''More bass than Bootsy Collins.''

That's the boast used by the Fugees in ''Rumble in the Jungle,'' the theme of the recent Muhammad Ali documentary, When We Were Kings.

When the hip-hop act wanted to evoke a positive, powerful black image to match the film's subject, they chose Cincinnati's leading funk master, the recipient of The Enquirer Cincinnati Area Pop Music Awards (the Cammys) first Michael W. Bany Lifetime Achievement Award.

It's no surprise that in rap's comic hyperbole, ''more bass than Bootsy'' ranks right up there with ''more money than God.'' For more than 30 years, the Cincinnati native has been laying down some of the toughest, funkiest grooves to come out of a bass guitar.

His career has seen its commercial ups and downs, but, through it all, he never strayed far from the funk that took him from tiny clubs to arenas and stadiums the world over.

Bootsy, 45, continues to live in Greater Cincinnati, making his home in Anderson Township with his wife, Patti. He remains active locally, helping young groups such as SHAG when his demanding schedule allows.

He maintains a hectic performing and recording routine, having recently appeared on disc with his old friend, jazz/R&B singer Randy Crawford, as well as young bluesman Lucky Peterson. He's also done sessions with former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar and has even been trying some country-funk fusion. He's working on a new solo album.

Offer from the Godfather

For Bootsy, it all started in Evanston, outside the King Records building at 1540 Brewster Ave. He and his buddies would hang out there, hoping to glimpse their favorite recording stars. Barely a teen-ager, Bootsy was soon onstage himself, playing bass in clubs with the Pacesetters and his older brother, guitarist Phelps ''Catfish'' Collins.

They continued hanging out at King, eventually landing a gig with the biggest King star of them all. In 1970, James Brown needed a new band fast. His old group, the Fabulous Flames, had quit en masse, burned out on the boss' strict discipline (musicians were fined for missing notes or beats) and general tight-fistedness.

As the JBs, the Collins brothers' band cut such classics as ''Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine'' and the last Brown hit on King, 1971's ''Soul Power.'' Bootsy was 16 when he first recorded with the Godfather of Soul.

After that, Bootsy moved on to George Clinton's new band, Parliament-Funkadelic, which mixed JB-style funk with classic soul, Hendrix-style progressive rock and hallucinogenic visual imagery. Shy offstage, onstage Mr. Collins was transformed into Bootzilla, Bass Monster from Outer Space.

Sporting star-shaped sunglasses and matching bass, wearing a glittery jumpsuit and platform boots that made Kiss look dowdy, Bootsy was an unforgettable sight. One of those costumes is enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland. On May 6, Bootsy was inducted into the rock hall as part of Parliament-Funkadelic.

In such P-Funk anthems as ''Tear the Roof Off the Sucker,'' which he co-wrote, Bootsy matched his look with his sound in bigger-than-life, thump-popping, show-stopping grooves.

In a few years his persona outgrew the Clinton group, and by the late '70s Bootsy's Rubber Band was his vehicle. Recording at Cincinnati's Fifth Floor Studios, the group turned out dance-floor classics such as ''Bootzilla,'' ''The Pinocchio Theory'' and ''Body Slam.''

Naming Babyface

In the '80s, new wave washed funk off the pop charts, while rap and electronic dance music began taking over R&B. Bootsy's funky solo albums, such as Party on Plastic and What's Bootsy Doin'?, were largely ignored.

He stayed busy working with the younger generation at the new, local R&B studio of choice, QCA. Working with one young band, the Deele, Bootsy, who loves nicknames almost as much as funk, came up with a particularly good one for the guitarist.

''I walked into the studio, and then he yells out, 'There's Babyface.' And then everybody laughed, and they kept saying it,'' recalls Grammy-winning producer-songwriter and former Cincinnatian, Kenneth ''Babyface'' Edmonds.

If Bootsy was no longer an R&B star, his icon status was growing in alternative rock, where a funk revival was brewing. Young bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Columbus' Royal Crescent Mob fused funk and punk and cited Bootsy and P-Funk as inspiration.

The calls started coming in for sessions and guest shots. He remained a star overseas, playing to packed houses in Japan.

Today, almost everything Bootsy recorded has been reissued on CD. These include his early work with James Brown through the P-Funk years and his Bootsy's Rubber Band albums, the latter both in their original form as well as a two-CD, best-of collection.

Like a heavyweight fighter battling back, Bootsy's ready to prove he still packs a wallop. Along with his new album, there's talk of a Bootsy's Rubber Band reunion tour, complete with Fred Wesley's Horny Horns.

''I'm looking forward to just doing new and different things,'' he says happily, ''adding what I got to whatever comes my way.''

More bass than Bootsy Collins? Impossible.