(Not Just) Knee Deep

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"(Not Just) Knee Deep"
Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)	George Clinton
Producer(s)	George Clinton
Funkadelic singles chronology
"Who Says A Funk Band Can't Play Rock?" (1978) "(Not Just) Knee Deep" (1979) "Uncle Jam" (1979)

"(Not Just) Knee Deep" is a song by the American funk band Funkadelic written by George Clinton. The song was released as a single for their album Uncle Jam Wants You (1979).

The song is widely regarded as a funk classic, peaking at No. 77 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the US R&B charts in 1979.^[1] An edited version of the song, appearing as Side A on the single release, reached number one on the Billboard Black Singles chart.

Composition

The song was written by

and produced by Clinton under the alias "Dr. Funkenstein".

The Funkadelic version is sung by Clinton and several other group members, including Philippé Wynne, who was a former lead singer of the rhythm and blues group, The Spinners, which he left two years earlier.

The lyrics tell of a "girl" who "was a freak of the week" and the man who was dancing with her. He was unimpressed by the

, and the Moose, but was turned on by the Freak.

Personnel

• Lead vocals:
  Walter Morrison, Jessica Cleaves, Philippé Wynne
• Lead guitar: Michael Hampton, Walter "Junie" Morrison
• Keyboards/Synth Bass : Walter "Junie" Morrison
• Drums:
  William "Bootsy" Collins
• Percussion: Larry Fratangelo
• Background vocals: Larry Heckstall, Sheila Horne, Ron Ford, Jeanette McGruder, Dawn Silva, Mike Payne, Greg Thomas, Ray Davis, Mallia Franklin, Lige Curry, James Wesley Jackson, Greg Boyer, Jerome Rogers, Linda Shider

Sampled in other music

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The song has been heavily sampled by many artists.

".

EPMD sampled it in their song "Gold Digger", and Digital Underground used it in two of their songs, "Kiss You Back" and "Bran Nu Swetta".

Rapper

sampled the song for his "Intro/Bomb First (My Second Reply)".

In 1997,

".

Dr. Dre's song, "Fuck wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')" is based on "Knee Deep".^[3]

South Korean girl band Mamamoo song "Um Oh Ah Yeh" from their third mini-album Pink Funky was influenced from it.

Appearances in other media

• Featured in the 1979 episode of Diff'rent Strokes "The Rivals" (Season 2; Episode 10)
• Frequently played by
  Larry "Bud" Melman
  argued about who played the guitar solo on the original recording. Melman proves that it was Michael "Kidd Funkadelic" Hampton—then robs Dave and Paul at gunpoint.
• In the 1997
  insane asylum scene, George Clinton cameos as one of the mental patients who complains about the boring music on the radio, and asks Ed, played by Kel Mitchell
  , to change the station. Ed finds a station playing this song, and the patients subsequently dance to it.
• Featured in the 2001 movie The Wash.
• Featured in the 2003 video game True Crime: Streets of LA.
• Performed by George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars on the FOX television series New York Undercover in 1995.
• Performed by George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars on "Late Night with David Letterman" on June 25, 1991.
• Performed by an animated version of George Clinton (played by himself) in The Cleveland Show episode "When a Man (or a Freight Train) Loves His Cookie."
• Featured in the 2015
  Straight Outta Compton
  .

References

External links

• Song Review at AllMusic