George Clinton Quotes

When I hear music that parents hate, or older musicians hate, I know that’s the new music. When I hear older people saying, ‘I hate Rap or Techno’ I rush to it.

I’m always surprised that I’m still around funk and that people are still into it.

The words I use too often are X-rated, something an old man like me shouldn’t be talking about anyway.

I save all the energy until I get on the stage and then I have a burst of energy and look like I’ve been jamming all day long. But other than that, I’m a granddad, great granddad.

Style is whatever you want to do, if you can do it with confidence.

Styles move too fast to be partial to anything. If it’s funk, that’s enough for me. I don’t care how fast or slow it is. I got my grandkids up front rapping and doing the new thing. They’re teaching each other, bringing us up to date.

You can rebel against everything adults say. When I want to find out what the new music is, I find out what parents hate.

I always try to find the kids that’s getting on your nerves – because your instinct let you know they pushing you out the way, you getting old. And you don’t let that bother you, have fun! You ain’t got to hang out with them, but you can work with them.

Well, I try to be as funky as I need to get.

The whole history of music has turned out to be something perfect. It’s all come around. The music we did with Funkadelic and Parliament was the DNA for hip-hop.

The key to looking good in a cape is the way you take it off. You should look like those sword-fighting people, the Three Musketeers. Taking it off, swinging it, that’s what makes it cool.

Pay attention to them kids, don’t let your feelings be hurt because they taking your place. They supposed to. But if you wanna stay around with them, you ain’t got to copy ’em. Just get the ones that’s real young, too young to even be copying yet, because you know they gonna be the next thing.

I came in after the Smokey Robinsons, Temptations, Clovers, and Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters. I came along at that level, when there was harmonizing.

A few people thought I was Bill Clinton, because of the name. I’ve never complained. Just the fact that you recognise me is enough. Even if you think I’m Chaka Khan.

I’d bite off the Beatles, or anybody else. It’s all one world, one planet and one groove. You’re supposed to learn from each other, blend from each other, and it moves around like that.

I pick up on styles, way before they get popular, pretty much before young kids do. I see ’em coming.

When I’m just tryna funk, it’s gonna be the Staple Singers, man – Pop Staples. And Ray Charles. Ray could take ‘Eleanor Rigby’ and make that funky.

Hip-hop is getting to the point now where they are going to start sounding like Al Jarreau or Bobby McFerrin or some of the other poets. Some of the better rappers can rap real fast without even melodies. It’ll get to that same point.

Once you get to 22 or 23, you’re already old school. It’s the bubblegum ones that buy records, have fun, party. You get older, you get sophisticated, and you don’t go buy no records too much.

Record companies would rather you stay dumb, not even think of it as a business, so they can either rip you off or get you out of the way in five years to make way for the new groups.

I was at the Apollo Theater all the time, skipping school, and I worked in a barbershop. That’s how I started with doo-wop. Now I’ve come full circle. I did all kinds of music. I used to work on Broadway and Tin Pan Alley.

Once you reach a certain age with radio stations, you’ve got to be an oldie but a goodie. If you wanna do something new, you’ve got to find a new way to present it to people.