Nile Rodgers Covers Eons Of Pop & Funk In His Reddit AMA
Chic founder and sophistifunk pioneer Nile Rodgers took to Reddit for a candid Q&A covering almost 40 years of his industry work, some of his most questioned collaborations and a few tricks for the budding funk guitarist in all of us. In the segment dubbed Ask Me Anything, Nile divulged some juicy tid-bits about his hundred-times platinum recording career, spanning virtually every genre and solidifying him as a hit-making sage. Some of the best take-aways from the online discourse were the vast pool of collaborations that he both wrote and produced along with Chic co-founder and writing partner Bernard Edwards, elevating the funky tandem to Prince-level prolificacy.
Their shine was added to albums by everyone from Sister Sledge to Madonna to David Bowie to The Vaughan Brothers (and now Daft Punk),seemingly putting their stamp on every other massive hit of that glimmering decade. This was the line they crossed that the Purple One had trouble embracing; working with the big names, as opposed to those he could rope in as his own acts. They never minded looming in the shadows of big-wig performers as long as all the funk was present and accounted for. Even merciless record executives couldn't put a damper on the producer, as every track the songwriter graced with his weapon-of-choice Strat (aptly named "The Hitmaker") seemingly turned to gold. The resilient producer goes on to downplay his bout with cancer by claiming that the writing of his autobiography was actually his most difficult battle throughout his decades-long career . Take a few lessons from this irrepressible titan-o-funk Nile Rodgers by reading the thread in its entirety after the jump.