If ever there was a shoo-in for CREEM Dreem, it would be the one and only William Collins, a.k.a. “Bootsy,” a.k.a. “Bootzilla.” The former member of James Brown backing band the J.B’s, the legendary Parliament-Funkadelic, and Bootsy’s Rubber Band has been conjuring the dark forces of the dance floor to create funk music since the dawn of the genre more than half a century ago. Gen-Xers, you can thank this star-spectacled gentleman for the funky tracks that thrusted pelvises and landed you on this green earth, while you millennials-or-later can be equally grateful that a zillion rappers sampled those same sounds, with the same results. The godfather of the get down allowed us into his Cincinnati inner sanctum to see where all those sexy juices marinate and penetrate his psyche. When it comes to the bass—and the boudoir—there’s no knockin’ Bootsy.

Thanks for reading CREEM. This article originally appeared in our Fall 2023 issue. Explore the full mag in our archive, buy a copy here, and subscribe for more.