Elektra (1993)
As I start up with Ed Lover Dance Day Wednesdays, I'm going to write about four albums that are not new additions to my collection, but rather cornerstones in my love of early 90s hip hop. This is the second of the four.
When writing about the first Del album I Wish My Brother George Was Here I mentioned that it was a really important record to me. While it certainly stands on its own as being great, the real influence is the fact that I liked it enough to buy Del's second album as soon as it came out. No Need For Alarm was a total turning point for me. Nothing had ever resonated quite as much before and to this day it remains my favorite hip hop album of all time.
I had some experience with rap that was a little left of center prior to No Need For Alarm. I was super into Tribe Called Quest and I adored the second Ultramagnetic MCs album Funk Your Head Up, so it's not like everything was strait-laced for me prior to No Need For Alarm. The early 90s were a time where innovated hip hop was celebrated and accessible. That window would start to close from the time The Chronic came out until about '94 or '95. That said, I had never heard anything like the sounds coming out of my speakers when I played this album for the first time.
No Need For Alarm is probably one of the most innovative and uncompromising albums released during the so called Golden Era. You are not going to find pop hooks or easy listening here. The samples are jazzy, but can be jarring. You go from the cello riff on "Catch A Bad One" to the choppy bass of "Wack MCs" to the bouncy low end of "No Need For Alarm" and through the course of these three consecutive songs you have three completely different production dynamics. But what ties everything together is Del unleashing some of the punishing battle raps committed to tape. He's got no time for mediocrity in rap and he's not shy to show the world why virtually no one can hold a candle to him.
No Need For Alarm completely changed the way I thought about hip hop and music in general. It led me to other Hieroglyphics albums (more on those in the next two weeks) and eventually led me to punk rock. As mainstream hip hop became more homogenized, I still wanted to hear music that made me feel like No Need For Alarm did. Eventually, I had to go to other genres to find music that impacted me the same way Del The Funky Homosapien did. This really is one of the ten most important records I've heard in my entire life. It was a game changer for me in 1993 and in 2019 it still sounds as fresh and exciting as ever.
Del The Funky Homosapien - "Catch A Bad One":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spcKBTfjW1M
Del The Funky Homosapien - "Wrongplace":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A46nqP1gd-Y
Del The Funky Homosapien - "No Worries" (This is a live version that's pretty great):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9_eC3Vjb8Y
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