LA’s funkiest giant Tolliver returns with a video that’s equal parts Booty Collins, Rick James and Sylvester, a sugar rush filled with fever dream colors, dance breaks, and petty theft.
‘Booyabaze’ is a funk you to scammers and a champagne popping celebration of excess, pride, and getting what’s yours.
The song and video harken back to a 70s funk heyday when platform boots and sequins were a staple of black artistry. Built around a fiery synth, neck-snapping bass, and a backbreaking drum beat, the song feels like injecting pure fun into your veins.
It’s produced by Grammy-nominated duo Wesley Singerman and Taylor Dexter (John Baptiste) and Pacific Northwest Virtuoso producer and artist Chong the Nomad (Donormaal). This track is relentless and features long instrumental dance breaks and possibly the finest guitar solo on record this year. Just in the nick of time!
Tolliver said of the track:
My therapist office tried to scam me out of like five thousand dollars. I walked into the studio after having just gotten their email saying I owed them this money, and I was mad as hell! And a little hungover.
We also recorded across the street from a couple of trap houses, so I was just in a real particular headspace. These three incredible, grammy-nominated producers (Taylor Dexter, Chong the Nomad, and Wesley Singerman), immediately started putting down some funk and their studio neighbor brought over some spam musubi, and boom, life was good again.
Went into the booth and recorded this jam about getting mine and getting revenge on the non-stop scammers I seem to encounter. Probably took me an hour to write and record the whole thing.
Hope you dig it! Please send it to Bootsy Collins.
Check out the Booyabaze video below and catch Tolliver with LA Times 404 at The Lodge Room in LA on January 12th.