The IronDog Chronicles

To all the hip-hop heads out there, do you still want to ride…?

One of Oakland’s finest showed in Chapel Hill on Friday night. I was able to grab one of hip-hop’s last and true all-stars, Del Tha’ Funkee Homosapien, after his show at Cat’s Cradle.

A lot of hip-hop heads adore Del for his futuristic lyrics. (On my end, I still have his tech-filled Hiero lyrics and tunes from ‘No Need For Alarm’ in my Top 100 pushing me through workouts.) Yet, what makes Del more advanced than the average hip-hop artist is his passions for gear, gadgets, comics, ’70s pop culture, and even music theory. His game is well-rounded with a geeky bent that flat-out oozes funk.

With the launch of his new CD/DVD on Def Jux entitled, “The 11th Hour“, Del brought his own production and a return to solid funk lyrics and early hip-hop beats. From the get-go, the sample from ‘Parliament Live’ that asks “Oakland, do you want to ride…The mothership has landed,” should let you know of Del still brings that grimy funk to your headphones.

I caught him in ‘The Loft Space’ upstairs in the Cradle…Those chairs are cush, bruddah.

We talked about his new album, how his style has developed over the past decade, his creative process, sharing music theory with Parliament, what makes Oakland hip-hop special, and a very intriguing subject that I wanted to explore, Del’s ability to adapt his ‘different’ style into a team concept for his many collaborative efforts.

Check out the interview here.

My hope is that someone realizes not only how strong Del’s ability to blend in his work with so many different artists and collaborative efforts, but also how many solid pieces of lyrical work has been developed by Del over the past two decades. Give this player his due…He handles his business well.

P.S. For the Chapel Hill heads out there, you’ll love this one. After the show, Del and his crew were looking for eats. My suggestion was a late-night Hector’s session. When I gave Del the suggestion and a detailed description of a cheeseburger on a pita, his eyes lit up with large grin.

Great interview, strong dog.

Where the Action Is,

BD