Welcome to Fantom Island, where iLL-Literacy's legend finds its habitat. If you've happened upon this portal, may we be as bold as to assert that nested in you is a healthy curiosity. Whether you were drawn here by the Slanted i at this page's 1-o-clock, the quick flash of during loading, or simply because you have a click-happy finger – you've arrived. HihowRUhi?
The peculiar thing about Fantom Island is that it is but a mirage – an Imaginary oasis isolated in the confines of our brainwaves. We shall gradually reveal morsels of our folklore here, so please visit often. To return, simply bring your Imagination as your passport.
Fantom Island
FRIDAY FUNK: P-Funk vs. G-Funk
Yuuup, I’m still trippin off that Big Boi, Too $hort, and George Clinton joint. I could really just go on and on about how much P-Funk has influenced my perception and creation of music. Growing up in California in the 90′s when G-Funk — an offspring genre of Clinton’s music coined by Dr. Dre & co — was in its prime, Clinton was a key contributor to a lot of the music that was in rotation. Snoop, Ice Cube, Dru Down, 2pac, Adina Howard, and so many more were quite intentionally carrying the torch that Parliament-Funkadelic had lit, and by the time I reached middle school I was as familiar with “Flashlight” as I was with any Michael Jackson song.
While many soul artists during that time either dismissed hip-hop as a fad or rebuked it for its unconventional reinterpretations of old records, Clinton was one of the few who not only embraced the new artform, but directly supported its development by artistically engaging with artists and openly welcoming them to sample his work.
In doing so, he has managed to maintain a relevance that few musicians are able to — not only does he remain a respected icon within the music scene, the storylines, reoccurring characters, and motifs scattered throughout his music continue to live on in the music of younger, more youth-accessible artists. Modern funk-lore. Check out the videos after the jump.
Ice Cube ft. George Clinton “Bop Gun (One Nation)”
Parliament “Bop Gun (Endangered Species)”
Digital Underground ft. 2Pac “Same Song”
Parliament “Theme from the Black Hole”
Snoop Dogg ft. George Clinton “G-Funk”
Dru Down ft. Bootsy Collins “Babby Bubba”
