| Del the Funky Homosapien | |
|---|---|
Del performing at Austin City Limits, 26 September 2008 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Teren Delvon Jones |
| Also known as | Del tha Funkee Homosapien Del Deltron Zero Deltron Z Dr. Bombay Del Diablo Diabolique Sir Dzl Deltron 3030 |
| Born | August 12, 1972 |
| Origin | Oakland, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop, Funk |
| Occupations | MC, producer, singer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Labels | Asylum (1993–1997) Elektra (1993–1997) Hiero Imperium (1997–) Definitive Jux (2007–) |
| Associated acts | Hieroglyphics Deltron 3030 Gorillaz Da Lench Mob Handsome Boy Modeling School Ice Cube El-P Tame One Unwritten Law |
Teren Delvon Jones (born August 12, 1972),[1] better known as Del the Funky Homosapien or Del tha Funkee Homosapien, is an American MC.
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Born in in Oakland, California, he is the cousin of seminal west coast rapper Ice Cube, and began his career writing lyrics for Ice Cube's band, Da Lench Mob.[2] In 1991, with the help of Ice Cube, Del released his first solo album, I Wish My Brother George Was Here,[2] at the age of 18. The album was a commercial success largely due to the popularity of the hit single, "Mistadobalina." Ultimately Del, who was not pleased with the limited musical range of the album, severed his production-artist relationship with Ice Cube for his next album, No Need for Alarm.
No Need for Alarm also saw the introduction of the Oakland clique Hieroglyphics,[2] whose original members included Souls of Mischief (Opio, A-Plus, Phesto and Tajai) Casual, Pep Love, Del, and producer Domino. No Need for Alarm helped to expose both the regional Oakland sound of hip hop, as well as the freestyle based, "golden era 90's" style of hip hop being expanded at the time.
Due to touring, mundane activities, and frequent psychedelic drug use, Del would not produce another album for five years. About a month before the release of his third album, Future Development, Del received a letter from his label, Elektra, stating that his contract had been terminated.[2]
Future Development became available in 1998. The album was only available on the Hieroglyphics website in tape form, but was re-released in 2002 under the Hieroglyphics Imperium label. Del also released another collaborative work with the Hieroglyphics crew in 1998, which was also the Hieroglyphics crew's first album: 3rd Eye Vision.
Two years later, Del released his fourth solo album, Both Sides of the Brain, as well as Deltron 3030 which was a collaborative work with artists Dan “the Automator” Nakamura and Kid Koala. Exposure from the 3030 project helped to expand Del's fan base—the 3030 project worked well as a marketing move because the CD capitalized on the growing interest of computer technology, incorporating motifs of science fiction, telling stories about life and hip hop based in the year 3030, and infusing much of the popular internet terminology and culture in circulation at the time.
Also with Nakamura and Koala, Del was a guest performer for the 2001 album Gorillaz, the debut album by the band of the same name. He appeared on one of Gorillaz' most iconic tracks to date on the hit single: "Clint Eastwood" and "Rock the House". (See Collaborations) 2003 also saw the release of Full Circle, the second full-length album from the Hieroglyphics crew.
In 2004 Elektra released The Best of Del tha Funkee Homosapien: The Elektra Years without the approval of Del. The CD only includes songs from his first two albums, along with a handful of b-sides from that era. Del was not pleased and advised people to not buy the CD, saying it was just Elektra trying to make money off of him due to his newfound fame.
Together with his crew, Del established his own independent record label, Hieroglyphics Imperium Recordings, which primarily consists of an expanded Hieroglyphics roster and a few other artists with whom the group collaborates regularly.
On March 11, 2008 Del released Eleventh Hour owned by Definitive Jux; the album received mixed reaction from fans. On March 31, 2009 Del's next album Funk Man was made available for free download on the internet. The album is available at his page on Bandcamp.com [1], though he gave away some hard copies on his supporting Funk Man tour. A new video for the first single, "Get It Right Now," is on YouTube. In September of the same year, he released a new album, Automatik Statik, for an unfixed rate with a minimum of $3.
Del released his next album It Ain't Illegal Yet on August 6, 2010. There is no fixed price for the album, allowing listeners to pay whatever they wish for the album. Paying certain prices for the album will give certain incentives.
Del released his latest album Golden Era April 19, 2011 in a three disc set including Funkman and Automatik Statik.
Del's songs have seen frequent use in various forms of media including video games, film soundtracks, as well as skateboarding, rollerblading and snowboarding videos. In 2000 the song "Catch All This" from Both Sides of the Brain was featured in the game Street Sk8er 2, "Jaw Gymnastics", featuring Casual, was featured in Knockout Kings, and "Positive Contact" from Deltron 3030 was featured in Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX. In 2001, "If You Must" was featured in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. In 2003, "Positive Contact" from Deltron 3030 was featured in Tony Hawk's Underground and "The Izm" was featured in Rolling. In 2005, "At the Helm" featuring Hieroglyphics was featured in Tony Hawk’s Project 8. In 2006, "Catch A Bad One" was featured in Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. The Hieroglyphics song "Soweto" is featured on NBA 2K5 (the Hieroglyphics crew is unlockable as a bonus team). The Hieroglyphics song "Don't Hate the Player" was also featured in NBA 2K7. Del's song "Burnt" was featured in Tony Hawk's American Wasteland. "Teamwork" is featured on PlayStation Home.
Also in 2006 his song "Dr. Bombay" was used in the movie Beerfest and more recently a Hieroglyphics song "At the Helm" was featured in commercials for and is used in Tony Hawk's Project 8.
Del has also had many songs featured in snowboarding movies. "Press Rewind" was the song for Eero Ettala's part in the film White Balance and "If You Must" was featured in DC Mountain Lab.
Del collaborated with John King of the Dust Brothers and Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo to produce the original score for Skate 3, released in May 2010.
In March 2010 Del collaborated with independent pop/funk duo Modern Science on a track called "Do It Right Now" that is available for free on the band's Bandcamp website.[3]
Del collaborated with trip-hop group Gorillaz for two songs on their debut album, "Clint Eastwood" and "Rock the House," both of which became singles and videos and achieved excellent chart success. For the purposes of the music videos and the Gorillaz storyline canon, Del performed under the identity of "Del the Ghost Rapper," who was said to be a spirit that was hiding from death within the band's drummer, Russel Hobbs. Del later commented in an interview on the success of "Clint Eastwood" by saying that he actually wrote the song with the book How to Write a Hit Song, a book that he bought with a coupon his mother gave him. After the song went platinum he gave the plaque to his mother.[4] As part of Russel Hobbs' back-story, the character of Del was one of Russel's friends that was gunned down in a drive-by shooting, whose ghost possessed Russel.
The album meshes Del's west coast style and influences with Tame One's New Jersey style.
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