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Funk pioneer George Clinton has signed on with Exclusive Solutions Management for representation after the company promised to help him regain the intellectual property he had lost and seek restoration for him monetarily.

“At a time when he should be able to live off his life’s work, Clinton is struggling to provide for his family and give his mother a proper burial,” read a statement from ESM announcing the venture. His mother, Julious G. Keaton, died earlier this month in North Carolina.

The company says Clinton “has received little monetary gain over the past three decades from his musical works, such as “Flashlight” and “One Nation Under a Groove.” Clinton’s smash hit “Atomic Dog” is one of the most sampled songs in history, yet Clinton does not receive any compensation from it since he does not legally own the rights to the song.

Clinton, 68, is also fighting back against his former business partners and managers, Armen Boladian (Bridgeport Music, Inc.) and Nene Montes (Tercer Mundo), who were entrusted to act on Clinton’s behalf as administrators only after the singer filed for bankruptcy in 1984.

“There were several documents that appear to have George’s signature on them which turns most of his publishing and masters over to Boladian and Montes, which caused Clinton to lose all rights and financial gain to all of his songs,” ESM said in the statement. “Clinton asserts that he would not be so careless as to sign over complete rights to his music for a lifetime. This brings to the forefront the ethical relationship between artist and the third parties whom they entrust to take care of their business.”

Clinton, according to ESM, is determined to bring awareness to some of the issues he and other artists face with mismanagement in the music industry.