By the end of seventies, legendary Parliament/Funkadelic front man, George Clinton, had a built a following paralleled only The Grateful Dead. His amazing ability to fuse diverse musical styles into the funk sound predominantly found in many hip-hop recordings today, stands as an amazing accomplishment.

By the early eighties, George Clinton's P-Funk Empire included a large number of acts, many of which were signed to different labels. Six Degrees of P-Funk is a compilation of several such acts which at the time were signed to Columbia and Epic Records. The album features music from George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Junie Morrison, Mutiny (Jerome Bailey), Philippe Wynne, and Bootsy Collins one-off productions, Sweat Band & Mico Wave.

The mix of funk on Six Degrees of P-Funk goes as deep as 1979 on the Mutiny's two contributions: 'Lump' and 'Funk N Bop.' In fact, these two oldest songs are by far the funkiest and most appealing songs on the album. Philippe Wynne shines on the 1980 fast-lipped R&B meets funk 'Never Gonna Tell It.' Junie Morrison's 'Rappin About Rappin' is lyrically simple, but this Sugarhill Gang parody is still appealing. The P-Funk All Stars also liven things up with the weird, yet party funky 'Pumpin It Up' and the grindin hip-hop influenced 'If Anybody Gets Funked Up' which features Erick Sermon.

As the album progresses, the sound develops into a more synthesized adaptation of the funk, characteristic of the late eighties. The contributions of Bootsy Collins ('Party on Plastic' & 'Leakin' circa 1988) and Mico Wave ('Instant Replay' & 'Misunderstood' circa 1987) show a progression to an eighties-inspired sound not conducive to the aural appeal of a true P-Funk fan.

I found Six Degrees of P-Funk varied too heavily with regard to the soundscape it portrayed. I was looking forward to a nice P-Funk album full of that true funk reminiscent of George Clinton's late seventies dynasty. Instead, I only got a few bites of the thick juicy funk steak, and had to endure some olives on the side.

Click here to buy the album at amazon.com