By Gregg Shapiro

Contributing writer

For more than 30 years, first as a member of the essential 1970s funk unit Rufus and then later as an inimitable solo artist, Chaka Khan has been one of the fiercest divas of her generation. Elevated to icon status, Khan has found a way to pay her respects to her predecessors by recording albums of standards over the years. But one listen to her latest, “Funk This” (Burgundy), and you know that her heart beats a funky rhythm. Funk is the dominant force here, from opener “Back In The Day” to the dramatic dazzle of “Foolish Fool,” the finger-popping “Will You Love Me?,” the powerhouse pairing of Khan and Mary J. Blige on “Disrespectful” and the faithful reading of Prince’s “Sign O' The Times.” This is funk at its finest and Chaka at the height of her powers as a performer.

Gregg Shapiro: You make reference to Chicago on “Back in the Day”—how much did being from Chicago inform your love of funk?

Chaka Khan: It influenced it profoundly! I make reference to Chicago all the time, by the way (big laugh), in song and out. I think it’s a great training ground, as far as diversity. It’s got so much to offer, in a good way and in bad ways. I was raised around the University of Chicago—my formative years were there. So I learned to communicate with all sorts of people on many levels. That was a great thing for me. I think it’s a gorgeous city. I think there’s something psychic going on with that piece of land being a part of the Great Lakes region, which also gives it, at the risk of sounding like a palm reader or something (laughs) or crazy, I think it has something magical about it.

GS: Especially when it’s not winter.

CK: (laughs) Well, that’s when you can detect it best!

GS: Speaking of funk, you cover Rufus on the medley “Packed My Bags/You Got The Love”—how did that come to be?

CK: As I went into the studio with the preconception of being the singer that made people fall in love with my voice in the first place, I just wanted to strip naked and start at the beginning and drop all the crap, all the baggage and go in and do this. We did a lot of it live and on analog. It was a wonderful experience. It just seemed right (to cover “You Got the Love”), since I was doing cover songs, as well. My label wanted me to do equal cover songs to the (number of) new ones. So, I said, “Let me do some of my cover songs, some of my faves.” (It was done) in hopes of educating some of the people as to who this is.

GS: A history lesson.

CK: Yeah, in a sense.

GS: Mary J. Blige can be heard singing with you on “Disrespectful.” Can you tell me how that came about?

CK: She and I have been friends since the beginning of her career. And we’ve been threatening to do something together (laughs) for a long time. The opportunity finally presented itself. When I went into the studio she already had a track laid down. She’d pretty much written the song already. I just put my bit in and there we are. I think it really is a tour de force.

GS: You have a long history with Joni Mitchell, dating back 30 years to her “Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter” album to the present day when you cover “Ladies’ Man” on “Funk This.” What does Joni mean to you?

CK: Everything! (laughs) Everything. She’s my idol. I think she’s intellectually amazingly astute. I think her artistry is unbounded. She is somebody I’d like to be like.

GS: Mary J. Blige isn’t your only duet partner on “Funk This.” You are joined by Michael McDonald on “You Belong to Me,” a song he also performed as one of the Doobie Brothers.

CK: Exactly!

GS: Is that why you chose him to sing with you?

CK: I chose him because I love his voice (laughs). I love Michael McDonald. I think he’s so hot. All women do. I don’t know one woman that when they hear his voice—it’s like Luther (Vandross). I can’t think of a woman when she hears Michael’s tones and his voice that doesn’t have something to say about it. That has to do with sexy and moving them in a very profound way. And he does the same thing to me (laughs). So who better?

GS: “I’m Every Woman” is something of a signature song for you. …Does the song still have special meaning to you almost 30 years after it was first released?

CK: It has a lot of meaning! It’s an empowering song. The only regret that I have about that is that I sang, “I’m every woman.” If I could have sung, “I’m every human” or something. If there was a word in the English language that could refer to men and women in a good and cool way, as opposed to people. I couldn’t have sung (sings), “I’m every man and woman” (laughs). It’s truly an empowering song for people—they can do anything they want and they have it naturally.

GS: How would you rate your awareness of your following in the gay community?

CK: It appears to be quite high (laughs)! And when asked why, I don’t know. Maybe it’s the little butch in me or something (laughs). I think gay people are more acute. They are a lot more like my European audiences that really do listen to lyrics and really get what you’re trying to stay. It’s a sensitivity. I think it has to do with the sensitive aspect of being gay.