For those who are unsure of Bootsy Collins’ place in the funk pantheon, he is the bassman who put the One into James Brown’s “Sex Machine”, “Soul Power” and “Talkin’ Loud and Sayin’ Nothing”, as well as everything that came out of the first ten years of George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic. Suffice it to say that Bootsy Collins is a funk colossus and, along with Clinton, one of the architects of P-funk: that sweet spot where Jimi Hendrix gets down with James Brown and they party for all they’re worth.
A man with this kind of standing inevitably attracts a bit of an entourage and there are no shortage of collaborators and fellow funkateers who have stepped up to join Bootsy for his first album since 2011’s The Funk Capital Of The World. From Doug E Fresh and Snoop Dogg to Iggy Pop and Guns ‘n’ Roses’ Buckethead, there’s no place for quiet contemplation in the grooves of World Wide Funk, as Bootsy lays down classic P-funk vibes, r’n’b flecked hip-hop, spaced out psychedelic soul and Paisley Park-flavoured grooves.
However, with such a sprawling gumbo of different funky flavours spread over more than 70 minutes of tunes, it is no surprise that after an initial P-funk blast, Bootsy’s genius does dim somewhat in places, particularly on the mid-album slump of r’n’b jams like “Ladies Nite” and “Heaven Yes”. Nevertheless, he saves plenty of good stuff for the final strait and comes back with the party grooves of “Snowbunny” and “Boomerang” before hitting the wild final twin peaks of the epic P-funk extravaganza, “Come Back Bootsy” and the Chuck D-powered “Illusions” with its heavy hip-hop vibes.
Bootsy’s definitely back in the saddle with World Wide Funk. It’s just that, with a bit of judicious editing, this pretty good double album could have become an absolutely golden single disc.