In a recent interview on AV Club, George Clinton (not Bill) talks about all kinds of funky stuff, including Tool:
AVC: Who do you think will carry on the torch of funk?
GC: There’re no young bands. Most of us have been around a while, but most of the hip-hop and rappers have bands now that are really pretty funky. Eminem, even though we’ve known him for years, when he was 14 or 15, Mystikal–he was getting ready to be the shit. Then you got some funky groups like [Red Hot] Chili Peppers. Though they’re like some R&B acts: When you get a few hits, you end up on the pop side of it. They could easily flip it. They have that kind of mentality. Then you’ve got a lot of metal-punk bands that’re really, really funky. Tool and groups like that. That’s some funky shit. They be playing with time and like jazz, but it’s straight off the punk-rock scene.
Nice interview. In other news just at hand the AV Club also interviewed Maynard!