Wiz Khalifa Wants to Get Funked Up, Will Play George Clinton in Biopic

Tear the Roof Off: Wiz Khalifa and George Clinton

Rapper and Top CelebStoner Wiz Khalifa has signed on to portray George Clinton in Spinning Gold, a film about music-industry mogul Neil Bogart, who headed Casablanca Records when Clinton's band Parliament was on the label.

Parliment is the funk side of Clinton's larger unit, Parliament Funkedelic; Funkadelic is the rock side. Parliament signed to Casablanca in 1974. They released nine albums on the label from 1974-1980, all of which are legendary. Mothership Connection (1975) and Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome (1977) made the Top 20 and two songs - "Tear the Roof Off the Sucker (Give Up the Funk)" (No. 15. 1976) and "Flash Light" (No. 16, 1978) - were hits.

Bogart led the label during the industry's heydey in the '70s and early '80s. After founding the Buddah label, he turned his attention to Casablanca, signing Donna Summer, KISS, the Village People and Parliament. But Bogart's life was cut short by cancer in 1982 when he was just 39. 

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Justin Timberlake was originally attached to the biopic, but bowed out; Jeremy Jordan will play Bogart. In addition to Jordan and Khalifa, other cast members include Tayla Parx (Summer), Ledisi (Gladys Knight), Jay Pharoah, Michelle Monaghan, Jason Isaacs, Jason Derulo, Dan Fogler, Chris Redd, Michael Ian Black and Vinnie Pastore. It's written and directed by Bogart’s son, Timothy Scott Bogart. Production is currently underway in New Jersey, according to Deadline.

In 2012, Khalifa co-starred with Snoop Dogg in Mac & Devin Go to High School. His latest mixtape, Taylor Nights, came out in February.

 

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Steve Bloom

Steve Bloom

Publisher of CelebStoner.com, former editor of High Times and Freedom Leaf and co-author of Pot Culture and Reefer Movie Madness.