{"id":938170,"date":"2026-10-23T14:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T14:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/938170\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T14:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T14:34:10","slug":"jay-worthy-george-clinton-talk-generation-p-bringing-funk-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/938170\/","title":{"rendered":"Jay Worthy & George Clinton Talk ‘Generation P’ & Bringing Funk Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tJay Worthy<\/a> wants to bring the funk back to rap.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo naturally, the Compton MC (by way of Vancouver) took advantage of a chance DM from George Clinton<\/a>\u2018s grandson, Zavier Croft. What resulted from the exchange is a 12-song collab album between LNDN DRGS and Clinton that features<\/a> P Worthy rapping over some of Parliament-Funkadelic<\/a>\u2018s greatest hits, like \u201c(Not Just) Knee Deep\u201d and \u201cAtomic Dog\u201d with the help of producer Sean House as the funk legend himself provides some much needed narration. <\/p>\n

\n\tThis all got put in motion because Croft was playing a Jay Worthy & Larry June project while on the road with his grandfather. \u201cWe were on tour a couple years ago, and I was playing 2 P\u2019z in the Pod, and I believe I was playing \u2018Maybe the Next Time,’\u201d Zavier says over Zoom. \u201cAnd George was like, \u2018Yo, yo, who is that? Let\u2019s see what they\u2019re up to.\u2019 So then I reached out to Jay Worthy, and as soon as I DM\u2019d him and told him who I was, he asked for my phone number and FaceTimed me. After that it was just a snowball effect of working together and building this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tExplore\t\t<\/p>\n

See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n

\n\tWorthy and House were then presented with a batch of songs that were cleared for use and started crafting what would become Generation P. Once they had something to present, LNDN DRGS headed out to play what he had for George out in Tallahassee, Florida. \u201cI hit up management for songs that George and Parliament own so we can sample them without legal issues or getting in trouble, so that George and the band can benefit from,\u201d Croft tells me. \u201cThere were a couple of albums I already knew that we could use, like Uncle Jam Wants You and One Nation Under a Groove. I sent it to Jay and we talked through it. That\u2019s how it all worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI linked up with Sean, and then we made that trip down to Tallahassee, and G was f\u2014king with it,\u201d Worthy adds. \u201cHe P\u2019d on it and I P\u2019d on it, and then we took it back to L.A. and I started getting them features on it, and then I went back to Tallahassee and played it for them after it was all done. It\u2019s been about like three years, man. For real.\u201d Once they were ready to go, they leaned into the nostalgia and released a 16-bit video game entitled P of the Week<\/a> \u2014 a mix of Super Mario Bros. and Streets of Rage \u2014\u00a0during the rollout.<\/p>\n

\n\tLike Worthy\u2019s Once Upon A Time double disc from last year, Generation P bridges the gap of California\u2019s deep rap lineage with features from Snoop Dogg<\/a>, Larry June<\/a>, 03 Greedo<\/a>, Kokane, Ty Dolla $ign<\/a>, Channel Tres<\/a>, Terrace Martin<\/a>, YG,<\/a> The Game<\/a>, Ab-Soul<\/a>, Aceyalone and Del the Funky Homosapien.<\/a> During our talk, George raved about Jay\u2019s work ethic, because it reminded him of himself. \u201cY\u2019all remind me of remind me of those old-school days of hustlin\u2019,\u201d he said on several occasions with a big smile on his face and a blunt in his hand. The 85-year-old legend is still clearly having fun making music.<\/p>\n

\n\tCheck out Billboard\u2018s conversation with the newfound collaborators below.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis is a a random question, but do you rep Jersey or do you rep Cali? Because I\u2019m from Jersey too, and was always curious. I grew up in Paterson.<\/p>\n

\n\tGeorge Clinton: Yeah, I rep the planet, man. But I used to hang around for Passaic and Englewood and Hackensack, you know? I grew up in Newark, and worked in Plainfield most of my life. But musically, the the tracks of the funk leads you to L.A. and Detroit.<\/p>\n

\n\tYour sound is so synonymous with L.A., thanks to guys like DJ Quik and Warren G and Dr. Dre and them.<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: You know, the high-frequency synthesizer sound of P-Funk in the records we made was big in L.A. The Funkadelic stuff was really big in New York City \u2014 Bronx, Brooklyn \u2014 all of that. So, you got the different styles of P-Funk in different places, and those two were the main ones.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen it comes to clearing samples for rappers, you have a reputation for being easy to work with compared to other older acts of your stature. Sometimes, they give rappers a hard time when they want to sample stuff. What is it about hip-hop that you love so much?<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: The way I look at it is, if it\u2019s gonna be, it\u2019s gonna be. That was the next era that was gonna be. That was the reality of it, so I wasn\u2019t gonna fight against what was gonna be the reality of the next set of music that was coming along. I always try to go with the flow \u2014 but there\u2019s something to not letting it, because it\u2019s hard to get paid for doing it. A lot of people are afraid of not getting paid, or didn\u2019t know how they was going to get paid. I\u2019d rather take the chance, and go on the side of this new thing, and we\u2019ll figure that out later. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe record business has always been a hustle right from the beginning, that\u2019s just now trying to clean itself up and get legal and all that. I\u2019m glad I\u2019m still around, because I still got a chance to get paid.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSo, Jay, how did you feel about getting that DM and how did you guys end up doing an entire project together?<\/p>\n

\n\tJay Worthy: I was shocked, you know what I\u2019m saying? Because George is one of my biggest influences. So, once I tapped in and it was real, we all got on the line. And actually, Zavier invited me out to the Spinning Gold movie premiere.<\/p>\n

\n\tZavier Croft: It was crazy, because we ended up being in a room \u2014 and it was me, Jay, Wiz, and Bishop Don Juan. We have so many stories but that was the first time being together.<\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W.: Then we went to George\u2019s show, and Quik was there, which led to me working with Quik and executive producing his album \u2014\u00a0because he\u2019s like, \u201cS\u2014t, if George is f\u2014kin\u2019 with you, I\u2019m I\u2019m not stopping the floodgates.\u201d So, I\u2019m very thankful for George trusting me and Sean with the sound and with his catalog and letting us do what we do. We went to work right away.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo, Jay, once you had songs to choose from, how did you and Sean approach making them? Were there any live instruments involved, or did you guys go for straight loops?<\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W.: Me and Sean like keeping the s\u2014t pure, you know what I\u2019m saying? That\u2019s always been our sound. You know the motto: Don\u2019t fix it if it ain\u2019t broken. Them s\u2014ts was already hits, and already slapping. We kept it raw. We didn\u2019t add anything to any of those records.<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: And they didn\u2019t really have to sample, because we had access to the whole 24-track, so we could use any part of the whole thing. These were tracks from the original sessions, you didn\u2019t have to loop anything \u2014\u00a0because half of the stuff was looped already. \u201cKnee Deep\u201d is 20 minutes long. We looped it ourselves when we did it.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo, you rap over certain parts of the songs.<\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W.: Exactly.<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: Right. They came in on sections of the songs, but the songs are actually as they originally sound.<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, they sound that. It reminded me of when Ghostface raps over an R&B track with the vocals and all that.<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: That\u2019s how Dre did it on The Chronic.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut then you also got Terrace Martin on there. Talk about adding someone like him to the mix \u2014 someone who plays live instruments.<\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W.: That\u2019s my boy \u2014 but also I just feel like Terrace is the face of jazz when it comes down to the youth right now. Also [with] the works he\u2019s done with Kendrick, SZA and TDE. I was able to play this record to Kendrick before it came out, and I was able to get Terrace\u2019s ear on this, and he loved it and wanted to be a part of it. And I was honored to have Terrace a part of it. I think he added something great to it. He put that jazz on it, and that\u2019s what was cool to me. <\/p>\n

\n\tSo actually, when you asked, did we add any instruments to the album? We did with Terrace on the saxophone\u2026 and then Channel Tres played a little bit of keys on the intro to \u201cOh I.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tYou got Ty Dolla featured on here too. Did he play anything?<\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W.: Ty could play everything, but he didn\u2019t on this. Me and G went and shot the video up at Ty\u2019s, and I surprised G with Quik. Remember that, G? He was like, \u201cWhat you doing here, man?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: Quik is old-school with us from way back in the day. He was down with Garry [Shider, P-Funk musical director] and Bernie [Worrell, P-Funk co-founder] and myself way back in the day. It was good to see those guys.<\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W.: One of the sessions that you\u2019ll see when we put out the documentary to the making of the album is this cat named Wyzard \u2014\u00a0George once said in this book that Wyzard was his favorite bass guitarist, from a funk band called Mother\u2019s Finest, who happened to be my friend Leven Kali\u2019s pops. I brought him through, and he played bass on the record with Del the Funky Homosapien and Aceyalone, but we never ended up using his parts.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of stro for Newhighfilmz<\/p>\n

\n\tIn another interview, you said that you\u2019ve been waiting for someone to use your music in the way Jay did for this project. Can you explain what you meant by that a bit more?<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: Well, I was glad that somebody picked up the torch from what Cube and them used to do, and everybody from the Compton area around L.A. That attitude, you know? With the bouncing cars, that whole crew of folk, that vibe was synonymous with P-Funk. So, I was glad when Jay and them picked back up on that, because we never finished that. When we did it, people didn\u2019t have enough. When N.W.A and Dre and all them did it, they still don\u2019t have enough, you know what I\u2019m saying? There\u2019s still room for that to take place, and he came in and did just what the kids needed in 2026.<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, I guess that G-Funk sound on the West Coast faded away over time a bit.<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: Yeah, it goes in and out, but the people wasn\u2019t finished with it. The industry was finished with it, because they wanted something new. But folks be saying, \u201cNo, give me some more of that.\u201d That\u2019s why we\u2019ve been able to hang around when we ain\u2019t supposed to be here \u2014 and as a matter of fact, watch what happens this year. It\u2019s getting ready to get deep around here. We know how to travel that road of renewing yourself. And now I\u2019m seeing that the funk is doing that now, and that\u2019s what [Jay\u2019s] done. He\u2019s picked up on the ability of funk to reinvent itself and be brand new, and that\u2019s what they\u2019re doing for the new generation.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo, you\u2019re saying you and Jay gonna hit the road together and maybe do some live shows?<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: We got a mothership that ain\u2019t doing nothin\u2019.<\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W.: [Laughs.] You feel me? I would be honored, man. Whenever the big homie got time for me, I\u2019m pulling up. I\u2019m showing up. Put it that way. And to just add to that, I felt like it was my duty. I don\u2019t know if I said this before, but P-Funk Records was always in my house. When my pops would hear me listening to Ice Cube\u2019s \u201cBop Gun,\u201d he would pull out his vinyl and be like, \u201cI\u2019d be playing this when you was a baby.\u201d He would make me go in the the credits of Doggystyle and and The Chronic when I\u2019d have those CDs. So, I just felt like it was my duty. I was introduced to the funk from the Dres, the Snoops, the Cubes, and now it\u2019s my it\u2019s my chance to introduce it to the younger generation.<\/p>\n

\n\tSince you came in the game I feel like your music always had a laid back style, especially with Sean and LNDN DRGS. Real player s\u2014t. Your sound always had some funk to it.<\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W.: You gotta understand. The homies would come through in lowriders and they hogs \u2014 and my big homies wasn\u2019t listening to rap like that, especially in the \u201980s. Motherf\u2014kers was listening to funk. More homies in the hood was listening to more P-Funk than they were rap. Of course you had N.W.A and stuff like that, but when you look back at Menace II Society when they walk into that house party, what are they playing? They\u2019re playing \u201cAtomic Dog.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd who influenced your style, George? Because what you\u2019ve done in your career has been so influential and unique, I\u2019ve always wondered how\u2019d you come with your sound. Can you even explain it?<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: I\u2019m gonna put it like this. I\u2019m kind of like what you call AI. I remember every style. Being in New York, working in New York as a songwriter, you learn all the styles of everybody, past and present. So, I looked at music from that point of view. After doo-wop changed to Motown, Motown to me was everything that was to be in music. And once I realized that was getting ready to change, it wasn\u2019t going to stay there, I realized that psychedelic and rock was getting ready to be the next phase. Then, I realized none of it is stationary, that you can\u2019t be married to any of it. Once I realized that, I was open to learning about everybody\u2019s music. I didn\u2019t have to be married to nothing when it looked like it was going to change. I changed before it changed.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe new s\u2014t is gonna get on your nerves, because you\u2019re old \u2014 and once it starts getting on your nerves, that\u2019s the signal to start paying attention to what it is. I got in the habit of doing that really early, so by the time hip-hop came along, it reminded me of the same music that we got on our parents\u2019 nerve with. I knew right away, because it sounds like something I don\u2019t know nothing about, but it\u2019s gonna be the next new thing\u2026 It graduates to getting better and better and more artsy, so I\u2019m satisfied with whatever comes along. If it sounds silly, electronic or whatever, I\u2019m down with it. I\u2019m ready to go along with wherever we\u2019re evolving to, and that helps me stay appreciative of whatever happens.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat is it about hip-hop that you appreciate so much?<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: Once it gets good, it gets artsy-fartsy. I mean, Rakim was artsy-fartsy right from the beginning, and I had the opportunity to actually watch Eminem when he was really young, just playing the dozens with Proof and all of them. I had the chance to watch them, and he was good like he is today. He\u2019s done got better and better. The thing was to be able to do it artsy-fartsy, slick, lyrical, and whatever the [new] generation calls it. Sometimes it called for protesting, sometimes it calls for just dancing. There\u2019s all kinds of rap and hip-hop. I appreciate all of it.<\/p>\n

\n\tYour thing is just keeping an open mind about everything, right?<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: Yeah, keep an open mind, open behind too. You got to be able to dance and shake your booty. [Laughs.]<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tYou got some interesting features on here. I like how you bridged the gap between guys like Kokane and 03 Greedo who each have unique voices in their own right.<\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W: G knows when he hears Kokane and me, he can hear himself. I wanted everybody that I reached out to had some lineage to this P-Funk thing.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou got Del and Aceyalone on a track too. That\u2019s old-school and underground Cali rap right there.<\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W.: Yeah, because I\u2019m a part of that too. G, actually, I wanted to ask you this. When Del did that I Wish My Brother George Was Here album with Cube, were you able to sit with him in the studio for some of that?<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: No, I met him after he did that. He\u2019s the one that introduced me to Cube.<\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W.: Oh s\u2014t!<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: He was the one that turned Cube on to P-Funk.<\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W.: Wow.<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: Yeah, Del did a couple of records with us too. He was down for real. I liked the stuff he does with the Gorillaz.<\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W.: Yeah, he\u2019s on tour with them right now.<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: I remember when he first came out. He\u2019s slept on but he\u2019s really bad. He did something on First You Gotta Shake the Gate with us.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo, Jay, you basically A&R\u2019d this project, yeah?<\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W.: Of course, I\u2019ve A&R\u2019d all my albums. I\u2019ve come with the art direction and the concept. That\u2019s kind of my thing.<\/p>\n

\n\tTalk about the legwork it took for you to get these features together.<\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W.: It was real organic because I got relationships with a lot of people, and especially when you\u2019re doing an album with George Clinton. You don\u2019t gotta pull teeth, you know what I\u2019m saying? Everybody was honored and happy to be a part of this, So it was cool, man. <\/p>\n

\n\tI just pulled up, really, though. I got to do that with mostly everybody in person. I just pulled up to Ty\u2019s studio, pulled up to YG\u2019s studio game, even The Game. Matter of fact, Game gave me that verse so fast. I sent him the record, and he\u2019s like, \u201cCome to the studio\u201d \u2014 and as I was driving up to the studio, he had it done already. Terrace did that s\u2014t when he was in New York, because he was doing a Blue Note residency, and Channel Tres did his part at his studio in L.A. I don\u2019t think I was there for that, but everything else I was there for.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen you was with George down in Tallahassee in the studio, what were you guys doing?<\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W.: Well, \u2018m gonna be honest. I didn\u2019t know what G was gonna think. Because, you know, when you take in somebody\u2019s music that\u2019s already theirs, and we weren\u2019t changing too much of it. I was just happy that he liked what we did, and that we saw eye to eye, and he trusted me with the vision.<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: When you got Compton and my nephew, there was nothing to think about. They came there together, so I knew it was righteous. It was something to do. They was working with \u201cOne Nation,\u201d \u201cKnee Deep.\u201d Ain\u2019t too much that can go wrong.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou narrated a couple tracks.<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: They had me going over stuff and I\u2019m showing off and s\u2014t. I didn\u2019t even know they was recording half of the time. <\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W.: That s\u2014t was so cool. Like, imagine, man. These are G\u2019s hit records, and I get to redo them with him. Come on, man. I don\u2019t think anybody in music has been able to get the chance to get work with a legend on their catalog. When does that happen? I\u2019m thinking it might be the first time in history that somebody was given a catalog and then got to go and do it with the originator. So, for me, it was amazing. It was a beautiful experience. We made great music and we had fun doing it, man. That time out in Tallahassee was just a good time, man. And I got to surprise G with Wyzard, and they got to catch up.<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: Wyzard was my superhero from back in the \u201970s. Mother\u2019s Finest was all that. So, when he came in with him, he had credentials up the asshole. [Laughs.]<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tYou got to jam out with Wyzard a little bit too?<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: Oh, yeah. And he and I just did something a few years ago on Gangsters of Love with RZA and Red Hot Chili Peppers. He\u2019s on \u201cAin\u2019t That Peculiar,\u201d Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson\u2019s old song, Sly Stone is on that song too.<\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W.: The best hip-hop to me has always been the records that use those samples. I was a huge fan of Compton\u2019s Most Wanted. If you really go back and listen to them, they might have been the first to just take a sample and not add anything to it, just straight loop.<\/p>\n

\n\tZ.C.: Yeah, that Isaac Hayes joint<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W.: Exactly. And that\u2019s kind of where a lot of my influence came from. I just like it pure like that, man. I\u2019ve always liked to rap over beats that might not be considered rap beats. Not everything need need hard hitting drums and a big sound. I like to rap over different s\u2014t like piano loops and guitar riffs and s\u2014t like that.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat else do you have planned? You mentioned that you got an album with DJ Quik, a Terrace Martin album.<\/p>\n

\n\tJ.W.: So, I got me DJ Quick and Curren$y. You know me and Curren$y have the Umbrella Symphony. This album is similar to what George let me do. Quik let me take his instrumentals to make an album. All his grooves. So, yeah, that\u2019s about to come out. Then me and Larry got another 2 P\u2019z in a Pod. I got one with Conductor. I got one with Eyedress. I got one with Ty Dolla. I\u2019m working, man.<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C: You got one with me. Jay Worthy I got one with G, and we gonna keep this s\u2014t going.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd George, you\u2019re still out hustling and moving around, so what\u2019s next for you?<\/p>\n

\n\tG.C.: Well, I haven\u2019t been able to put a name to it yet, but it\u2019s definitely explosive. It\u2019s definitely gonna blow any minute, and take my word for when I say it\u2019s gonna be different and powerful as anything we\u2019ve ever done. I can\u2019t even begin to describe it. It would take a minute and then you wouldn\u2019t be able to believe it when until you hear all of this stuff we\u2019ve got. <\/p>\n

\n\tAnd just remember: it\u2019s gonna be like that. Matter of fact, I\u2019m talking s\u2014t. That\u2019s what I\u2019m really trying to say. I don\u2019t do that well. I don\u2019t boast well, but I\u2019m really calling myself, \u201cTalking S\u2014t,\u201d because I believe that I got \u201cthe s\u2014t.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jay Worthy wants to bring the funk back to rap. So naturally, the Compton MC (by way of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":938171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,1379,9056,7448,5296,136],"class_list":["post-938170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-features","tag-genre-hiphop","tag-genre-rock","tag-interviews","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=938170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/938171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=938170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=938170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=938170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}