Deltron Partners (2011, Reissue)
Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.
By 1995 I wasn't really paying much attention to hip hop any longer. I was neck deep in indie rock and punk at that point. I was just so disillusioned with hip hop and found that innovation and passion that I was looking for in a different place. The one exception is that I did try to pay attention to and keep up with Del the Funky Homosapien and the rest of the Hieroglyphics crew. I picked up their cassette only releases on Hiero Imperium and I was really excited to grab the Del album Both Sides of the Brain when it came out.
The problem with these records were that even though they were pretty good, they weren't as strong as their golden era counterparts that came out in '93 and '94. I would eventually come to appreciate them more and more as the years went by, but in that exact moment I was a little underwhelmed, even though they were miles better than any other hip hop coming out at the time. That all changed when the Deltron 3030 album came out in 2000.
Del was back in his truest, most excellent form. The album is crammed full of hyper complicated rhyme structures and rhythms. He bends and twists his lyrics to spin stories of a dystopian cyberpunk future one moment and then switches to full on battle rap mode in the next. Dan the Automator handled the beats for this and has crafted a textured world that slowly burns from one song to the next. It's not just that his beats are the perfect compliment to Del's flow, it's that he's so completely nailed the vibe of otherworldliness that the album really feels like something truly different and special.
Even though this album is twenty years old at this point, to me it still sounds way ahead of its time. No one has ever come close to its uniqueness and I rank this right behind No Need for Alarm as being one of Del's best ever performances.
Deltron 3030 - Deltraon 3030:
https://delthefunkyhomosapien.bandcamp.com/album/deltron-3030
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