George Clinton Praises Kendrick Lamar, Likens His Superpowers To Prince & Sly Stone
From the very first notes of Kendrick Lamar's unanimously-adored sophomore record, it was clear that he and forefather of funk, George Clinton, had bridged the cosmic divide between funk's past and future. For Clinton, it's a relationship that's been as fulfilling and inspirational off-record as it has for us pedestrian listeners on-record.
And while the closing pages of Starchild's must-read memoir, Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard On You?, address the very moment Compton's hometown hero and Plainfield's doctor of all things intergalactic crossed beams for the very first time, a new interview with Pigeons & Planes finds Clinton expanding upon his impression of K Dot, likening his superhuman qualities to that of Prince and Sly Stone, praising him for his ability to place socially-sharp commentary on the charts. Elsewhere in the interview, Clinton mentions that a new Parliament Funkadelic record is in the works, but stopped short of confirming whether or not he and Kendrick would align once more (though there's certainly no telling for sure.)
Read through some of the more compelling clips from the sit-down with George Clinton below, hit the link for the full script and keep your eyes peeled for the planet-jumping "Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard On You" remix visual, which should be landing any day now with features from both Kendrick Lamar and Ice Cube. Three generations of funk under one groove.
>>>Read the full interview (via Pigeons & Planes)
The torch gets passed:
"He was on it already. I wasn’t surprised that the album came out sounding the way it did. I could tell from the song I did with him, the way he was talking and his interpretation of funk, that it was going to be something new. Kendrick told me respect was going to be paid to the funk."
Atlanta's the new Motown:
"What Motown had in the ‘60s, Atlanta has with hip-hop today, they have a mechanism for it and they do it very well. Each one of them sounds sillier and sillier but it works!"
Keeping his thumb on K Dot:
"We hung out during the video for “Ain’t That Funkin’…” and we’ve been in touch getting ready to release it, but he’s number one right now! It’s hard as hell to be in that position with so much attention, but he’s got a good team around him. It’s hard to deal with and still try to be creative at the same time, but he has that in check. The only other person I’ve seen do it like that before is Prince! It’s a crazy amount of pressure, but for me, I learned the value of playing crazy—people think you’re crazy, they don’t bother you as much. Kendrick’s got a mission set out for him, I don’t know if he fully realizes it yet but it’s there."
