Bootsy Collins, the man who put the funk in Parliament-Funkadelic and taught the world to wiggle, just signed his first artist to Bootzilla Records. His name is Davie. The song is “Soul.” The release date? Juneteenth. Coincidence? Absolutely not.
Collins announced the signing Thursday with the kind of low-key fanfare that only a man who’s played with James Brown and George Clinton can pull off. No stadium. No flashing lights. Just a press release and a promise that the funk is alive and looking for a new home.
Who Is Davie?
Davie is a roots-soul singer from somewhere deep in the American grain—his voice carries dust and church pews and barroom fights. His debut single “Soul” is exactly what you’d expect from a guy whose first move was to sign with Bootsy Collins: it’s raw, it’s real, and it doesn’t apologize for being neither pop nor trap nor whatever the kids are streaming this week.
“Funk is the mothership. Davie’s just the first passenger.” — Bootsy Collins
The track opens with a bass line that could make a dead man tap his foot. Then Davie’s voice comes in — cracked, honest, like he’s been holding this song in his chest for twenty years. There’s no Auto-Tune. No gimmicks. Just a man and a melody and the kind of arrangement that lets you hear the room.
Juneteenth as a Statement
Releasing “Soul” on Juneteenth wasn’t a marketing decision. It was a creed. Collins has always understood that Black music isn’t just entertainment — it’s documentation. It’s liberation. Dropping a record on the day that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States is a reminder that funk, soul, and R&B are freedom songs disguised as party music.
“Soul” isn’t a protest track. It’s not a lecture. It’s a celebration of something that can’t be stolen: the feeling you get when a voice and a bass find the same frequency. That’s Bootzilla Records’ mission statement in four minutes.
Bootzilla Records: A New Chapter
Bootsy Collins has done it all. He’s been a sideman for James Brown. He co-founded Parliament-Funkadelic. He’s got a Grammy, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a pair of star-shaped sunglasses that deserve their own museum. But starting a label at 74? That’s a flex.
Bootzilla Records isn’t some vanity imprint. Collins has been talking about launching his own label for years — a place where artists who don’t fit the streaming algorithm can find a home. “The industry changed,” he told a reporter last year. “But funk don’t change. Funk waits.”
Davie is the first test case. If “Soul” catches fire, expect more signings. Expect a roster that prizes grit over polish. Expect Collins to do what he’s always done: bend the rules until they break, then build something better from the pieces.
The State of Black Music in 2026
Let’s be honest: mainstream R&B and soul have been in a weird place for a decade. The labels want streaming-friendly hooks. The producers want beats that work on TikTok. The artists want to pay rent. Somewhere in that equation, the human element got lost.
Davie’s “Soul” sounds like a correction. No pointless features. No beat switch every 30 seconds to keep the algorithm happy. Just a song that breathes. It’s the kind of record that makes you stop scrolling and just listen.
That’s what Bootsy Collins has always been about. He didn’t invent funk to be a museum piece. He invented it to shake people loose from whatever had them stuck. If Davie is the first soldier in that new army, we’re all in for a good fight.
What Comes Next
Davie’s debut EP is reportedly in the works. Collins has hinted at a full-length album by the end of the year. And if you listen closely to “Soul,” you can hear the blueprint — a label that values artistry over analytics, instinct over focus groups.
Will it work? Who knows. The music business has eaten better men than Bootsy Collins. But the man who wrote “Flash Light” and “One Nation Under a Groove” isn’t betting on the charts. He’s betting on the feeling you get when a bass line locks in and your body forgets how to stay still.
That feeling never goes out of style. And now it has a label to call home.
