Teren Delvon Jones (born August 12, 1972 in Oakland,
California),[1] better known as Del the Funky Homosapien or Del tha
Funkee Homosapien, is a hip hop artist.
Cousin of seminal west coast rapper Ice Cube, Del 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-97" style
of hip hop being expanded at the time.
[edit] Middle era: 1998-2006
Del performing in Red Deer, Alberta in 2006
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.
(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.
[edit] Recent years: 2007-present
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 latest 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.
[edit] In other media
Del's songs have seen frequent use in various forms of media including
video games, film soundtracks, and skateboarding 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. 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.
[edit] Collaborations
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 [2].
Del was recently seen on an episode of the MTV show MADE in Canada,
where he encouraged the youth to drop-in on a mini ramp and later
performed and dedicated "If You Must" to the main character.
He also provided songs for the soundtrack.[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.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Solo studio albums
* I Wish My Brother George Was Here (1991)
* No Need for Alarm (1993)
* Future Development (1997 - Online) (2002 - USA Release)
* Both Sides of the Brain (2000)
* Eleventh Hour (2008)
* Funk Man (The Stimulus Package) (2009)
* Automatik Statik (2009)
* It Ain't Illegal Yet (2010)
[edit] Other releases
* Missing Link with Dinosaur Jr. The Judgement Night Soundtrack
(1993)
* The Best of Del tha Funkee Homosapien: The Elektra Years (2004)
* Del's Leak Pack #1 (2008)
* Del's Leak Pack #2 (2008)
[edit] Hieroglyphics
* 3rd Eye Vision (with Hieroglyphics) (1998)
* Full Circle (with Hieroglyphics) (2003)
[edit] Gorillaz
* Gorillaz (2001)
[edit] Deltron 3030
* Deltron 3030 (2000)
* Deltron Event II (TBA)
[edit] Mike Relm's "Spectacle"
* Mike Relm (2008)
[edit] with Tame One
* Parallel Uni-Verses (2009)
The album meshes Del's west coast style and influences with Tame
One's New Jersey style.
[edit] Appearances
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This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
* Modern Science featuring Del The Funky Homosapien - "Do
It Right Now", 2010
* Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood Single (Del Tha Ghost Rapper), Debut Album, 2001
* Gorillaz - Rock The House Single (Del Tha Ghost Rapper), Debut Album, 2001
* Judgment Night (movie soundtrack), Missing Link (with Dinosaur Jr.), 1993
* Digital Underground, "Food Fight", Future Rhythm 1996
* The Coup, The Repo Man Sings For You, Steal This Album, 1998
* Handsome Boy Modeling School, Magnetizing, So... How's Your Girl?, 1999
* Handsome Boy Modeling School, The Projects (PJAYS), So... How's Your Girl?,
1999
* Sunspot Jonz, Ice Pirates, The Child of the Storm, 2000
* One Big Trip (movie soundtrack), One Big Trip, 2002
* Handsome Boy Modeling School, White People, 2004
* Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Haiku D'Etat, and Zion I, Calicomm 2004, 2005
* Opio of Souls of Mischief, What's Wrong With This Picture?, from Triangulation
Station, 2005
* Think Differently Music, Fragments, and Preservation (with Aesop Rock), Wu-Tang
Meets the Indie Culture, 2005
* Zion I, What U Hear, True & Livin', 2005
* Molemen, Scarlet Letter, Killing Fields, 2006
* Terracotta Troupe, Dynasty. Released on vinyl with Z-trip remix and Monster!
* Rainydayz Remixes, released 10 January 2008, remixes of Radiohead's In Rainbows
* Balance, "Left Field" Featuring for Swollen Members
* Twigy, Rockin' It, Akasatana, 2007
* Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 with the song "If You Must"
* [(Marc Eckô´s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure)] with the
song " Catch a Bad One"
* Mike Relm - Everytime, Sep. 2008
* Tony Hawk's Project 8 with the song "At the Helm"
* Eligh - A Lesson Garden - Gas Dreams - 2000
* Sleep - Lothar - Hesitation Wounds, 2009
* CMA (The Grouch & Luckyiam), "Tactics", "All Over" 2004
* Skate 3 - with the song "Young Dre"