Rachel Gellman
Del tha Funkee Homosapien, a key player in the Bay Area indie rap scene since 1986, performed at Downtown Brew Sunday night.
“I perform for anybody; I don’t care what race or whatever. They’re paying to see me so I’m gonna give them a show,” he said.
And a show he gave. Del told the audience that he tried to play something from all of his solo albums along with some Hieroglyphics and Gorillaz pieces. He also played two new tracks from his first solo album in seven years, “The 11th Hour,” which comes out Oct. 2.
Along with sticking to the funky stuff, “it’s letting everybody know where I come from, where I stand on things,” Del said about the upcoming hip-hop-oriented album.
The small space of the downstairs bar area of Downtown Brew was packed Sunday night with a mixture of young adults anxious for the Homosapien’s arrival. Before Del stepped on stage, Devin The Dude, Bukue One and Serendipity performed.
“I ain’t gonna try to drown everybody out with new stuff,” Del said prior to the show.
And he didn’t. In most performances, Del said, he usually gets the best crowd response when he plays “Dr. Bombay.” The Downtown Brew crowd sang along to the familiar lyrics when Del played this song fourth in the set. Del performed his favorite live piece, “Mistadobalina,” near the end of the show.
In between songs, Del rambled about this and that. His most side-tracked tangent consisted of his realization that everyone is just a small piece in this big world. He then said thanks to “God, Jah, Allah, whatever you want to call it” and especially “the universe creator, there’s nothing greater.”
He spoke about how crazy it is that people have walked on the moon and then sarcastically responded to his own remark with, “Nobody really walked on the moon. The Holocaust didn’t really happen. Slavery doesn’t exist.”
It became apparent during the show that along with his non-musical words of wisdom, the lyrics Del was spitting to music were not recognizable. After the show, Del said that about one-third of the show was him freestyling to the music his DJ, Zac Hendrix, provided.
“I just went with it. It’s just something I try to do sometimes for the crowd,” Del said of his ad-libbed performance. He said that he has more respect for MCs who freestyle.
Along with his solo career, Del started the hip-hop crew Hieroglyphics and collaborated with Dan “The Automator” Nakamura and Kid Koala on the Deltron 3030 project. He was a key ingredient in the success of The Gorillaz’ self-titled debut album in 2001 with his flows on the songs “Rock the House” and “Clint Eastwood,” his last song of the show on Sunday. He has also worked with Zion I, The Wu-Tang Clan and Aesop Rock, among others.
Although Del tends to keep himself surrounded with talented company, he says that when on tour alone, he can “do it exactly how (he) would like it.”
“There’s not a lot of hoopla going on,” Del said when he is on stage alone. Along with a serene performance space, Del is able to write and get work done when touring solo.
“I appreciate my peace; it’s just me, my tour,” he said. But don’t get him wrong, he loves traveling and banging beats out with Hiero.
When asked about pre-performance preparations, Del responded with, “I don’t do nothin’. I just get on stage and do it.”
While on stage, he began to explain his appreciation for hip-hop and said, “When you get on the mic, you can say whatever the fuck you want.”
And what is with the name, Del tha Funkee Homosapien, anyway? “I was trying to be scientific about it. I believe that any music worth listening to has some funk in it,” Del, originally born Teren Delvon Jones, said.
Were the man not a highly notable underground hip-hop artist, he figures he would probably be writing books or doing something in the psychology field. In an article by David Ma from the Bay Area’s Mesh Magazine, Del’s interest in literature shines through. He said, “To this day I still try to design my music like a Marvel comic; it has an underlying universe full of cliffhangers, tie-ins and continuations.”
In an interview before the show, Del urged students to, “Buy the album. It’s worth it, I wouldn’t lie to you.”
During the show, he said, “I worked on it hella hard for all y’all motha’ fuckers.”
He then proceeded to state his opinion on illigal downloading. He admitted that he downloads some music himself but he then said that his CDs come out at very low prices and purchasing them would be money well spent. He finished this side speech by telling fans that if they were going to download his music, they better holler his name after doing so.
At the end of the show, fans started to chant “Del” repeatedly.
“Fuck Del for a second,” Del said. He urged everyone to hold up a peace sign with their hands and had the audience all yell “peace” at the count of three before he stepped off stage.
After the show, Del reflected on his San Luis Obispo performance.
“It was cool, mellow,” he said.
He also spoke about the highly hyped sequel to “Deltron 3030,” “The Second Deltron Event.”
“The music is completed already so I just gotta write it, you know,” he said.