Funk music legend George Clinton is giving Kendrick Lamar his flowers.
In a tribute for The New York Times Magazine’s “30 Greatest Living American Songwriters” list, Clinton praised Lamar’s songwriting and compared his long-term cultural impact to music institutions like Motown, Sly Stone and The Beatles.
Clinton said Lamar stands apart from many modern lyricists because of the emotional depth behind his work.
“I’ll put it like this: He, along with Motown, Sly Stone, the Beatles — that kind of institution is going to last,” Clinton said. “There are a lot of slick writers out here nowadays with lyrics and things, but he writes with soul.”
The 84-year-old Parliament-Funkadelic icon also praised Lamar’s maturity, saying that even when they first met, the rapper carried himself with the wisdom of someone much older.
Clinton described Lamar as “like a psychiatrist on record,” explaining that he tackles uncomfortable subjects most people avoid and does it so naturally that it changes the conversation around them.
“He talks about s— that most people are afraid to talk about,” Clinton said. “He’s at that point where he can move the conversation.”
George Clinton Compared “To Pimp a Butterfly” to Marvin Gaye
Clinton specifically highlighted Lamar’s 2015 album “To Pimp a Butterfly,” calling it one of the strongest examples of his artistry.
He said the project felt like one complete body of work rather than separate songs and compared it to Marvin Gaye’s iconic album “What’s Going On.”
“That whole ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ album, it was like one song to me,” Clinton said in The New York Times Magazine. “It was like Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On.’”
The two artists also share real musical history. Clinton and Lamar previously collaborated on “Wesley’s Theory,” the opening track of “To Pimp a Butterfly,” and later worked together on the Funkadelic remix of “Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard on You?”
The New York Times also described Lamar as an artist whose songs aim to mean more than most others, calling them emotional “X-rays” of both himself and the listener. The piece highlighted how his music blends personal storytelling with bigger conversations around identity, guilt, pride, money and morality.
The outlet also pointed to Lamar’s 2024 rap battle with Drake as proof of how powerful and fearless he is as a writer, noting that even in conflict, his songwriting carried major cultural weight.The praise comes after Lamar made history at the 2026 Grammy Awards by becoming the most-awarded rapper ever with 27 wins, surpassing Jay-Z’s previous record of 25, per People.
Why George Clinton’s Praise Carries So Much Weight
Clinton is considered one of the most influential figures in funk music history.
As the mastermind behind Parliament and Funkadelic, he helped create the signature P-Funk sound by blending gospel, soul, psychedelic rock, doo-wop and funk into something completely original.
Clinton first broke through with “(I Wanna) Testify” in 1967 before building Parliament-Funkadelic into one of the most influential music collectives ever, per iHeartRadio. Their hits included “Flash Light,” “One Nation Under a Groove,” “(Not Just) Knee Deep” and Clinton’s solo smash “Atomic Dog.”
His influence reaches far beyond funk. His music has been sampled by artists including Snoop Dogg, OutKast, Dr. Dre, 2Pac and Kendrick Lamar, earning him the title of a hip-hop godfather.
Parliament-Funkadelic was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, and Clinton received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy in 2019.
With that kind of legacy behind him, Clinton’s words carried extra weight when he summed up Lamar’s artistry in one simple line: “He writes with soul.”
