Latest news with #BootsyCollins
Forbes
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Sunday Conversation: Wiz Khalifa On Weed, Jazz, Fans And More
Fifteen years after his musical love letter to weed culture, Kush + Orange Juice, hip-hop superstar Wiz Khalifa recently released a long-awaited sequel, one that reflects his maturity. Kush + Orange Juice 2 is still all about the weed life, but musically it calls to mind a serious '70s vibe, it is, as he tells me, jazz influenced, reggae influenced, R&B influenced. This is Khalifa, the dad. A humble superstar, Khalifa spoke to me about the album, jazz, his fans, community and more. It is indeed all good vibes, the name of his upcoming tour with Sean Paul. Steve Baltin: I love doing this today because I talked to Bootsy Collins three weeks ago and Ice Cube last week and they were telling me their crazy stories of the greats before them. I'm sure you have stories from working with Bootsy and Cube, the greats before you. Wiz Khalifa: All these dudes you name got the same spirit. I met Bootsy at this concert that I did with George Clinton, because I played George Clinton in a movie, and I got to meet him and jam out with him and his band, and I met Bootsy and his wife. And they had like the same outfit on and everything. It was super inspirational and cool to see somebody who was a player and a real big figure in the 70s and 80s still having that energy and still caring and still putting that effort into what his reality is. And that's what I think is real about all those guys. It's beyond making amazing music and being incredibly talented in music, whether it's playing instruments or bringing people together to create one, these guys were able to create a world based off that sound and what to expect from that sound or what to expect from an album cover or what to expect from a live show. That's what a true artist really is, is when they're out here world building and changing people's lives. Like anybody who listened to their music for the first time, whether it's as a kid and you hear it through your parents or an older sibling or something or you get of age and you smoke a little bit of weed and you start to experience what they're talking about. It latches on to you and it stays with you for life. Baltin: I see Kush + Orange Juice 2 the same way. Vibe wise, it reminded me of the '70s, with the spoken word interludes and the music was so chill. Khalifa: Thank you. It's definitely inspired by the 70s. Its jazz inspired. Its reggae inspired. It's R &B inspired. Its funk inspired. It's really soulful. It's a soulful album. Baltin: What's the perfect day today? Khalia: Perfect day is waking up about six a m., kissing my daughter, she's still asleep. Kissing my son on the forehead, he's still asleep. Feeding my dogs, getting my son up, getting him to school, making it back home to my daughter. She's awake, having breakfast with her, smoking a few joints, playing with my dog, getting on social media, making about three posts that are going to do at least a million each. Eating breakfast, going to the gym, doing some yoga after, making it home by three, eating lunch, taking a nap, waking up by five, making sure my son does his work, making sure my daughter's getting ready for her last little round, eat dinner, get dressed, go to the studio, maybe record about two verses, stay out till about 12, maybe make it back home, take a shower back in the bed, that's perfect. Baltin: When you think of doing the original Kush + Orange Juice and what a perfect day was to you then, could you ever have imagined that this would be a perfect day for you now? Khalifa: No, I wouldn't imagine that at all. And not that I looked down on it, but at that age, I never knew what that would feel like. It wasn't even a goal of mine at that time. So, I'm very appreciative that I am fortunate enough to have learned that lesson, especially at my age. So, I wouldn't have imagined it, but I'm very grateful that I've achieved it. Baltin: What makes life so worth living is you have this idea of what you think you want your life to be and then it turns out to be something completely different and it's way better than you imagine. Khalifa: It's way better and people change. You have to allow yourself to change and let go of certain things and be comfortable with it. And there's just certain things that I know if I put myself around it, what the results are going to be. So instead of continuously just offering myself to that, I know the difference. I can be over here where I really enjoy myself, or I could be over here where it might be necessary, and I'll pop in and pop out. But having that discretion, I think, is worth a lot. Baltin: Like I said, I just talked to Cube last week, he runs a basketball league. He's having the time of his life doing movies and more. Is there anybody you are really inspired by? Khalifa: I'm really inspired by Snoop. Just getting close to Snoop and him being one of the first real superstars to embrace me, he really set the bar high for what behavior is supposed to be. I've only seen Snoop be nice and pleasant and really giving with his platform and with his talents and with anything that he does, whether it's knowledge or information or weed, whatever it is, he just gives it to you. And Snoop, he stands in his role as somebody who can change other people's lives, even if it's just him being kind to them or shaking their hand and whatever it is, letting them go before him. There are just certain things that Snoop does that show me that when you reach a certain level of greatness, how gentle you're supposed to be and how much care you're supposed to put into having that so you can have longevity through that position. So I definitely look up to Snoop in a lot of ways when it comes to that. Baltin: I have found the thing that drives successful people, whether you're an athlete, whether you're an author, whether you're a CEO, is the internal fire. The only way to keep motivated is with yourself. Khalifa: Yeah, I figured it out just by knowing my connection with my fans and the people who really support me. Those are the people who've taken me to the top and who continue to support, challenge, inspire me and motivate me. And that's what creates that fire because I'm not afraid to run things past them and be wrong or find out exactly what right is and what serves this community. My community is full of peaceful people. My community is full of hard workers. My community is full of people who respect themselves and respect the people around them. So, it's not hard to really navigate and make good decisions based off what we all would expect from each other. In turn, I think that just brings up the whole vibration and elevates everybody around us. Cause who doesn't want to be cool just for who they are. Or who doesn't want to just feel good about trying some s**t and making a mistake and still being all right. And that's what I think a lot of my following is all about, just figuring this whole thing out together and doing it the right way, who we really are deep down inside. Music is a channel for that because it makes everybody feel good. And if you see me on stage, whether you know my music or not, I make it so you remember the performance. You remember that night. You remember moments. And you're in love with it. You leave happy. You feel elevated and I just think that everybody deserves that feeling whether you know it or not. Through the music you're able to discover it and I put all of that energy into making sure that my fans have that first. That's what keeps me focused on that mission. Baltin: At what point did you first realize that power of music to transform you? Were there one or two records early on that spoke to you? Khalifa: For me, it was Bone Thugs and Harmony. I was born in '87, so I grew up in the Nineties. When they first started releasing music, it just sounded so different to me. And I remember when I heard 'Crossroads,' I just fell in love with that song. The first time I heard it, it was so good that I thought I was never going to hear it again. I was like, 'This song is so good.' Then I got to the age where I was able to figure out the artist and see the videos and stuff like that. Then I went to one of their concerts. And that's where it really hit me instantly, just that love and that being captivated that much by something and feeling positive about it. That's when I knew music was really powerful. Baltin: The one person who nearly killed me smoking was B-Real. Khalifa: B-Real, the top smoker. He is top of the top. Baltin: That's funny cause he said the only person he couldn't keep up with was you. He said you were doing like six joints at a time. Khalifa: Yeah, I'm just trying to hang with the big dogs, man (laughs). Baltin: I also think obviously that just makes you a better musician, the more stuff you listen to. Khalifa: Absolutely, it opens up the way that you're able to approach things. And while I understood listening and being inspired by jazz, I couldn't make a full jazz record. I did go there and take the important parts and bring it back to where I was at, especially having Terrace Martin on. I've known him since I was like 19 years old. So, to be able to have him on the album is a full circle moment. I learned a lot about jazz just by watching him play. I went and saw him play four or five times during the process making this album and was just blown away. Even just seeing it live had a huge effect on me while making this album.
Forbes
13-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Sunday Conversation: Bootsy Collins On James Brown, George Clinton
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - MAY 18: In this image released on June 1, Honoree/musician Bootsy Collins speaks ... More onstage during the 9th Annual Black Music Honors red carpet at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre on May 18, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo byfor Black Music Honors) There are few people in the history of music as colorful and entertaining as the supreme funk bassist Bootsy Collins. As the bassist in Parliament/Funkadelic Collins became a star in his own right in the '70s, developing such memorable alter egos as Casper the Funky Ghost and Bootzilla. But underneath his persona as an alien rock star was one of the greatest bass players of all time, a guy who came up with unforgettable basslines again and again. Collins just released his new album, Album of The Year #1 Funketeer. It is vintage Bootsy -- fun, playful, entertaining, trippy and musically brilliant. I spoke with Collins about the new album, AI, George Clinton and doing LSD with James Brown. Steve Baltin: You say you're going to record stores. How much fun is that for you still to have the new album out on Friday and get to go interact with people? Especially in that setting where it's so intimate and they could tell you their favorite songs and everything. Bootsy Collins: I actually love that setting. It's like what you don't get at live shows because you don't really have time to mingle with people. So, it's a different kind of ball game when you get a chance to be that close and intimate with fans that love you and want to be around you, want to meet you, so it is good. It's different than the live shows cause you get up there and play for a couple of hours or whatever. And the fans might get a chance to see you up close and personal, but the record store is definitely the spot for that. Baltin: You and I are old enough to remember like the aura of the record store. Collins: Yeah, it means so much to people I run into nowadays. They tell me about those good old days, when they met me in the record store and they had a certain conversation with me. They remember all of that stuff. It's a beautiful thing. The kids won't miss it cause they don't know what the experience was, but I'm missing that. And I look forward to going to those places because the way it's going one of them might not be there the next day. So get it while you can. Baltin: It makes sense for you to do the record store tour for the moment because it's such a great album, but Album of the Year #1 Funketeer has so many guests on it. This is a way for you to go out and promote it because I imagine doing it live is going to be difficult with all the guests on it. Collins: I thought about that after doing something that I really wanted to do and doing so many different styles that I wanted to do on this album. So, I wanted to just go with it because that's the way I felt and usually the way I feel about music is, I wouldn't say it's right or wrong, it's just that it's my call whether to do that journey or not and that's a good thing. Baltin: I imagine it's fun for you because you know everybody, and everybody wants to work with you. Why not have fun with it and collaborate with your friends? Collins: Yeah, that, to me, is what brings the excitement along with what's going on now. You're getting older and how do you keep the buzz going. Especially you cut down on getting high, the girl thing, you cut back on that, those would have liked the motivations to get out on the road when you don't have that, what are you going to do? All the fun reasons we had to go out are being eliminated, so there has to be some kind of substitute. My substitute is dealing with any and everybody that's into it, that really loves it, that really wants it and learning from them, they learn whatever they learn from me and I learn whatever I learned from them. Baltin: Does the girl thing ever go away as a guy? Collins: It never goes away. If anything, it probably gets stronger. It never goes away, and we never get smarter than that. I bet you know about that (laughs). Baltin: Oh yeah, doesn't matter how old you get. The right woman turns you into an idiot (laughs). Collins: Absolutely (laughs). Baltin: You have Dave Stewart on this album. Dave's worked with Jagger with everyone. You guys put all that experience together and all of a sudden, you've got what it's like to work with James Brown and Jagger when the two of you get together. Collins: We just talked to him today. We've had a relationship for a lot of years now and it's amazing because when you really look at it this cat is just so plugged in and at any moment, he can spark out with something that's pretty incredible. We did the song that's actually not on the album, but he claims that it's an anthem and when he said that, I was like, 'Wow, when I listen to it, it does sound like an anthem.' So, we might put it out as a bonus track. Baltin: Take me through some of the people you worked with on this record because it's such a fun record. What were you looking for in people you collaborated with? Collins: It was, let's see, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, The Dogg Pound, and some of the new artists, Myra Washington, Phantasma, she's from over in Germany. She's just an incredible singer and rapper and lyricist. This guy named Baby Triggie, Wiz Khalifa. It's just everybody that came on board, and we just started collaborating with each other. This is what we came up with. Baltin: Was 'I Am AI' made with AI? Collins: Yeah, actually it was. I just wanted to have something relating to that as original as I could get it with the old era and what's happening now involved with the recording of it. People were saying you shouldn't do anything about AI. Well, for me, it's like a lot of times you can't stop what's coming. I know it's coming. I know it's already here and people either embrace it or learn and learn how to work with it, then to work around it, because it's coming, it's here. Baltin: Was it fun for you to work with AI? Collins: Oh, yeah. I had a blast. I think AI had a blast too. They were winking at me and a few of the girly AI's was pretty on it. I had to catch myself a few times (cracks up). Baltin: When you put all these artists together did you have any idea what would happen? Collins: The combination of people don't necessarily do music together. Like Barbie T., she closes out the record as a tribute to Buckethead. I actually cut his very first record, Buckethead Land, the album. We cut it here out here on the farm in the barn. And we've been friends since 1991. Last week he came and played, he had a gig in town and we started on his new record, Buckethead Land 3. It's incredible what's going on. This universal force is bringing things together. Things looking like they falling apart, but there are things coming together too. Baltin: Who was your longest relationship in music? How long did you work with James? Collins: We just did about 11 months with James, and it was non -stop. But our relationship didn't end. I just couldn't take it, plus we would take LSD and all that. It just didn't match up. How would you feel playing with James Brown and you take LSD? Baltin: I interviewed James Brown, not on LSD. And it was f**king tough. It might have been easier on LSD. I'm not going to lie. Collins: (Cracking up) Oh, man, to be a fly on the wall. He was so serious. It's like, 'Why are you freaking serious?' That's when we really start taking LSD because he kept saying that I was loaded anyway. The truth was I didn't want to be loaded on his set because we had too much responsibility to be on it, to watch his hands and watch his feet and every little move he makes. We had to be on it and couldn't do that on LSD, tripping like a mug. Baltin: How long did you work with George? Collins: We actually just got back together, working in the studio together. That's funny you brought that up. He's probably the longest person that I've ever worked with. Yeah, George would be the longest one, everybody else is like we still stand communicate and everything, but working together that's a little different. Baltin: I've interviewed George many times over the years, and he seems to be in a great place now. So how much fun is it when you guys are both in a good place and you can just enjoy the friendship? Collins: It's a good place to be really. Because first of all, you made it through all the real hard times being together. Then when you come back around, you got another kind of appreciation. And I think that's coming from both of us without even without even having to say it. So, yeah, it's a beautiful thing.
Boston Globe
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Record Store Day comes to Boston
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Advertisement Other hyper-local Record Store Day releases will whisk listeners back to the 1990s. unveil Advertisement While it's typical for Record Store Day to include a smattering of New England-adjacent projects — think of past offerings like As collectors make the rounds between local record stores on Saturday, some independent retailers have arranged additional festivities and goodies to buoy guests' vinyl hunts. Per tradition, will both soundtrack the afternoon with a rotation of live DJ sets. Somerville's Vinyl Index is one of many area record shops that will be hosting Record Store Day festivities this Saturday. Carlie Febo Photography Advertisement View the full list of Record Store Day releases GIG GUIDE At Roadrunner on Rock icons Heart come to the Agganis Arena on Sunday. Criss Cain Nigerian Afrobeats artist and rapper performance from and Los Angeles rapper The artist's 30-plus-year career spans more than 15 records, a stint in the hip-hop supergroup — nicknamed the 'king of strings' for his Emmy Award-winning prowess on the violin — weaves R&B, jazz, and funk into cuts from his 2024 record 'Gemini' at Advertisement Dark alt-rock duo King Hannah perform at Brighton Music Hall this Monday. Katie Silvester Standout shows from a busy week at Brighton Music Hall include New Orleans genre-jumpers Daughter of Swords's sophomore album, "Alex," is a one-two punch of pluck and poise. Graham Tolbert NOW SPINNING Daughter of Swords , "SABLE, fABLE," out this Friday, is Bon Iver's first record in six years. Graham Tolbert Bon Iver , Advertisement Funk icon Bootsy Collins releases his 23rd solo album this Friday. Joseph Ross Bootsy Collins , 'Album of the Year #1 Funkateer.' Yes, putting 'album of the year' right in a project's title is a cocky move, but by his 23rd studio album, Bootsy Collins has more than earned the bragging rights. The funk icon, now 73, springs through 18 tracks with his signature joie de vivre , twisting his bass playing into randy R&B, fuzzy psychedelia, and swanky funk. BONUS TRACK Another spring music tradition warms up Boston this weekend: the return of Hot Stove Cool Music . The annual benefit, which raises money for the Victoria Wasylak can be reached at . Follow her on Bluesky @
Axios
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Twin Cities weekend: Record Store Day, cat fest, textile garage sale
Record Store Day (RSD) is almost upon us, and nearly every shop in the Twin Cities is gearing up for a packed slate of community events, exclusive vinyl drops, parties and more. Here are three events we're checking out this Saturday. Electric Fetus: Minneapolis' most well-known shop will be hosting "funkateer" Bootsy Collins for a DJ set and album signing, along with exclusive drops from artists like Taylor Swift, Charli XCX and even Prince. 9am-6pm Down In The Valley: The shop has ordered "99%" of the official Record Store Day releases that will be distributed between its Maple Grove and Golden Valley locations —all first-come, first-served, and shoppers can't buy more than one copy of an RSD album to ensure availability for others. 9am-8pm Caydence Records & Coffee: The St. Paul cafe/record store will be selling official RSD releases alongside tons of new and used vinyls, cassettes and more before its 7pm screening of the music documentary "The Devil and Daniel Johnston." 8am-9pm 👋 Audrey's pick: Though it doesn't participate in the official RSD organization's event, Disco Death Records' celebrations have an excellent selection of rare and unique vinyls I've never seen anywhere else — and the vintage market outside is a treasure trove of cool clothes. 11am-5pm In other entertainment news ... 🎪 The circus is in town! The Royal Canadian International Circus has set up the Big Top at Mall of America and will be performing tricks like "The Motorcycle Globe of Death" alongside aerialists, jugglers, live comedy and more through April 20. $39.50+ 😻 St. Paul's premiere feline festival returns to Union Depot this weekend. POP Cats Twin Cities ' activities include a cat art exhibit, feline-themed games, video, "Catnannigans Cinema" and a marketplace. Cosplay is encouraged, and while adoptable cats will be onsite, the event is also BYOC (bring your own cat). Adult tickets start at $25 🎣 Gear up for fishing season at the Hooksetters Annual Fishing Extravaganza Saturday at Prior Lake's VFW. Fellow anglers are cleaning out their gently used/new items from 10am-3pm, including tackle, rods, reels, boating accessories and other gear; a "burger bash" in the VFW will be held concurrently. Free 📚 Celebrate Minnesota's female authors at the HerStory Book Fair at Midtown Global Market on Saturday afternoon. Expect storytelling, book signings and author panels covering topics like overcoming barriers as women in literature. Free
