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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 19, 2024)
June 19, 2024 Page 7 Arts & ENTERTAINMENT Album of the Year: #1 Funkateer Bootsy Collins Announces New Album When recording the Song “Al- bum of the Year #1 Funkateer,” Bootsy Collins had a very specif- ic vibe in mind. “I wanted to give the people what they wanted back in the Seventies: a sense of hope, joy, and freedom,” he tells Rolling Stone. “For the people that were not there, it’s a first taste of what it felt like back in the day to be a ‘Funkateer,’ to have party peo- ple that you can look up to, to get down with, without shame, but rather with a form of freedom, and self-expression. With Collins’ bulging low end and the heavy rhythms he and his band mates keep “on the one,” the track echoes the party-starting funk Collins recorded through- out the Seventies with Parlia- ment-Funkadelic and his own Rubber Band. “I guess I better make it clear, this is my album of the year,” he sings matter-of-fact- ly. “And if you wanna be the #1 Funkateer, you just put it on the wall and then bring up the rear.” Bootsy Collins. Photo Credit: Joseph Ross Smith Collins’ bass just slaps back and forth between the horns and all his guest vocalists. The track serves as the introduction to the funk star’s upcoming 23rd album, also titled Album of the Year #1 Funkateer. The album comes out Oct.25. “Once I keyed in on what I was diggin’ for, the song came togeth- er organically,” Collins says. “I had [the band] Lettuce record a live version of a groove we used to open the show with [‘Ahh… The Name is Bootsy, Baby’]. I kept listening to it, and it felt so good that I felt I was onstage in the Seventies. I thought, ‘Nah, that has to go on a Bootsy’s Rub- ber Band album.’ So I re-recorded it once again with the emphasis on hip-hop and funk. “The concept of the song was to acknowledge that funk is uni- versal and present day just like people,” he continues. “The pow- er of ‘The One’ [Collins’ term for funk’s rhythmic thrust] gave me the courage and honor to grant all Funkateers this highest honor by granting each one with the ‘Al- bum of the Year.’ After all, what vitamin do you have to take to be a Funkateer? B-1.” Like previously released track “The Influencers,” the song sets up the vibe of Album of the Year #1 Funkateer. The LP’s 17 songs feature appearances by Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Ice Cube, Musiq Soulchild, and former Eu- rythmics member Dave Stewart. “Most of these artists grew up on my music, so they understand what my music and my presence means to a starving people for great talent and guidance,” Col- lins says. “After all, each one of them are still present day in what they do as well, so we not only like each other for what we do, we respect each other for who we are to this world.” That sentiment also translates to the overarching message of the album, on which Collins calls for unity and hope. “I really wanted to take people’s minds off of all the hate and hostility towards one an- other,” he says. “I wanted to give them something that made them smile if only for a moment. If we could have more cookouts than shootouts, that would be a part of the ‘change is gonna come’ that Sam Cooke was talkin’ bout.” New Larger, Modern Library Holgate Library to Open An opening celebration with ribbon cutting, food, music and fun Multnomah County Library is excited to announce the grand opening of the brand new Hol- gate Library on July 13, 2024. Holgate is the first new, perma- nent library to open in Mult- nomah County in more than a decade and the most energy ef- ficient library ever built in Mult- nomah County. It’s a bright and modern space, built to be open, flexible and sustainable. Multnomah County Library is transforming library spaces as part of a November 2020 capital bond. As a result, the library has rebuilt and expanded Holgate Li- brary as a brand new two-story building. The new library, which Rendering of Holgate Library teen space courtesy of Bora Architecture cost approximately $27 million, is triple the size of the previous 6,400 square foot space, expand- ing to a total of 21,000 square feet — making it one of the largest li- braries in Multnomah County. Recognizing Holgate’s role as a cornerstone of the diverse com- munity in southeast Portland, the new Holgate Library is the result of extensive community and staff engagement with features for ev- eryone in the community to enjoy. To celebrate the opening of the new, expanded Holgate, the library is hosting three, fun-filled days of activities for the community from Saturday, July 13 to Monday, July 15. From Indigenous hoop danc- ers to face painting and more, there will be plenty to do while exploring the new features of Hol- gate Library. Patrons can stay up- to-date on the library website.
