What happens if you mix a little rock-n-roll with a heaping teaspoon of soul, a dash of fiery car chases, and a splash of Kill Bill? You get “Phat Blunt,” the new axes-and-action-flick music video by New York’s Miss Velvet and the Blue Wolf, featuring Grammy-winner and Rock-n-Roll Hall of Famer George Clinton, the world’s first and only Funkmaster General.
The “Phat Blunt” video begins with frontwoman Miss Velvet being kidnapped by gangsters in three-piece suits. While Miss Velvet is held captive, the band’s keyboardist, co-writer, and producer — Constance Hauman — hits up George Clinton as he’s kicking it in the Caribbean. With his friend in jeopardy, George puts his vacation on hold to help with Miss Velvet’s rescue. Hijinks immediately ensue with kung fu in kimonos, motorcycle bandits, and an epic, neon-lit showdown in downtown Tokyo.
“When we first performed ‘Phat Blunt’ in Las Vegas, George saw us and did his famous whistle — the whistle he makes when he loves something,” Hauman told MERRY JANE. Later, the band gave him a recorded version of track, sans his contribution, “and he couldn’t believe how fast we’d gotten it done. So, we came to New York, we went to Studio G in Brooklyn, and it was… just amazing to hear him freestyle everything.”
“After we heard what George had laid down in the studio, and we started putting his voice to the music,” Hauman continued, “we knew that ‘Phat Blunt’ was the song we’re going to do a video for.” That’s when she reached out to the hip-hop visual maestro Gabriel “Video God” Hart, who had directed music videos for George Clinton in the past.
Hart describes “Phat Blunt’s” stylish, horn-driven diesel-fest as a “mini-movie.” The video was shot across four countries on three continents that Parliament-Funkadelic and Miss Velvet and the Blue Wolf recently visited during their latest tour, which included the same scenic detours through Japan, Hawaii, and Australia featured in the video.
“Making this video was similar to creating a song or a great jam session,” Hart wrote to MERRY JANE. To develop “Phat Blunt’s” video concept, Hart joined Miss Velvet and the Blue Wolf, George, and P-Funk during their latest month-long world tour.
“We had a vague idea in the beginning, but I was asked to wait and develop the story as we traveled, to write it as we played off of the spontaneous inspiration of the epic locations, of the audiences, and of having the great experience of traveling with George Clinton, who has inspired and touched us all,” Hart recounted. “As I got to know the band, their varied personalities, their relationships to each other and to George, the story revealed itself.”
Will Dr. Funkenstein reach Miss Velvet in time? Will there even be bad guys left for George to tackle, or will Miss Velvet handle her captors all on her own? To find out, strap yourself into The Mothership, roll the phattest Backwoods blunt you can, and blow some ultra-dank smoke clouds to the world premiere of “Phat Blunt.”
You can also find “Phat Blunt” on Miss Velvet and the Blue Wolf’s sophomore release, Feed the Wolf, produced and published by Isotopia Records.
And for more on George Clinton, revisit his guest appearance on our 4:20 talk show, “About That Time”:
