lewis, Sheila Washington, Jimmy Giles, Sandra Feva Dance, Lige Curry, Belita Woods, Tambra Makowsky, Navarro Berman, Pennye Ford, Patty Curry, Jenny Peters, Dean Ragland, Robert “P-Nut” Johnson, Joe Harris, Andre Foxxe Williams, Tracey Lewis, Jessica Cleaves, Karen Foster, Anita Johnson, Louis Kabbabie, Mike Harris, Garry Shider, Daryl Johnson, Daryl Clinton, Shirley Hayden, Steve Boyd, Angela Workman, Doc Holiday – vocals
• Chuck D, Flavor Flav – rap on Tweakin’

Flavor Flav, George Clinton & Chuck D 1989

Review

I absolutely love this album. It funks, grates, swings and to me it is a valuable addition to George Clinton’s body of work. Where Prince missed the boat with rap, Clinton was more adept to get in tune with the times. Public Enemy’s Chuck D and Flavor Flav’s contribution to the already slamming Tweakin’ is truly exciting.

Many cite the album’s eclectism as a problem, calling the album’s second half inferior to the first half. I personally don’t subscribe to that view. The album’s first and second half are equally great. At the time the album was regarded as a kind of comeback for Clinton. Some comeback!

Success

Unfortunately, the album wasn’t successful. The single releases didn’t help either. The reviews were rather positive, but the general public didn’t bother. Obviously, they were wrong. But it was quite remarkable as well, as Clinton’s music was rediscovered by the new hip-hop generation. His music was regularly used in hip-hop productions. In 1989 De La Soul had a (inter)national number 1 hit with Me, Myself And I, which was based on Funkadelic‘s (Not Just) Knee Deep.

George Clinton – We Can Funk (Graffiti Bridge movie)

We Can Funk

In the meantime Prince was busy with the projects Batman and Graffiti Bridge. The latter would turn into the third Prince movie, which also included a soundtrack. The veterans George Clinton and Mavis Staples both got a part in the movie, where they performed their own song.

Staples got the newly written Melody Cool and Clinton received the fabulous We Can Funk, a cooperation of Prince and George Clinton. We Can Funk is a reworking of We Can Fuck, the 1983 version that was released in 2017 on the Purple Rain Deluxe Expanded. We Can Funk is one to the highlights on the Graffiti Bridge album.

George Clinton – Hey Man… Smell My Finger

Album: Hey Man… Smell My Finger

Late 1989 work on the successor to The Cinderella Theory commenced. Prince would be more involved with the recording process this time. Many Prince songs were recorded for inclusion on the album, but its release just kept on being delayed. Clinton just kept on recording new songs, decreasing Prince’s input along the way.

After the son of Motown mogul Berry Gordy, Kerry, got involved with the album, both Martial Law and the fabulous Paint The White House Black (the sequel to Parliament‘s 1975 Chocolate City) were added to the album.

On Prince’s help and input Clinton later stated:

Once I left Capitol after ‘Atomic Dog’ and all that, I needed a label. I just called him and said, ‘I got a track I peed on and I’m gonna send to you; you pee on it and send it back!’ And that’s the way it went. I signed up to the label, and the first album was The Cinderella Theory. He didn’t work too much on that one, but for the second one, I told him, ‘Don’t be so nice.’ He was always trying to be respectful. I said, ‘No, put some of that shit on there.’ So he played a lot on my Hey Man… Smell My Finger album.

The second Paisley Park Records album by George Clinton, Hey Man… Smell My Finger was released on October 12, 1993. Prince co-wrote 1 song on the album and (probably) played on 3 songs, that’s as far as Prince’s involvement went.

Songs

• Martial Law (George Clinton, William Bryant III, Kerry Gordy)
• Paint The White House Black (Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield, George Clinton, William Bryant III, Kerry Gordy)
• Way Up (George Clinton, Foley)
• Dis Beat Disrupts (Tracey “Treylewd” Lewis)
• Get Satisfied (George Clinton, William “Clip” Payne, Tracey “Treylewd” Lewis)
• Hollywood (Tracey “Treylewd” Lewis, Dallas Austin)
• Rhythm And Rhyme (George Clinton, J. Pandy, D. Galma, P. Hope)
• The Big Pump (Prince, George Clinton)
• If True Love (George Clinton, Tracey “Treylewd” Lewis)
• High In My Hello (George Clinton, Steve Washington)
• Maximumisness (George Clinton, Bill Laswell, William “Bootsy” Collins)
• Kickback (George Clinton, Foley)
• The Flag Was Still There (George Clinton, Tracey “Treylewd” Lewis, Steven Boyd, Phelps “Catfish” Collins)
• Martial Law (Hey Man… Smell My Finger) – single version

Paint The White House Black contains by Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Yo-Yo, MC Breed, Kam en Shock-G. Both Paint The White House Black and Martial Law were released as singles.

George Clinton – Hey Man… Smell My Finger – Booklet back cover

Musicians

• Dallas Austin, Deborah Barsha, Daryl Boudreaux, Steven Boyd, Sheila Brody, Jessica Cleaves, George Clinton, William “Bootsy” Collins, Gary “Mudbone” Cooper, Papa Curly, Lige Curry, Chuck D, Sandra Dance, N’Dea Davenport, Ray Davis, Dr. Dre, Joseph “Amp” Anthony Fiddler, Flavor Flav, Foley, Rosalind “Mallia” Franklin, Theopolis “Chip” Glass, Adrian “Blue” Goms, Kerry Gordy, Tasha Griffin, Joseph Harris, Candace Harrisson, Paul Hill, Humpty Hump, Ice Cube, J.C.001, Robert “Peanut” Johnson, Louie Kabbabie, Kam, Anthony Kiedis, Deborah Killing, Deana Klug, Lay Back, Tracey “Treylewd” Lewis, Pat Louis, Roger Lynch, MC Breed, Carolyn McClure, William “Clip” Michael Payne, Pee Wee, Schmoovy-Schmoov, Garry Shider, The Steeles (Fred, JD, Jearlyn & Jevetta), Steven Sykes, Grady Thomas, Nicole Tindall, Andre Williams, Tony Wilson, Belita Woods, Angela Workman, Yo-Yo – vocals/rap
• Richard Arrigo, Jeff Bass, Mark Bass, Aaron Blackmon, Matt “Atlanta Bliss” Blistan, Steven “Marooga” Bookvitch, William Bryant III, Dennis Chambers, Phelps “Catfish” Collins, William “Bootsy” Collins, Gary “Mudbone” Cooper, Tom Daugherty, DJ D’Zire, Jospeph “Amp” Anthony Fiddler, Flea, Foley, Larry Fratengelo, Alan Friedman, Morris Hayes, Herbie Hancock, Kirk Johnson, Eric Leeds, Roger Lynch, Tracey “Treylewd” Lewis, Gordon “Rated G” McGuiness, DeWayne “Blackbird” McKnight, Gregory David Moore, Maceo Parker, Darren Perteet, Levi Seacer Jr., Garry Shider, David Spradley, Steven Sykes, Sonny T., Paca Thomas, Piano Man, Steve Washington, Fred Wesley, Bernie Worrell – instruments
• Prince (uncredited) – ? on Way Up, keyboards and vocals on Get Satisfied, all instruments on The Big Pump

George Clinton – The Big Pump – Promo CD single

Review

As an album Hey Man… Smell My Finger probably is more convincing than The Cinderella Theory. It’s the actual comeback of Clinton, and P-funk in particular. The two opening songs are among the best work Clinton ever recorded. Big production, über funky music and rhythms, both challenging and recognizable. Clinton in every sense. To be fair, the only song that sounds out of place is the George Clinton/Prince song The Big Pump. The song in itself is far from the best work Prince cooperated on and musically and flow-wise it doesn’t fit the album.

Overall: a great album, again.

Success

The Hey Man… Smell My Finger album sadly fell victim to the argument between Warner Bros. and Prince that was already peaking at the time. The Paisley Park Records label was officially closed in 1994. Following the disastrous release of Carmen Electra‘s debut album, Hey Man… Smell My Finger didn’t receive any promotion at all.

George Clinton – PCU

PCU

George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic played a part in the 1994 movie PCU. Clinton recorded two songs for its soundtrack. One of those was the Prince song Erotic City. The performance is fantastic. It’s great to see and hear just what the P-funk master does to the song, which was inspired by that very same P-funk. George Clinton released a PCU EP, which also included Erotic City.

1-800 New Funk

Prince quickly founded his very own NPG Records label. In 1994 the compilation 1-800 New Funk was released, which contained the song Hollywood off Clinton’s album Hey Man… Smell My Finger.

In 1995 Hey Man… Smell My Finger was re-released on the NPG Records label.

George Clinton – Paradigm (CD-r single, 2001)

Collapse of Paisley Park Records

Following Paisley Park Records‘ dissolution Prince and George Clinton went their separate ways, but they stayed in touch, right up to his untimely death in 2016.

On December 18, 1999, Prince played a show at Paisley Park, which hosted a lot of guests, like Larry Graham, Morris Day, Lenny Kravitz and George Clinton. Clinton played a medley of Parliament classics and the never before released Prince song Paradigm during the night’s second encore. The video recordings were released on June 5, 2000, on the home video Rave Un2 The Year 2000. The DVD version contained the Flash Light performance by George Clinton, Prince and band.

On April 10, 2002, Prince played an aftershow in New York as part of his One Nite Alone… Tour. George Clinton guested on stage to perform We Do This, which was released late 2002 on the boxset One Nite Alone… Live! on the 3rd cd titled One Nite Alone… The Aftershow: It Ain’t Over.

In 2005 George Clinton released his album How Late Do U Have 2BB4UR Absent?, which contained the Prince song Paradigm. Prince plays all instruments and Clinton provides vocals. According to Clinton the song was recorded during the Hey Man… Smell My Finger sessions. It’s a prime example of how the cooperation between the two should have been all along. A definite masterpiece.

Actually, Paradigm had been made available some 4 years earlier, when it was sold as a CD-r single for the first time on July 12, 2001, at Paradiso, Amsterdam. Prince was credited as on the paper cover.

Prince inducts Parliament Funkadelic to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 1997

On April 18, 1997, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Prince/ was asked to give the introduction speech, which he happily accepted. His then wife Mayte was at his side.

I’m here to testify about Parliament Funkadelic tonight. Funk is the force that tore the roof off the sucker that is modern music. The great George Clinton is the father of this funk mothership, the soulful supergroup that included legends like Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, Eddie Hazel, and all the other brilliant musicians and singers that have signed on for duty.

They built Parliament Funkadelic and changed the world. There was something futuristic about Parliament Funkadelic and that was only fitting since they played a huge role in creating the future of music. Yet for all the outer space and alien imagery, Parliament Funkadelic was an earthy and funky and timely and… I don’t know about that.

Let me just say something about George, since he’s a good friend of mine. One time he sent me a tape and says, um “You pee on it, then send it back to me. And I’ll pee on it, and then we’ll see what we’ve got.” So. This is what George is all about to me and mine.

I went to see him at the Beverly Theater and it was frightening. 14 people singing “Knee Deep” in unison. That night, I went to the studio and recorded “Erotic City.” Needless to say, he’s been an influence on me and everyone I know. That’s all we talk about. That’s all we groove on. Sitting down with him, he said to me “Everybody’s got a little light under the sun.” And that’s really where his music is. You gotta really get into it and dig it.

So, with great pleasure, I wanna say, George I love you and I need you, and I’m happy to be here to induct you into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Prince, April 18, 1997

George Clinton – Paisley Park – 04/20/2017

Prince’s passing

On April 21, 2016, Prince died unexpectedly. Five days later, on April 26, George Clinton published an essay through Billboard.

He came to a show we did, that would’ve been ’77, and he was looking like Bootsy, all Funkadelic, and Warners was telling him he was the new artist. The same [management] people who had Earth, Wind & Fire brought him to the show for us to check him out, and I just met him for a minute. But then a few years later, I was off of Capitol and I called and asked him what was up, and he said, “Come on!” It was that simple.

Y’know, Detroit, where we were at the time, is where he really got his foot on, ’cause we brought his stuff to [Detroit DJ the Electrifying] Mojo. That’s how he got so big on WGPR, with Mojo. We were already there, and we told Mojo, “You got to check this dude out.” Matter of fact, everybody on Prince’s team came pretty much from Detroit — the background singers, the roadies. Billy Sparks, the guy who owned First Ave in Purple Rain, he was selling flashlights for us at the time. When Prince first came out, we introduced him, and he and his crew — they were all working for Mojo back then — just went with [Prince].

When you come to the concept of a rock star, he is that. He’s the epitome of that. As an artist, I think it’s becoming more clear to everybody now just how much volume of work and stuff he’s done, all the stuff and how fast he was doing stuff and all the stuff that I know has never come out. Coming to grips with all that stuff he was doing and knowing how he worked and, wow, people are just now beginning to see what that was all about.

And he did it so good. When you look at his guitar playing, even on the stage with [Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood] and all them when they did the George Harrison song [during a 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tribute, below], when you see him on stage with those people and they’re giving him props like he’s supposed to be getting, you realize, “Damn, this motherfucker is all that,” even though to me he kept the songs that he made very commercial and pop. Some might even say bubblegum but not really bubblegum, ’cause he was too clever of a writer. But they were hits, so many hits, that it seemed like he was just churning out bubblegum. But they weren’t. Those are stories and those are pieces of work that are gonna be around.

He was quiet in the studio. He just did his thing and he gave it to me and I did mine. I pretty much work that way too. I can work with everybody, but when it came time for me to put my part on there, he was never there, and when it came time, I’d put my part on it and give it to him and he’d send it back to me. That’s what he was talking about when he inducted us into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — when he said, “You pee on it, send it back and I’ll pee on it.” That was our conversation: “We gonna do this…” He’d send me a tape. … And the very first tape he sent me was something called “Cookie Jar,” and we had had a song on the Parlet album called “Cookie Jar.” He sent it to me to do something on it, and before I got to the track, the engineer had put the song on backwards and erased half of it. I was so glad I wasn’t in the studio, ’cause I would’ve got blamed for it! But then after that I went out to Paisley [Park], and that’s when I started making The Cinderella Theory.

Then he took care of business in a way that I admired more than anything in the world, ’cause it took me late to get to that point to where I started paying attention like that. He did that from the moment he started. He took care of business so good, I was looking at him back then going, “Damn, I wish I could’ve done that.” I mean, he got rid of your ass if you weren’t doing it right.

I was about him the same way I’m about Kendrick Lamar now. You could see it coming. You could see he was Sly [Stone] for the new generation. This is so hard to process on my brain right now. That was just so left-field. I was not ready for anything like that. It’s just hard to speak of, man.

George Clinton, April 26, 2016

On April 20, 2017, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic performed at Paisley Park, kicking off a number of shows in remembrance of Prince.

George Clinton – Hollywood Walk Of Fame – 01/19/2024

George Clinton career after 1994

Following the departure from the Prince camp, George Clinton continued his career and released several good albums, like Mothership Connection Newberg Session (1995), T.A.P.O.A.F.O.M. (1996), 500,000 Kilowatts Of P-Funk Power (Live) (2004), How Late Do U Have 2BB4UR Absent? (2005), George Clinton And His Gangsters Of Love (2008) and P-Funk Live At Metropolis (2015).

At the time of his Paisley Park Records contract it turned out that the Parliament, Funkadelic and George Clinton music was a huge source of inspiration for many hip-hop artists. The back-catalogue appeared to be a goldmine for many productions. An entirely new generation gained interest. All albums, which hadn’t been available for quite some time, were re-released. Besides recognition and respect it also brought in a lot of money, also from the sampling process.

George Clinton worked with many artists, like Primal Scream, 2Pac, Outkast, Warren G, Redman, Snoop Dogg, Wu-Tang Clan, Big Boi, Headhunters, Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino and Flying Lotus.

Despite a 2018 announcement that George Clinton would stop performing, he still performs to this day. The P-funk circus still excites audiences all over the world.

On January 19, 2024, George Clinton received his very own star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

In closing

As is the case with much of the Paisley Park Records material for and by third parties, both George Clinton albums on that label are not available anywhere. Time for a re-release!

What’s your take on George Clinton and his work with Prince? Let me know!

Video/Spotify
This story contains an accompanying video. Click on the following link to see it: Video: Prince and George Clinton, ‘diss’ tracks and respect. The A Pop Life playlist on Spotify has been updated as well.

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