So High You Can’t Get Over It

I wish I could say that I grew up listening to hip-hop, but I didn’t. Back in San Francisco, I went to a small school where you had to listen to Pink Floyd and the Grateful Dead to fit in (don’t hate!). But when the spacey, meandering jam sessions and 11 minute guitar solos got, well, boring, it wasn’t long before my friends and I ventured into the universe of George Clinton. I can almost imagine myself hearing Atomic Dog for the first time in middle school and going, So THAT’s what a beat sounds like!

Fast forward a few years, during which I’m sleeping on every great hip-hop artist to come up in the Bay, and a Deadhead friend introduces me to George Clinton’s Greatest Funkin’ Hits. I remember very clearly listening to Flashlight and wondering who the hell that dude was with the crazy smoove and yet nasal voice. Did he have a cold or was that, like, his thing? Either way, I shamelessly began asking people my age if they knew who A Tribe Called Quest was and if they were any good. Hooked.

George Clinton was undoubtedly my bridge to hip-hop. I used to get so geeked every time I’d hear a sample, whether it was on The Chronic or Del’s more brazenly titled I Wish My Brother George Was Here (produced by none other than his cousin, Ice Cube). Might I even propose that the G in G-Funk doesn’t stand for Gangsta? Wow, I kill me. With that, I present to you a couple of George’s collaborations with four rap giants of the day.

George Clinton – Flashlight (feat. Q-Tip, Busta Rhymes, and ODB)
from George Clinton – Greatest Funkin’ Hits on Capitol (1996)

George Clinton – Bop Gun (One Nation) (feat. Ice Cube)
from George Clinton – Greatest Funkin’ Hits on Capitol (1996)