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Channel Tres

Channel Tres

Photo: Clare Gillen

News
Channel Tres Drops First New Music Of 2020 channel-tres-drops-first-new-music-video-2020-groovy-weedman

Channel Tres Drops First New Music & Video Of 2020, The Groovy "Weedman"

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"The track's nostalgic for a time where weed was inaccessible… I was stressed out over a lot of stuff at that age. The song explains that—me struggling to figure out where to get my weed, but also for the dealer going through hard times too," he told us
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Mar 27, 2020 - 4:33 pm

Today, March 27, Compton-born rapper/singer/producer/dancer Channel Tres shared "Weedman," the first single from his new label Art For Their Good. The funky track is his first new music of 2020, following 2019's Black Moses EP, and comes paired with a vintage-hued visual.

Behind the song's house party-ready vibes and undulating G-funk beat, the underlying message is an important one: Despite the legalization of marijuana in California and beyond, many people of color are still disproportionately serving time for weed-related charges. According to the ACLU, "in the United States, a black person is 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person is, despite approximately equal rates of use."

Channel Tres Talks Honoring Isaac Hayes On EP 'Black Moses,' Healing With Music & Being A "Ghetto Savior"

Over email, Tres shares with us the inspiration behind "Weedman" and how it portrays his younger self and the perspective of his weed dealer.

"The track's nostalgic for a time where weed was inaccessible—and now there's weed shops everywhere. Back then if I couldn't get my weed, it was a big thing for me because I couldn't go to sleep. I was stressed out over a lot of stuff at that age. The song explains that—me struggling to figure out where to get my weed, but also for the dealer going through hard times too," he wrote.

"Every voice on there is me. All the voices and characters in my head. I grew up on a lot of DJ Quik, Parliament, OutKast, dance music. One thing I noticed with DJ Quik is if you take all the vocals off his tracks, they hit like European dance records."

LISTEN: Childish Gambino Drops New Album ‘3.15.20’

Tres also spoke to the beautiful video, shot by Henry Grenier on 8mm film by in a house he rented in the Hollywood Hills. It was directed and edited by regular creative collaborator Anthony Sylvester, who also directed the videos for "Topdown" and "Jet Black."

"I wanted the video to represent the different personalities I have, and this is the first song where I did vocals I wouldn't normally do, mixed with sounds I've been inspired by for years. The video's shot with a Super8 camera and I rented out a house that looks like my Grandma's because I wanted it to have that feel. It just happened to come out during this time where it's kinda fitting for everything that's going on—it looks like I'm stuck at home, alone on the couch," he explained.

The "Sexy Black Timberlake" artist will be making his Coachella stage debut this fall and plans to treat us with more of his musical gifts ahead of the fest.

Mortal Man: Author Marcus J. Moore Talks 5 Years Of Kendrick Lamar's 'TPAB' & His Forthcoming Book, 'The Butterfly Effect'

Channel Tres

Channel Tres

Photo: Devyn Galindo

News
Channel Tres Honors Isaac Hayes On 'Black Moses' channel-tres-talks-honoring-isaac-hayes-ep-black-moses-healing-music-ghetto-savior

Channel Tres Talks Honoring Isaac Hayes On EP 'Black Moses,' Healing With Music & Being A "Ghetto Savior"

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The rising Compton-born singer/rapper/producer sits down with the Recording Academy to talk about his forthcoming second EP, growing up in Compton, his dream collabs (such as recent tourmate Childish Gambino) and more
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Jul 25, 2019 - 10:24 am

Meet Channel Tres. The Compton-born singer/rapper/producer and all-around artistic visionary is just getting started living his dream of making an impact with music. He released his swaggy self-titled debut EP last year on Los Angeles indie label GODMODE and in less than a year has become in demand on stages around the world, performing at Detroit's Movement, Barcelona's Primavera Sound and Australia's Splendor In The Grass, to name just a few.

Now he's preparing to share his second EP with the world, Black Moses, which drops on Aug. 16 and is dedicated to the late, great soul legend Isaac Hayes, whose 1971 GRAMMY-winning album shared the same name. To date, Tres has already given the world a taste of its magic with "Brilliant Nigga" and "Sexy Black Timberlake." Next week, on Aug. 2, he'll share the EP's title track and third single featuring politically minded rapper JPEGMAFIA.



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recap: Melbourne this was special for me. Thank you so much. Also @sglewis_ remixed sexy black Timberlake this the track in the recap that shit hot all love. One

A post shared by Channel Tres (@channeltres) on Jul 20, 2019 at 10:49am PDT

We sat down with Tres at the sunny GODMODE studios in East L.A. while he was in town to learn more about Black Moses, how Compton influences his music and his advice to aspiring artists.

You're dropping your second EP, Black Moses, soon; can you speak to the message behind it and the sounds that you explore on it?

First off, it's paying homage to Isaac Hayes. Soundscape-wise, I'm not really in an Isaac Hayes vibe. But the name—I was watching this old festival they threw in Watts [Wattstax 1972]. This is when Shaft and the theme song was really big. He came out and had on a hat and some shades and a coat. They took his coat off and Jesse Jackson was announcing him.

He looked so godly and it was just so black and so powerful for me. So, that's why I just dove into that, which inspired the name and the sounds on it. It's further in what I started with, the Channel Tres EP. I got some cool songs on there and the production got better; it's just a step up. And Moses, in the Bible, is the savior of the people of the promised land. I feel like sometimes I want to be a ghetto savior.

You've already gave us the gift of "Sexy Black Timberlake" from the EP, with groovy G-funk vibes and an amazing video. What was your vision for that song and video?

Thank you. The vision for that song is just people are starting to pay attention more to me and the music, and also I'm growing up to a man and understanding myself more and just being more confident.

How old are you?

I'm 28. So, I'm just crossing over to that mature place. It was funny because when I was younger, depending on what I was wearing—even now—I'm either vilified or objectified. As I started to get more successful, I see how sometimes people objectify me, and women start to objectify men. Because now they see that I'm something. That's what I'm saying that in that song. And it's me just being irritated.

And I love Justin Timberlake. We were just playing around because I wrote a song and I was saying, "Bringing sexy back, making sexy black." We were f***ing around, it was like, "Let's just name it that, f*** it." It just makes sense. Also with Compton, just showing a different side.

The video was filmed in Compton, right?

Yeah, I shoot all my stuff there because I've got family everywhere. My little brother's in prison, and it just makes people happy to see the city in stuff like that. Just different places that I grew up. I'm going to make so much music and I like watching my sh*t because I don't get to go there that often.

So you've left, but you grew up here in L.A., in Compton. What does Compton mean to you and how do you think it shaped your artistic journey and identity?

It's a huge community of people out there, so it's home. It will always have a special place in my heart. I'm just happy that I'm street smart. A lot of people don't have common sense. I know how to survive. If there was an apocalypse or something and everything was taken away, I would know how to survive. I grew up in kind of a grimy way, in a grimy area, so your survival tactics are just different. I will always appreciate that. And I love G-funk and just West Coast music, so I'm so happy I got to grow up around that, and actually feel that. To be around that and see things.

Who were your favorite artists growing up, and who remains as your influences today?

Nate Dogg, Tupac, Ice Cube. I love [Dr.] Dre. I grew up on a lot of gospel; Sam Cooke, Fred Hammond, Marvin Gaye. Motown, everything pretty much. Miles Davis. A lot of jazz, a lot of gospel, a lot of rap.

Was there a moment when you knew or decided that you wanted to make music? What called you into that space?

I've always wanted to make music, since I was born. My dad was a musician, I think you're what your parents are. I think it got passed down, the love. I always had a thing for it, but I didn't understand the discipline of it until later on, and that's when I started getting better and things started happening.

What's your biggest goal as an artist?

Just to be around, be in culture. I'd like to do things; work on films, have great songs that just stand the test of time. We still listen to the old funk records and all that, I just want songs that are timeless. I love music, I just want to be in it, I always want to be in it.

You're doing it. In terms of your music, you do a lot. You produce, you sing, you rap, you can dance, it's all there. What's your favorite part of the creative process?

I like it all. Every part of performing, dancing, producing. It's just so many different sides of music so I appreciate it all. You get to connect with the music in a different way, when you've been in all those areas.

Do you have any rituals or places that foster creativity?

I pray. I talk to God. I talk to myself. I lived through a lot and I'm still going through sh*t. So there's enough trauma in there and this all started happening, so I have a lot to talk about. I don't really go anywhere. I'm a Gemini too, I'm kind of crazy in my head. I don't know, I go a lot of places in my head. Music is real cathartic for me, that's how I deal with it, and that's how I'm getting healing from a lot of the things I've been through, so I don't really go nowhere I just do it. I'm just always ready to go. Like, "Let's get it."



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thank yaw for dealing with me Spain cuh

A post shared by Channel Tres (@channeltres) on Jun 2, 2019 at 12:24am PDT

Between Movement, Primavera Sound, a Boiler Room set and a bunch of other big shows, you've had a pretty stacked year. What has been a favorite moment from these events so far?

It's all my favorite. A year and a half ago I wasn't playing all these shows and this is something I fantasized about. I was in Spain at Primavera playing by the beach. My set was at 9 pm, it was a great time, the sun was setting. And so many people, and I knew all my words, I knew all my choreo. I was like, "Oh sh*t, I'm doing it." It's fun, I love playing, I like traveling for music.

When you are performing in front of people, do you feel like that's a different sort of therapeutic or cathartic experience as to when you're making the music?

Yeah, I mean I don't have to fight nobody. I got my energy out; all my aggression, all my anger. It's like my form of destruction. I'm pretty easygoing, but on stage you can't tell me sh*t. And if you don't want to be there you don't have to be there.

Hopeless https://t.co/ySj6qqNO8S

— channel tres (@channel_tres) July 22, 2019

Have you been able to connect with other people through your music?

Like other artists? Hell yeah. It's been cool. I was making music the other day, and I'm in the room with my idols like, "Oh sh*t!" It's crazy, it's so fun and so cool because I'm still a fan too.

Do you have any dream collaborations that you want to speak out and manifest?

Kendrick [Lamar]. I definitely want to do something with Kendrick one day. I want to do something with Stevie Wonder. I want to work with Jon Brion. There's a lot of people I want to work with, I got a list. I want to work with Childish Gambino, I think we could make some tight sh*t.

Speaking of working with people, you're going to be touring with Toro Y Moi soon, and you recently did a rad remix of one of his tracks from his last album. How did you guys meet and would you ever collab on some tracks?

I'm a big fan of Chaz [Bear, a.k.a. Toro Y Moi] for a long time. We met on my birthday three years ago. Every year we got closer as friends and he started listening to my sh*t I guess. He hit me up and was like, "Yo, we should go on tour." And a year later we go on tour.

so excited to announce that I’m opening for Childish Gambino in Australia. I been grindin my whole life and this one means a lot to me. I’m grateful to be making music, performing, and traveling. Thank you @donaldglover you are brilliant. shout out to my team! God bless pic.twitter.com/pl9D4vwPf7

— channel tres (@channel_tres) July 11, 2019

That's so cool. Planting the seeds.

Yeah, I'm about to go on tour with Childish Gambino too. It's not announced yet, but we are playing two shows together in Australia. I'm opening up for him like next week.

Oh sick! I saw him at The Forum.

It was crazy?

Yeah. He has an energy on stage where you're like, "Damn, I want to go wherever you are going."

Yeah, fire. I can't wait to meet him.

Do you have a message for young kids in Compton, or wherever else, who want to get into music?

Persistence always wins and hard work beats talent any day. I'm not the most talented, I mean there's people better than me. But what makes my sh*t cool is just me, I'm not trying to be nobody else. I pay homage to the OGs, I have respect for the people that came before me. I don't think nothing is bad unless musically it doesn't go together. So, I'm not really judgey, I'm not heavily critical of everything. I just try to understand and try to take it day by day.

Just trust God and the universe, and be persistent and really find out if it's what you're supposed to be doing. Because if it's what you are supposed to do, you'll have provision, things will be happening. Even though it might take a long time, you'll know. Just do it for the right reasons. And when you get it, do something good with it.

JPEGMAFIA On 'Veteran,' "Call Me Maybe" & How He Wants To Disappoint You

Jody Watley

Jody Watley in 2019

Photo: Scott Legato/Getty Images

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GRAMMY Career Day To Feature Jody Watley & More grammy-museums-latest-virtual-grammy-career-day-feature-cheryl-cobb-jody-watley-david

GRAMMY Museum's Latest Virtual GRAMMY Career Day To Feature Cheryl Cobb, Jody Watley & David Sears

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Students from three high schools—Northeast High School in Kansas City, Mo., Parkrose High School in Portland, Ore. and Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix, Ariz.—will participate
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Nov 18, 2020 - 2:04 pm

On Wednesday, Dec. 2, the GRAMMY Museum, in partnership with the Ford Motor Company Fund, will continue its virtual GRAMMY Career Day music industry mentorship series for students. The online day of mentorship and career advice will feature GRAMMY-winning music and style icon Jody Watley, President of Cheryl Cobb Entertainment Cheryl Cobb and the GRAMMY Museum's own David R. Sears, Vice President of Education for GRAMMY In The Schools.

Students from three high schools—Northeast High School in Kansas City, Mo., Parkrose High School in Portland, Ore. and Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix, Ariz.—will participate in the event.

Related: Take A Look Inside The Latin GRAMMYs Digital Exhibit At The GRAMMY Museum

According to the GRAMMY Museum, the programming "provides insight to high school students about careers that are available to them in the music industry, and direction on how to prepare for them. GRAMMY Career Day provides an opportunity for students to interact with professionals representing a wide range of careers. Speakers for Career Day include GRAMMY winners and nominees, and professionals in related disciplines. These interactive sessions take students through the inner workings of the industry to learn exactly what it takes to make it in the business."

The upcoming session follows eight other star-studded, regional Career Day events hosted this fall. The events are typically held in person across the country, but have gone virtual for the first time this year. More virtual Career Day events will take place in spring 2021, thanks to the continued support of the Ford Motor Company Fund.

For more information on the GRAMMY Museum's extensive music and career education programs as well as current virtual programming, please visit grammymuseum.org.

2021 Music Educator Award Semifinalists Announced By The Recording Academy & GRAMMY Museum

Bootsy Collins

Bootsy Collins

Photo: Michael Weintrob

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Bootsy Collins On 'The Power Of The One' bootsy-collins-im-hoping-world-comes-together-we-did-album

Bootsy Collins: "I'm Hoping The World Comes Together Like We Did On This Album"

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On his new album, 'The Power of the One,' released Oct. 23 on his own Bootzilla Records, we witness the almost-69-year-old (his birthday is Oct. 26) thriving in his musical playground
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Oct 23, 2020 - 5:09 pm

GRAMMY winner and 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Bootsy Collins has been embodying the funk and sharing his grooviness for decades, ever since he joined James Brown's band in 1969. It was then, from the Godfather of Soul himself, he first learned the Power of the One, or the importance of synching on the one-beat.

With George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, Bootsy's Rubber Band, his solo records and endless collaborations, he's harnessed that funky power and grown it into a philosophy, a way of life. Through it all he's always bringing the funk into new spaces and to new ears, whether directly—Fatboy Slim's GRAMMY-winning 2000 dance anthem "Weapon Of Choice" wouldn't soar without Collin's voice—or through those he's influenced like Childish Gambino on his infectiously groovy GRAMMY-winner "Redbone." He is the true definition of a living legend, yet he's incredibly humble and always interested in learning more and working with other artists.

On his new album, The Power of the One, released today (Oct. 23) on his own Bootzilla Records, we witness the almost-69-year-old (his birthday is Oct. 26) thriving in his musical playground. It's playful, funky, joyous and filled with talented collaborators from across the musical spectrum, including Snoop Dogg, Dr. Cornel West, Branford Marsalis, Ellis Hall and up-and-comers Brandon "Taz" Niederauer and Emmaline. While he had to adapt to virtual collaboration when they pandemic hit—the album was about half done at this point—he is undeniably thrilled with the result and rightly so.

"To be around these people, they made the record become what it is because to have the older people with the younger people and everyone in-between, all this going on on the record. And just making music together. It's like making love, it's like making friends. In a time like we're in now, to do that, what else could you ask for? It's just a great feeling. I can tell you, I know they had the same kind of feeling," Collins told us recently over the phone.

We caught up with the master himself to learn more about finishing the album during quarantine, bringing together the talented collaborators, mentoring younger artists over the years and, of course, the Power of the One.

Thanks for taking the time to chat with me. I hope your day is good so far.

Yeah. Just gearing up, getting myself together to go out there and do it one more time, you know? We got the record off. That was the good part for me, was to at least get through it because it is a very deep time that kind of hit us out of the blue. Getting through it was a beautiful thing. It actually helped keep me sane.

Read: "Use Your Mentality, Wake Up To Reality": How 'Red Hot + Blue' Reimagined Classic Pop Songs To Enact Social Change

I bet, having something to work on. And my first question is about your new album, The Power Of The One, which is coming out pretty soon. What do you hope this album offers to the world and to its listeners?

I'm hoping the world comes together like we did on this album. All the musicians, everybody that really put their time and energy in it—and they really, really wanted to do it. It wasn't like somebody forced them to do it or paid them on such a big scale that they just had to do it. Everybody joined me and did it because it was fun.

It reminded everybody that, even in a difficult time, each and every one of us can get some kind of joy out of it and at the same time, help somebody else share some good vibes. If we didn't get nothing else but some good vibes, that was really good enough because everybody needs some of that right now.

I think on this record, that's what it's really all about. Good vibes, being in the kitchen cooking up something a little different here and there, using a different recipe. Even a recipe that's not traditional. On this album, that's what I wanted to show—it doesn't have to be a certain traditional record. It could be everybody together just having a good time because, to me, that was the main thing. Stop stressing yourself. Have a good time doing it and doing it with somebody you want to do it with. That's key. I think everybody felt that and it comes off of the record like that, from what people are telling me.

You're right, I think we all need some good vibes right now.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That to me is what the Power of the One is, the power of all of the people coming together and just doing what we have to do to get through it, to get over the hump. Putting all of our differences all by the wayside because we all realize we're just human and we need each other. We're coming up in a time where people don't really feel like they need each other because the technology we have is saying you don't need nobody. You can take your office with you. You got it right there in your hand, your iPhone, and you really don't need people.

Once you get used to that, it turns on you. It's like a Frankenstein monster. The monster is cool and everything, but one day he wakes up and realizes he's a monster and turns on you. I think that's what happened in the world. We got to take the power within all of us where we're standing. I think this music will help in our healing, help in our focus, and help us to have a little joy and a little fun along with all the deepness that is going on. That's what I wanted to do with this record, really just to put some joy and fun in everybody's lives.

More Inspiration: Brandon Lucas Talks Staying Hopeful, Working With Dr. Cornel West & Empowering Dance Producers Of Color

Can you explain the Power of the One a little more, both like musical technique and the philosophy?

Well, actually The Power of the One grew out of when I worked with James Brown, he was always saying to the band, "You got to put it on the one. Give me that one and you can play everything else, but just hit it on the one." On every measure you count, the emphasis is on that down beat. To this day, even on a computer, when you have a four by four [beat], you got that one. You'll hear that click louder on the emphasis on that one beat. That brings everybody's focus to it.

This is where we all meet up, right here on the one. I, out of that training with James Brown, I took that over to Parliament-Funkadelic and George Clinton made a whole concept out of everything's on the one. He even made a record called "Everything Is On The One." I guess with all of that growing and experiencing the one, it grew to me as even bigger than just being a musical term. Now for me, it's more everybody is part of the Power of the One.

It's like everybody's around that one wall and everybody gets that certain frequency all at the same time and that wall will come down. That's the Power of the One. We just have to realize that that's what we got to do, everybody's got to be in sync with each other. Once we began to be in sync with each other, all of this mess that we're going through falls down. I want to get people to realize that we do have that power within ourselves.

We got to get focused and quit running from each other. We've got to all come together on the one and that's when you get the Power of the One. I'm just trying to redirect people to come together. It doesn't matter who your father is—I just have to respect your father and you have to respect mine. That's the Power of the One, when you realize that none of that stuff really matters.

We're all on this spaceship mother earth and we're traveling through time and space on earth. This is our mothership. Nobody's throwing us out. We're on it together and the sooner we realize that, the better. Because you can't be here and be better than somebody else. I'm not better than nobody else. Out here, I'm just like you.

It's really about us getting along and getting together while we're here. This is the opportunity for us. It's just like this album. This album was the opportunity to put all these beautiful people together that are not necessarily supposed to be together on a record. I'm just crazy enough to believe that if we can do it on an album, we can certainly can do this in a world like we have today.

That's mainly the reason I wanted to do something like this, to show that it's bigger than all of us. It's much bigger than what I think it should be or what you think it should be. It's much bigger than that and that's the Power of the One that's within all of us. No one's got it more, no one's got it less. Everybody has their power, you just have to develop it.

"It's really about us getting along and getting together while we're here. This is the opportunity for us. It's just like this album. This album was the opportunity to put all these beautiful people together that are not necessarily supposed to be together on a record. I'm just crazy enough to believe that if we can do it on an album, we can certainly can do this in a world like we have today."

That's some philosophy right there.

[Laughs.] I hope you got it down. I'd like to read that book myself. [Laughs.] Oh, man. That's the top layer at least. I'll have to keep digging and we'll get more of it coming up. For now, that's where I'm at. I just want people to respect and believe in each other, and dig in on each other. We got to get back to having some kind of fun. I think that's got a lot to do with why this has happened. These kinds of tragedies, it's like man, if you can't wake up after this, you're already dead. I know we're not dead now.

We're being hard headed. We are thinking we're something that we're not. We're all human. We haven't transformed yet into that other frequency. Until then, we got to deal with each other. We got to start learning how to because we've been learning the complete opposite. Now, the One has introduced us, now you have to know and love and trust each other. There's no other alternative now. We are past that point. It's either that or the other craziness.

Read: I Met Her in Philly: D'Angelo's 'Brown Sugar' Turns 25

I feel that. There are a lot of really great collabs on the album, but I wanted to talk specifically about the creative process behind "Jam On" with Snoop Dogg and Brandon Taz. How did that one happen?

Oh, man. That was a track that Snoop and I had done and hadn't really finished. We did it for another album. It was like, man, that track would show a lot of fun and that you can mix different things and come up with something that is not new in a sense, but I guess fresh for today. It brings the old with the new, the guitar playing from Taz, his new energy that he's got, with Snoop's raps and my own peace vibe going on. I thought that would be a beautiful, what you would call, a sandwich or a dinner. Sure enough, it was so easy to put together. I talked to Taz, then I went to see him at a concert. This was all before the pandemic hit.

We got to vibing and I was like, "Man, we should go in the studio." And sure enough, we went to Sweetwater and recorded all of his stuff. And Snoop and myself, we did our parts here at the Bootcave [his home studio]. We got lucky on that song, because got about 60 percent done with the album [before the pandemic] and the rest of it we had to start sending out on WeTransfer, that kind of stuff.

We send them to artists and they send you back what they did and then you get on the phone and talk about what needs to change, what key to go to and this, that and the other. That was a much harder way of recording than being in the studio with the actual person. That's when it's really fun. I got a 50/50 deal on recording this album—recording half live and then the other 50 percent we had to record basically on the internet.

That was something I had to get used to, but at the same time, I don't think I'll ever get used to that. But I learned how to do it, enough to get it done. We started adding horns, all kinds of different stuff, but I had to send the actual file to the person. That particular song, "Jam On," we got that pretty much done in the studio, so that was a blessing because we had fun doing it.



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No Hope if we Don't Vote! Never thought I would be Saying That as the Co-Captain of the Mothership & Long Head Sucka of this Universe! I have Time Traveled for many year's & I can tell u we will Git Ova the Hump! Bootsy baby!!!

A post shared by William "Bootsy" Collins (@bootsy_collins) on Oct 18, 2020 at 1:50pm PDT

I'm sure so much of creating funk music is being in the studio together riffing off each other and going with the flow. That must have been different to not have that tangible element of it for part of the album.

Yeah, yeah. It's totally different. It's just like you and the guy you're talking to, it's different when you're together than when you talk on the phone. The phone is the next best thing, but being together, there is nothing like that. That's the start of the difference right there. It's like when you can actually touch the guitar, when you actually see what the bass player is playing, you can actually hear what the singer or rapper is singing or rapping. You can actually see them. It's like, wow. This is so cool.

You lose all of that part, so I think it's cool for people that are growing up doing it that way. But if you're not used to doing it like that, it's a different ball game. It is something you have to learn on the job. Like I say, it's good to know the new way of recording and stuff. I think I'll continue to learn, but nothing is going to take the place of actually being in the bed together. It's like, "How are you doing?" "Oh, I'm okay. I'm laying in the bed by myself." I'm like, "Yeah, I wish I was there." [Laughs.]

Bootsy Collins Shares Gratitude For Loyal Fans

Related: George Benson Talks Tribute Album To Chuck Berry & Fats Domino: "The Songs are Still Ripe"

What is your favorite part of collaborating and how was it adapting that, like you were saying, during quarantine?

Well, it was really cool for me with the collaborating part because I got a chance to collaborate with people that I hadn't before. Like Branford Marsalis, who's just the greatest. His genre is jazz and he's just an incredible saxophonist and I never got a chance to record with him [before]. We talked about it, we've been to each other's shows and stuff, but we never actually did anything together.

That was a highlight for me to play with him and to play with Christian McBride, who plays the upright bass. He is just incredible and to have him in the studio and watch him play it. That was my first instrument that I was supposed to learn how to play on, but I found out I just couldn't play that big, old upright bass. It was too much work, man. I had to carry it home from school. The girls would look and laugh at me. It was like, "Ah man. I got to get me a new instrument." So, for him to bring that big, old bass to the Bootcave and hook it up and start playing it, it was just a great experience.

And then to have George Benson? Come on, you can't get no bigger than that. He's played with all the jazz greats. To have him want to get on the album—I had no idea that he really wanted to play on the record until I talked to him. We always have done festivals together in passing, but we never got a chance to work together.

I got a chance to work with some of the best, the people that I looked up to, and I got a chance to work with the young ones, like Kingfish, that are the new musicians. Speaking of Taz, he's 17 years old. And Kingfish is 19 now. These guys are just blowing the roof off with the guitar playing. To have this kind of energy around, for me, is the cream of the crop. It don't come no better. Then on "Lips Turn Blue" there's Emmaline. She's like a young, fresh Ella Fitzgerald. The way she sings, her voice takes you back to that time. But she's just out of college. She's just so sharp and professional.

To be around these people, they made the record become what it is because to have the older people with the younger people and everyone in-between, all this going on on the record and just making music together. It's like making love, it's like making friends. In a time like we're in now to do that, what else could you ask for? It's just a great feeling. I can tell you, I know they had the same kind of feeling.

It was just a great way to express yourself in a time where you're supposed to be locked up and locked down. Everybody's got a chance to release that feeling and we got a chance to put it on a record to share it with the world. I wasn't looking at the big picture, I was just looking at whatever song we were doing, putting our whole heart and soul into it. I didn't have to tell nobody to do that because everybody was ready. You didn't have to tell anyone, "Man, I want you to love this song." They just loved it. You could tell they loved it.

I think it's more amazing because of the time that we're living in right now. It affects us much more now because I think before we have taken music and people for granted. We've taken everything for granted. We thought it was always going to be great, we were going to be working all the time. All of a sudden, they pull the gigs away from us. No more festivals, no more club dates, no more Colosseum dates.

All of that stuff, it didn't just happen to the music world. Everybody had to push the reset button, like "Wait a minute, what the heck is going on?" We are still going through that and we have to figure out ways to do things differently. I'm hoping this album, The Power of the One, helps reset people to know that, "Hey, we got to deal with each other. Ain't nobody going nowhere. We're all in this together."

Listen: Unearthing A Lost Ella Fitzgerald Recording, 60 Years Later

You've also worked with a lot of younger musicians over the years on their projects, like Snoop and many others. What does mentorship mean to you and why is it important?

Oh, man. I would say because it gives you what you really need. It's like the energy that you've shared all your life, it comes back to you through the young musicians and artists. When I got with James Brown, I didn't understand about the energy and how it excited him. He was excited by the energy that we brought. I didn't really understand that until I got older and I started realizing, "Okay, this is what he was talking about and this is what he was feeling." Once you get older, you start feeling it, especially when you start having grandkids. Oh my God, those guys have got energy up the wazoo. I never knew that I was like that at one time.

At some point, I was as crazy as they were. That crazy energy can be turned into something and when it is, it can be magical. Some of these kids are able to turn it into something and you'd really be surprised. You just have to be in the mix and that's why I make sure I'm always in the mix, that I'm always learning from the younger people. And hopefully they're learning something from me, but I'm not in it for me.

I'm in it to learn something that I didn't know how to do. Coming from them, that's a beautiful thing. I look forward to that. A lot of older people look at kids like, "Oh, they can't teach me nothing." But I don't agree with that. I would like to continue to learn from them and be around them because they make me younger, they make me feel young. It's a great energy and hopefully I'm as good to them as they are to me.

How Buddy Guy Finally Broke Into The US Top 50 More Than 50 Years Into His Career

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Photo credit: GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images

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2021 GRAMMYs Nominations To Be Announced Nov. 24 harvey-mason-jr-announce-2021-grammys-nominations-special-guests-nov-24

Harvey Mason Jr. To Announce 2021 GRAMMYs Nominations With Special Guests On Nov. 24

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The 63rd GRAMMY Award nominees in all 84 categories will be revealed during a star-studded livestream at 9:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. ET
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Oct 21, 2020 - 10:16 am

The wait is—almost over! On Nov. 24, we will finally know who the 63rd GRAMMY Award nominees are. The big announcement will happen during an hour-long livestream beginning at approximately 9:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. ET.

Chair and Interim Recording Academy President/CEO Harvey Mason Jr. will be joined by past GRAMMY winners, nominees and hopefuls from remote locations across the country as he reveals the nominees for all 84 categories. The virtual party will stream live on GRAMMY.com. Immediately following, all nominees for the 84 categories will be released via press release, on GRAMMY.com and the Recording Academy's social media platforms.

Related: Looking Ahead To The 2021 GRAMMY Awards

The 63rd GRAMMY Awards will be broadcast on CBS, Sun., Jan. 31 at 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT.

Follow the Recording Academy / GRAMMYs on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and use #GRAMMYs to join the conversation as it begins to unfold on Nov. 24.

Participating Talent For 2021 GRAMMY Nominations Announced: Dua Lipa, Sharon Osbourne, Imogen Heap And More

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