S2 E14: How George Clinton Turned His Obsession Into A Phenomenon

This week on The Hardcore Humanism Podcast, we are talking with the man, the myth, the legend, George Clinton of Parliament Funkadelic. It is hard to overstate Clinton’s influence on music. With a music and stage show so innovative and with an impact on so many genres — everything from Hip Hop to funk to psychedelic and rock music – it’s easy to see why they were given the 2019 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic keeping the funk rolling by playing shows this summer and fall, Clinton is also an accomplished visual artist, including his recent work “Lockdown Series 01.”

I was absolutely thrilled to get a chance to talk with him about how he has approached his life and his career. Naturally, I was curious to try and understand the creative mindset of someone who has had, and continues to have such a prolific artistic career. And one of the main things that George and I talk about is the concept of obsession. Unfortunately, there has generally been a negative connotation to the term obsession. It’s seen as a mental health problem – where you can’t get unwanted thoughts out of your mind. And for many people, especially people who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, this type of obsession can be painful and interfere with our leading a healthy and fulfilling life.

But the term “obsession” can actually refer to a very invigorating and energizing process by which one is consumed by their purpose. This type of obsession feels like as Clinton describes it, when people are “in the zone” or what has been described as “flow.” It’s more like a life affirming drive in which there is something that is so important to us that we throw ourselves into it, and continue to work to make progress – whether it’s our work, art, music, a sport or family and friends. And if we embrace this form of obsession, it can help achieve our life goals as we embrace our authentic selves.

During our conversation, Clinton talks about his obsession with phenomena and the concept of phenomena – remarkable cultural events that go beyond momentary popularity or interest. These are things that seem to transcend and drive our culture and society forward. And it was fascinating to hear Clinton describe his obsession with phenomena since he then went on to create a phenomenon in Parliament Funkadelic that is still contributing to the development and evolution of our culture. And we talk about a concept that I feel is particularly important now, which is the notion of One Nation Under A Groove – which is one of Parliament’s album titles. It’s that vibe that he describes as connecting to the mothership, where we are all invited into the artist’s obsession and can get that good feeling together, if only for a moment. And we can learn so much from George about how we can connect with our mothership — our obsession — so that we can be in the zone and live a purpose-driven life.