Funk Legend George Clinton Jokes He Went on 'The Masked Singer' to 'Be Relevant Again'

Totally funkadelic!

Funk legend George Clinton popped up on The Masked Singer Wednesday, being unmasked as Gopher on the show's Hall of Fame Night. The musician, 81, thinks the show's zany characters fit right in with his band Parliament Funkadelic.

"I've liked the show for a while," Clinton tells PEOPLE. "It was kind of down my alley. All the characters look like they should be in P-Funk! That's a little kid in the toy store."

Clinton performed "It's Your Thing" by The Isley Brothers and garnered a range of guesses from Martin Lawrence and George Wallace to Flavor Flav and Lil Nas X.

"It was a nice combination of personalities that I've known over the years," Clinton says.

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Michael Becke/FOX; getty

He ultimately lost out to Bride in the Battle Royale round, but his experience reminded him of taking off in The Mothership with P-Funk during their stadium tours, which he names as a career highlight.

Clinton teases an actual trip to space, discusses new music and reflects on his decades-long career.

Why did you want to go on The Masked Singer?

I saw my friends on there: Dionne Warwick, T-Pain. When I saw that, I said, "Here we go. Time to be relevant again. I can do this."

You've performed for decades, but how was this experience different than what you're used to?
They had that big old hot suit, that was much different. Just being incognito, the suspense, that's a whole 'nother thing. And all the security that it takes to protect that. All of that was pretty exciting.

What was it like inside that gopher costume?
Hot as hell. It used to be hot just putting on the suit to wear in The Mothership. This was tenfold.

You seemed to have fun with the Gopher costume — how did you craft that character?
It reminded me so much of Bootsy [Collins]. I kind of knew how to play him. And as a kid, I always liked cowboys.

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You talked in your clue package about paving the way for the funk genre. What does it mean to you to see what it's grown into today?
I'm still being surprised at it. Funk is the DNA in hip-hop and that being so big around the world. I'm getting another whole occupation. I'm a painter. I just opened my art in L.A., so the history of the music, and the costumes, and the shows that we did is a big subject of the art world. I'm relieving all this over and over again. And it keeps me relevant. I'm liking it. I call myself a TikTok personality.

I'm sure when you were first getting started, you couldn't have even imagined how artists would come up on social media.
No, I couldn't imagine doing it, but I knew they would be doing something that I didn't know about. I remember sitting in a movie in Boston, watching Fantasia in 2001. And in 2001, the lady was on the phone talking back to Earth to her family via a TV set. And I said, "I'm going to remember when this happens." I made it a point to keep that stored in my mind, so when I started seeing the FaceTime, [I thought], this is what they were saying was going to happen.

Michael Becke/FOX

It was Hall of Fame Night on The Masked Singer, so what do you consider some of the biggest accomplishments of your career?
Flying off on The Mothership was one. Going underwater in Aqua Boogie. Just being a part of this whole technological world of digital music and all of that, being around to watch that as it traveled from the pen and paper to metadata. It's satisfying.

Are you working on any new music?
Definitely. We got lots of new music that I'm working with people, lots of collabs that I'm doing this new album with people that everybody will be aware of. I don't want to give that away. I want to keep that like The Masked Singer. But it's with some pretty famous producers and writers, along with myself and the band.

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Is there anyone you still want to work with?
Probably Smokey Robinson.

What else are you hoping to accomplish in your career?
Whatever is going on, I want to be a part of it. I don't know what it is. I just keep myself open. Definitely get on into outer space. I wanted to be on one of those rides that they take pretty soon. Why not? I know the route.

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The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.