GEORGE CLINTON — Hey Man... Smell My Finger (review)

GEORGE CLINTON — Hey Man... Smell My Finger album cover Album · 1993 · Funk Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Warthur
One of George Clinton's most uncharacteristic solo albums, Hey Man Smell My Finger came out in the midst of the widespread embrace and rediscovery of the P-Funk canon by the hip-hop community, particularly through the G-Funk style in gangsta rap which had been embraced by the likes of Dr Dre and Ice Cube - both of whom make guest appearances here, in one of the first recorded fruits of their reconciliation following the breakup of NWA.

Responding to the new audience for his music, George Clinton set about crafting a hip-hop based album which featured extensive rapping, sampling of older P-Funk albums, and electronic beats. This isn't such a departure for Clinton - callbacks to older songs and narration verging on rapping having been features of previous Parliament and Funkadelic albums - but on the whole the experiment only has average results.

It doesn't really make sense to assess it using the criteria I'd usually judge P-Funk albums by, since it isn't really a funk album; as far as G-Funk hip-hop albums go, it's a good effort and certainly no embarrassment, but it isn't stellar either. It lacks the gleeful transgressive edge that the best albums in the G-Funk vein such as Dr. Dre's The Chronic or Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle boast, and the beats Clinton cooks up are nowhere near as catchy as the best rap anthems - or the top-flight P-Funk songs. It's an interesting experiment but Clinton isn't really playing to his strengths here.
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