Mascot Records has announced the new album and first in six years from funk rock legend Bootsy Collins! World Wide Funk will be released on October 27 and features an array of phenomenal talent including; Chuck D, Buckethead, Eric Gales, Doug E. Fresh, Big Daddy Kane, Musiq Soulchild, Bernie Worrell, Kali Uchis and many more.
The funk runs deep and rich on World Wide Funk, Bootsy Collins’ first studio album since 2011’s Tha Funk Capital of the World. Populated with musical friends old and new, and recorded in his Cincinnati home’s Bootzilla Re-hab studio, World Wide Funk marks both a reckoning and significant reboot for the Rhinestone Rock Star. Blue-chip rappers like Chuck D, Doug E. Fresh, Big Daddy Kane, DJ Quik and Dru Down, along with guitar shredder Buckethead, join a curated posse of fresh new artists on a record that embraces everything from the classic P-Funk sound that Bootsy pioneered.
Bootsy explains: “I wanted to create a mystical monster that was born between a ‘Pee-hole & a Asshole,’ which automatically smelled fishy and funked up!’ At the same time, it could fit into a radio station format with a little wiggle room. But then ‘Boot-Rapp-A-Fella’ showed up and said that it would be ludicrous to do this. The ‘One’ kindly gave me the Funk Finger and showed me this World Wide Funkateer Drive going on out here, and he said ‘all you have to do is un-dress it.’ So I waved my hands in the air and gave up the funk like I just didn’t care. Then out of the clear blue, my man Brother-Nature showed up to announce that This is the Year of the Funkateer! The Funkateers began chanting, ‘Come back Bootsy, Come back, Come back, Bootsy Come Back.’ Not only do I have bootz on the ground, we got troops getting down, drones in the air and these young disciples were hungry and not a one of them was scared. The vets of Hip-hop, a la cream of the crop, shouted out to retain their gold, made me feel real good once again to know that they still got soul.” Or as his longtime partner in funk George Clinton once put it: ‘Free your mind and your ass will follow!’
From the maximalist funk of the body-slamming title track, to the soulful pop-R&B of “Heaven Yes,” to the experimental Groovegrass of Boomerang (featuring Nashville slide-guitar hero Justin Johnson), to when “mix master Chew Fu showed up and showed out with his DJ skills on Candy Coated Lover”, World Wide Funk is the latest chapter in Bootsy’s life-long dedication to the One World Wide Funk is the latest chapter in Bootsy’s life-long dedication to the One. The ineffable thing that made the funk emerged from the primordial ooze during teenaged William “Bootsy” Collins’ watershed year (1970-71) with James Brown. Bootsy subsequently took the One to George Clinton’s P-Funk crew – in what Brown biographer RJ Smith has called “one of history’s biggest cases of industrial espionage” – where he adapted Brown’s precision and rigour to ringleader Clinton’s ecstatic, chaotic, and prolific musical playpen.
The Collins mythology created in this trippy trio of late-’70s R&B hits undergoes further development on World Wide Funk in tracks like Bass-Rigged System (with guest appearances by fellow bass legends Victor Wooten, Stanley Clarke and Manou Gallo), Pusherman (wherein the Blvck Seeds collective offers a feminist take on the theory of evolution), and Come Back Bootsy, an epic funk extravaganza anchored once again by Bootsy’s star-shaped Space Bass.
Along with X-Zact and Blvck Seeds, who supply gorgeous harmonies throughout World Wide Funk, other fresh faces on this casually collaborative effort include bassist-co-producer Alissia Benveniste and singer Tyshawn Colquitt. Bootsy discovered Benveniste (a Berklee School of Music graduate who leads a 15-piece band called the Funketeers) online. Kali Uchis is another fresh singer on tap that will “quench your thirst for the funk.” Cincinnati singer Tyshawn Colquitt sings his heart out on the soulful Snow Bunny.
Other World Wide Funk guests include rappers Dru Down, DJ-Quik and MC Eiht, along with singers Musiq Soulchild and October London. London adds feminine appeal alongside a shoe-infatuated Bootsy on Hi-On-Heels, a slow-groove collaboration with Snoop Dogg. On the sexually gastronomic Hot Saucer, Musiq Soulchild announces his intention to “put it on your body like cheese on grits,” with Big Daddy Kane adding, “I ain’t dinin’ you, I’m brinin’ you!”
Funk wasn’t always all about the bass, but Bootsy helped make it so. He’s noted for rocking his custom-made star-shaped Space Bass like a lead guitar, both in the funk zone and alongside experimental producers like Bill Laswell. There’s no lack of fiery instrumental magic on World Wide Funk either, not with shredding virtuosos like Eric Gales, the mysterious Buckethead and Joe Mass onboard. “You can also hear Jabo and the late Clyde Stubblefield on the album as vocal guests,” Bootsy explains, “and former Prince drummer John Blackwell, along with Dennis Chambers, who left road kill up and down our mile long driveway.”
World Wide Funk also entails a call to activism – literally “Bootz on the ground, baby!” as the title track puts it. “The whole concept,” Collins explains, “was not only about playing music or being current on this album, but about teaching people how to funk for themselves so they can bring some funk to get some. We bring them hope like dope, so not one Funkateer chokes. Unity in the community is a part of this plan and when the Mothership lands there’s nothing but helping hands. WWF-Drive is about propelling ourselves and generations to come into the future with the speed of light as in Flashlight.”
A longtime activist himself, Collins has long given back to his community through the Bootsy Collins Foundation (bootsycollinsfoundation.org). The 501(c)(3) non-profit is overseen by Patti Collins, Bootsy’swife, and it focuses on raising the self-esteem of bullied girls, preventive dental care for underserved communities, and providing musical instruments to disadvantaged kids.
Bootsy’s music and life are all about creating unity in the community, “but not necessarily the same old community.” He has never stopped generating new energy among new musical associates, and World Wide Funk is the latest example of his Promethean powers. It blends classic Bootsy, Analog (“aka the veteran artist”), and Slingshots (“aka the youngins”) into the silly serious world of Bootsy, with results that will extend far beyond the confines of our galaxy.
“I’ve never really been concerned about what others thought about me or my music, as long as it made you feel good & sexy, like them old house parties, sharing a coke and a smile while doing a bump and grind,” Bootsy concludes. “I’ve had the privilege to travel back in time to imagine; what it was like, ‘When a Stage Coach was First Class!’ Bottom line is, ‘MAKE MY P-WHOLE AGAIN!’”
Track Listing:
World Wide Funk (feat. Doug E. Fresh, Buckethead & Alissia Benveniste)
Bass-Rigged-System (feat. Victor Wooten, Stanley Clarke, Manou Gallo, Alissia Benveniste & World-Wide-Funkdrive)
Pusherman (feat. Dru Down, BlvckSeeds , Mr Talkbox)
Thera-P (feat. Tyshawn Colquitt & Alissia Benveniste)
Hot Saucer (feat. Musiq Soulchild & Big Daddy Kane)
Heaven Yes
Ladies Nite (feat. MC Eiht & BlvckSeeds)
Candy Coated Lover (feat. X-Zact, Kali Uchis & World-Wide-Funkdrive)
Snow Bunny (feat. Tyshawn Colquitt, Snowbunny & World-Wide-Funkdrive)
Hi-On-Heels (feat. October London)
A Salute To Bernie (feat. Dr G. Bernie Worrell)
Boomerang (feat. Justin Johnson)
Worth My While (feat. Kali Uchis)
Come Back Bootsy (feat. Eric Gales, Dennis Chambers & World-Wide-Funkdrive)
Illusions (feat. Chuck D, Buckethead & BlvckSeeds)
