Montreal’s Busty and the Bass loves its funk. So the octet is, not surprisingly, over the moon about having one of the gods of funk, George Clinton, guesting on its new single, “Baggy Eyed Dopeman,” premiering exclusively below.
“It was pretty cool,” singer-saxophonist Nick Ferraro tells Billboard with acknowledged understatement. “We sent it to him and we had the vocals kind of set. He sent his shit back and I was like, ‘Oh shit — I’ve got to redo everything I did!’ So I went back in and was trying to close my eyes and pretend we were in there together — which was easy, ’cause he’s such a strong presence on the record. I was happy we did that, ’cause we all felt like we had to take it to another level with him on there.”
The Busty crew has yet to meet Clinton, in fact; The appearance was arranged by producer Neal Pogue. “It seems very removed, but at the same time it seems close,” noted keyboardist Alistair Blu, who wrote the track. “We’ve seen videos of him playing the song and painting to it (on Instagram). It’s a funny relationship.”
