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Bootsy Collins Talks the Records That Moved Him

Bootsy Collins’ discusses his favorite bass players, the regenerative power of funk & his new LP, ‘Album of the Year #1 Funkateer.’

By Ana Yglesias

Bootsy Collins on the music that Inspires him, featuring Stanley Clarke and Thundercat

To have a lasting impact in music — a drum beat that becomes the backbone of hip-hop, a song covered endlessly, or to embrace technology in an innovative way — is what creative dreams are made of. Most artists pull from a rich tapestry of inspiration, some deeply obscure and niche, making the likelihood of someone’s music influencing at least one other artist relatively likely. Yet to have an impact as deep and wide as Bootsy Collins is infinitely rare.

Album Of The Year #1 Funkateer

Bootsy Collins

2025

Funk / Soul

2 x Vinyl, LP, Album

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“Bootzilla” has put his touch on far too many records to count. Famously, he worked extensively with Tyler, The Creator, to name just a few.

Without Bootsy, West Coast G-funk wouldn’t ride so low or groove so deep, either. His enthusiasm to collaborate with younger artists across genres, from R&B, reggae, and beyond extends his impact and highlights his heady approach to music, which he sees as a source of joy and connection that can change the world.

Discogs recently sat down with Bootsy Baby himself to hear about the bass players and records that have most inspired him over his extraordinary musical career, as well as the fruitful collaborations on his new album, a winding romp of funk, hip-hop, rock and beyond, with Bootsy’s musings on everything from AI to fishnet tights.

Clocking in at 18 tracks and an hour and 18 minutes, his twenty third solo album is a trippy space exploration through the funk legend’s mind, filled with a smorgasbord of young and OG collaborators on every track, including Snoop Dogg.

Discogs: You brought in so many OGs as well as younger artists on Album of the Year #1 Funketeer. Could you talk about a few of the newer artists, who a lot of the listeners are probably being introduced to on the album?

Collins: Myra [Washington]…I was trying to get talent that would push the envelope, but at the same time, be ive of what this song is supposed to be or sound or feel like, and she fit right in.

And the musicians were just another blessing. Daru Jones came in and simulated what Clyde did, and we recorded it over in King Records [where James Brown got his start in Cincinnati], which is closed, and we’re rebuilding it now.

I Was Made To Love Her

Stevie Wonder

1967

Funk / Soul, Soul

Vinyl, Album

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It sounds like it was a whole party of people coming together.

Yeah. In a time like this, it felt like it was right on time to have this collage of people going at the music with the same intensity and knowing that this music just feels so good and that it makes people feel good.

Dave Stewart — one of the OGs of writing — came through and did “Satellite,” “Alien Flytrap” and “Influencers.” He put a demo down, and we took it to the studio and went in there and killed it. That got us back together because we hadn’t done nothing in a while, since his [solo] album in 1991. And we got Snoop Dogg, he’s all up in the house, Tha Dogg Pound, Ice Cube. We just got together and did this thing piece by piece.

How did working with Dave Stewart on the album shift your sound and your approach to songwriting?

His songwriting breaks it down to a more normal format that people are used to. Bootsy does this crazy stuff, a lot of times it doesn’t even have a format. I wanted to try to do something I’ve not done, to have a normal approach to at least one or two songs. [Laughs.] He was great for that. He didn’t ask me to do that, he just ed in and did what I felt I needed on this record. And that was a little normalcy, with the kind of words that a broad-base audience would understand. That’s what I was shooting for on this album. Not only do you get the funk, you get everything in-between and on top, non-stop. We’re working on other things right now too.

And what did you learn from working with the younger generation of artists on this album?

That I can always depend on the universe bringing me the right people. Everybody that was chosen came and did what they do, and they did it very good. You can’t really ask for more than that. They don’t have the numbers that big artists have, [but] I’m not looking for numbers, I’m looking for talent. A lot of great talent doesn’t get exposed to people because they don’t have the numbers.

I love that. You’re platforming them, you’re giving them the chance to be seen.

They deserve it. If you got the talent, all you need is an opportunity. Just like I was given the opportunity when I got with James Brown and when I got with George Clinton. You have to do your thang. It ain’t like you can just walk in and voilà, you have to walk in and give up the funk.

Your bass playing has been core to so many records and new genres, like G-funk; you’ve influenced so many artists’ sound and creativity for decades now. How does it make you feel to be a part of so many records and so much artistry?

I’m just glad to still be in the picture. I guess I don’t have sense enough to really engulf into all of what it means, because I’m still here and I’m still learning, and as long as I can continue to learn, everything else is a gift. We were given these gifts, so we have to give them away. I can’t even look at it like I’ve done this, these different decades of music, I’m just glad to be a part of something big. That feeling of being a part of it is just great for me. I don’t need to get no deeper than that because I know they’re standing on people’s backs, but I was standing on other people’s backs as well.

Every generation goes through that, but I’ll never forget where I come from. Funk is making something out of nothing, and that’s what I’ve always been. I made something out of not having anything, and as musicians, that’s what we usually do. When we ed it on to G-funk, they took the turntables and sampled this and sampled that. New Yorkers did the same thing. That was funk making something out of nothing, it was the next level of funk. I think each generation does that.

School Days

Stanley Clarke

1982

Jazz, Jazz-Funk

Vinyl, Album, Reissue

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Do you have a number one favorite record that you think has the perfect sounding bass, or one that really just always gives you life?

Stanley Clarke, I like the sonics. I love the way he plays, playing the electric and the upright. That’s so cool.

My very first number one on my chart would be Motown records. He was playing upright bass when he first started playing, and they were selling lots of records. When the time came for him to make a decision between the upright and the electric bass, he chose the electric. Motown didn’t like that because they were selling records with him playing upright.

They couldn’t understand why he wanted to change to the electric. The next thing you know, they started selling more records. The point is, when it’s time to change, we must recognize that and go with it. He had melodies in his bass lines, and they were hard to figure out, because we didn’t have the internet and people teaching us those things. He’s my number one for sure. While I’m there at Motown, I’ll [add] Carol Kaye because she played on some of the Motown stuff as well.

Back in my day, bass was not a great out-front instrument. It was bottom of the totem pole. The girls wanted to see the electric guitar player, or who’s the nice piano player? I had to figure out what the heck am I going to be sounding like.

Can you pick a favorite or two from the Motown Records that James Jamerson played on?

[Otis [Redding]. Those songs really stood out in clubs that we played in. As soon as you started playing those basslines, the people knew what the song was.

Louis Johnson.

Then you had Paul McCartney, they were the gods of the bass back in the day. Paul McCartney played melodies with his basslines as well and people just loved it, they knew that sound. That’s what I always wanted to do, not only be a good player, I wanted to have a sound, you know.

I believe the baddest bass playing mother that’s out there today is Victor Wooten. He can play anything. We just did a record with him this week, When I Want To Get Funky, so you’ll be hearing that pretty soon.

The Jam

Graham Central Station

1976

Funk / Soul, Funk

Vinyl, 7″, Single

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Do you have any favorite tracks from Carol Kaye on Motown?

She wasn’t just Motown. She did the Good Vibrations.” She did a lot of commercials and TV shows too. She did so many songs, there’s too many to list.

Do you have a favorite classic funk track where the bass really stands out for you? This is probably hard to choose, so you don’t have to pick just one.

Probably “Graham Central Station]. It was the sound of it and the way he played. He plays so aggressively. A lot of people try to play that way, but it’s something about how hard he pulls the strings and slaps and pulls the bass. I don’t think people match that now. They can play a lot more notes, but the intensity is different.

It was the style that he introduced, the thumb plucking. That whole style changed the way bass was played. Before that, it was the two-finger style, [which is what] I grew up with. Until Larry came on the scene [with Sly & The Family Stone in 1967], I don’t think nobody knew about the plucking, funkin’ an’ plucking. When he introduced it, everybody started picking up on it. Even James Jamerson started to question himself because everybody started to pluck the strings.

Again, it’s these little moments that have a never-ending impact.

I don’t see that stopping or slowing down. You got these other bass players, like Flea, there’s so many great bass players. We had some bass players when I was coming up, but nothing like now. Seems like everybody wants to be a bass player now.

Is there a modern funk track that you can add to the list, one made in the last five or 10 years where the bass really grabs you and sounds super fresh?

Them Changes” was one of the great ones Thundercat did.