Published: Monday - November 27, 2006
Words by Willow
Del The Funky Homosapien (Photo: BallerStatus (file))
When you think of West Coast hip-hop, most fans direct their attention to Los Angeles. Because of this, artists from the other West Coast hip-hop capitol, the Bay Area, have done their best to establish their own sound and these days their own movement and popular culture has come to know as the hyphy Movement. Although there is differences, there are so many similarities; the one similarity that holds true still to this day is the foundation of the Funk era of black music history. The marriage of funk and hip-hop has produced many artists hailing from the West and one of those offspring goes by the moniker Del The Funky Homosapien.
Having no plans to go on his funky journey alone, Del recruited some foot soldiers with the same intensity and desire to keep it black and funky. With Del The Funke Homosapien at the helm the Bay Area gave us one of the most underrated and understated bands in the culture, The Hieroglyphics. The man who brought us "Mr. Dobalina" had his share of the politics that plague true artistry from reaching the masses via his time spent on Elektra Records. After his label woes, he took the his career in his own hands and released his greatest work to date on his label, Hieroglyphics Imperium.
Del says his new album, 11th Hour, is a fresh start into the business he's spent more than ten years in. Going in it alone on this new album, Del experiments with sounds and has more fun this time around. Don't expect to hear a less aggressive sound coming from Del though; he's just doing what he does best, making good music.
Fresh off a recent tour, Del spoke with Ballerstatus.com about what he's been up to and to introduce his fans to the artist he is today.
Ballerstatus.com: Maybe you can clear something up for me, are you and Ice Cube really cousins?
Del: Yeah, he's my cousin on my mom's side and we grew up kickin' it.
Ballerstatus.com: How years in the game for you now?
Del: It's been about sixteen years now.
Ballerstatus.com: You've been a mainstay in this business without being a mainstream artist and have done well for yourself. Is that something you're cool with?
Del: For me, that stuff doesn't matter. I just love doing music and where ever that takes me or had taken me is cool with me. I will say that nowadays, I'm a little more conscious about what my abilities are and where I can go with it. I am not trying to be more famous for the money, but the more people who listen to my music the better. That will result the in more money and I can't be mad at that.
Ballerstatus.com: You have established yourself as an emcee and you speak about things more conscious. How do you feel about the shows you pack out being full of white people?
Del: It's all good, its all love. Whoever came out to listen and see you perform are your fans. What am I going to do be mad and say "ugh?" Then ain't nobody going to be listening to me. But at the same time, it's not like I don't want my brothers and sisters to be at the shows. You know, a lot of the times I think I sabotage myself by making things hard to get into. That is one thing I tried to design a little bit better this time around, making my music a little bit easier to get into. I don't think that music should be a homework assignment.
Ballerstatus.com: An artist having longevity/name recognition is a thing of the past. What have you done to make that happen for yourself?
Del: Basically, I just learned music and learned how to better dictate what my album would be about and the rest was pretty much left up to chance.
Ballerstatus.com: You came up in an era of hip-hop when you had to be lyrical or have skill in order to be recognized, some would say that is not the case anymore. Do you feel a way about that?
Del: I don't believe the hip-hop standards are gone completely, but I'm hip, you feel me? I'm into the new stuff; I'm not one of those cats who are like, "..back when I was your age..." I'm still young, so I am hip to the new stuff. I like the new little flows that people be making up. I like the new direction of music a lot of times and it's all based on the same source, the blues.
Ballerstatus.com: How would you best describe your contribution to hip-hop?
Del: Hieroglyphics as a group, hard-core lyricism and free-styling. I think that is a real big contribution. We had like coming off the head with it. I think that is what we are best known for, but I think we have a lot more ahead of us. Before getting to this point, I really didn't know music. I was really just winging it, but now that I know what I am doing, I have a lot more ahead of me. I feel like I'm just getting started.
Ballerstatus.com: Based on the all the politics and the realization that you are in a business, that is not in the best interest of its breadwinners. How have you strengthened yourself as a businessman?
Del: I've always been business-minded because I'm about my business. If it has to do with me, then I'm serious about it. I just read more about it, learn more about it. I can't say I'm fully schooled in it, but I do understand how business works. On the artistic side, I do try to be in tune with what the people want to hear and try to be hip to what's going on. Within the parameters of that, I go ahead and do what I'm going to do. Not saying that I copy trends or nothing like that, but I am aware of what's going on. I'm not just going to throw anything out there at this point. Now, it's like, "Oh that's what you guys like? Ok, I can do something in that range that you can feel." I know the music I make is going to be different because it's me.
Ballerstatus.com: With that being said, would you say you are dumbing yourself down?
Del: No, I wouldn't call it dumbing down because I don't think the people that listen to music are dumb. I'm one of those people who listen to the music and I know I'm not dumb. I don't think music is necessarily about intelligence anyway; it's entertainment. If I buy your album, I want to be entertained period. There are a lot of people I like artistically, but I don't play their albums all the time. If I'm bored, I might go dig in the crates and pull their music out, but the music I listen to all the time, I expect it to entertain me.
Ballerstatus.com: Along with being lyrical, you're sound is also very aggressive. Will your new music still have that feel?
Del: I would say my music is more aggressive then it's ever been. I've dealt with some stuff in my life that has made my attitude a little funkier. I ain't mean to people or nothing, but I'm pretty rebellious. At the same time, I feel like now that I know what music is about, I pretty much figured out people expect melody out of music and anything that is not melodic, in most cases, people consider it noise. I take that into consideration when I am making my music and I try to make it as easy to get into as possible without conforming.
Ballerstatus.com: It's the era of the producer and not for nothing, if you are linked up with the Scott Storch(s) you get some notoriety. As an artist/producer, how are you dealing with that?
Del: I look to those guys and feel like those are the guys that I am competing with... oh, this is what the Neptunes are doing, Timbaland is doing this, Dre is at this level with it, and again, not copying, but I am most definitely taking note because that is where I am supposed to be. People go out and get these guys because their names stand for something; they've proven themselves. When you see their name on the cover, you're probably going to buy that over something you've never heard. Musically, I try to look at these people and measure myself against their level of expertise and it may be something simple, but that's the beauty of it. It's easy to make something chaotic, the world is full of chaos anyway. To make something simple is the way to go. Sly Stone said it best "Everyday people want simple songs."
Ballerstatus.com: Have you considered working with any of the names I mentioned?
Del: The Neptunes listened to Hieroglyphics, I wouldn't mind working with Pharrell. I hella like dude. I most definitely wouldn't mind working with Dr. Dre. I think [Dr. Dre] is out my league. He's the master, but I wouldn't mind working with him. He's probably sort of a taskmaster. I wouldn't mind working with any of them. On the other hand, I wouldn't mind working with LT [Hutton]; LT is a great musician. There's Show Biz or A.G., they're hella tight to me and they all have their own style. You can add 50 in there, I don't hate on nobody. But, I like cats that have flavor. Oh yeah and Nas, I would like to work with Nasty Nas.
Ballerstatus.com: What do you have going on right now?
Del: I have a new album. It's called 11th Hour. I've been working on it for a couple of years now and I would say with this album, I am just getting started. I'm basically trying to lay down the ground work for what Del The Funky Homosapien is all about, what my attitude is about, where I get my attitude and really putting it out there, so the people can understand where I'm coming from. I'm not dumbing it down, but I am being more conversational about it. I think music should be conversational, it's not like writing a novel. This is something you only have like three/four minutes to convey and really, you only have like thirty seconds before someone says "that's tight" or they turn it off. That is the vain I working from where people are like, "I'm feeling him, dude is tight," where before I was more concerned with expressing myself. I learned over the years, it aint only about what I want to express because it ain't just me; it's the audience and me. I've learned to have an appreciation for the people out there.
Ballerstatus.com: Who are the people featured on the album?
Del: There aren't too many features on the album. I pretty much went to the head with it. It wasn't that I didn't want anyone on the album, but the situations I was in, it just worked itself out that way. My boy K.U., we have a production company, Code Red and he did a track for me and rapped on it as well. It was just me this time around. I did make sure I balanced it out. If something sounded too much of the same, I switched it up to give it more dimension, but if I didn't throw a whole bunch of stuff on it, I kept it consistent.
Ballerstatus.com: What song on this album best embodies all that you are as an artist?
Del: Probably "Raw Sewage," "Back in the Chamber," "Things We Go Through"; you know, I have a couple of them like "Straight Up & Down." Yeah, that is the one that pretty much embodies everything I'm talking about. But every song I try to do that. I try to let my personality show and expound on a lot of different things. It's still a freestyle, but I have a concept. Like with "Straight Up & Down," the concept is about being just that straight up and down and not being fake basically, the underlying current of my albums and my personality. That is something I take pride in: being very straightforward and dealing with truth. That's really who I am period. "Straight Up & Down" is who I am, and "Raw Sewage" is me showing out.
Ballerstatus.com: When is the album is scheduled to drop?
Del: First quarter of next year.
Ballerstatus.com: What is the title of the first single?
Del: I haven't really decided it yet, but it will most likely be "Lay You Down To Sleep," it has a real 808-type composition with a down South sound like early hip-hop. But I like that song a lot, a lot of dudes I know like the song. The streets are really feeling it hella heavy. I want to come out on the tip like AWWWW!
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