Review: Bootsy Collins – Album of the Year #1 Funkateer
When you envision funk, there are certain artists that immediately come to mind and one of the first is the bright and star-studded Bootsy Collins. Funk fans clamor to be anywhere in his presence and when he releases new music, the Bootzillians stand at attention. So stand up! Bootsy‘s new album is here and it’s appropriately named Album of the Year #1 Funkateer.
Bootsy Collin‘s new funk filled offering is packed front to back with deep funk beats and special guests layering every track including appearances from top names like Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Fred Wesley, Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), Fantaazma, Musiq Soulchild, and many others.
The album opens with the title track that establishes the funk roller coaster that you’re about to embark on and seatbelts will definitely be required. A serious highlight includes a hat tip to The JB’s entitled The JB’s Tribute Pastor P with contributions (past and present) from Fred Wesley, Jabo Starks, and Clyde Stubblefield that capitalizes on the funkiest drummer standard layered with a hip hop delivery of Harry Mack and supporting backbeats from Daru Jones.
The world of rap and hip hop has definitely given funk music an assist over the past half century by keeping the funk alive and bringing crate diggers back into the record stores to rediscover the funk forefathers and originators. Bootsy returns the favor by giving rap plenty of space on the album.
While Harry Mack starts the hip hop flow on the aforementioned JB‘s tribute track, he is followed by Kokane on Bootdullivan is Soopafly, then Snoop Dogg, and Wiz Khalifa on The InFluencers, which also features Argentinian rapper Fantaazma.
Fantaazma has become a stalwart of the Bootsy camp and makes several appearances on the album including Bubble Pop, Hundo P, and 2nite We Rise. Other rap artists include Kurupt, Brother Nature, Casper the Funked Up Ghost, Soopafly, and Ice Cube,
While the album is full of fantastic funk tracks, some other highlights include tracks like Satellite that brings Bootsy to the mike singing a mesmerizing alternative rock flow. The sister track to that vibe is the track Alien Flytrap that is the equivalent of riding down a warm water slide in slow motion. It’s then that you realize that the common denominator of those tracks is the incomparable Dave Stewart in the mix.
Other standouts are the super sticky funk bounce stomp called Ubiquitous, and without a doubt, the super-fly, super-high space walk of Reach the Zone that’s accentuated with lo-fi by October London and the vocals of Musiq Soulchild. A trippy vibe wave that flows all the way to the closing track Barbie T & Me (Tribute to Buckethead).
But don’t get it twisted, because Bootsy is well aware of his target audience and brings that O.G. laid back “grown folks” funk with head down, sway side-to-side flows like Hundo P that gets a coating of West Coast G-Funk from Snoop Dogg and Fantaazma. Other West Coast flow tracks also include Anybody Out There that add the strong Staple-esque vocal prowess of Myra Washington that also blesses the tracks Chicken & Fries and Fishnets.
And what would a Bootsy album be without the iconic slow jam that is layered with sexual innuendo. To sit among classic lines like “I’m gonna pee in your eye so you can see where I’m coming from.“, the contribution of Pure Perfection carries on the tradition to make that connection.
The most shocking takeaway about this album is that there is not one single disposable or skip-worthy song on this entire collection of bangers. This album stands hands down as a testament to Bootsy’s rightful place on the funk throne and an undeniable force to be reckoned with. An album that literally deserves to be recognized on a much bigger stage than it will be given, due the horrendous state of the music industry.
This album is without a doubt the album of the year for funk fans. I can truthfully stand strong and say that this will be the funkiest album of 2025 if only for the fact that it would be next to impossible to out-funk this album. I give Album of the Year #1 Funkateer the notorious 5 out of 5 afros without any hesitation.
