Del The Funky Homosapien & Tame One – Parallel Uni-Verses LP - Purple Vinyl

Parallel Thought Ltd. (2018, 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.

Even though Del the Funky Homosapien is My favorite all-time hip hop artist, sometimes I still find myself not able to keep up with his various releases.  He always seems to be working on something and this 2009 team up album with Tame One was no exception.  I had no clue this was a thing in 2009, it wasn't until the 2018 vinyl version was pressed did it pop up on my radar.  When it did I was kind of surprised that of all people to do an album with, it was Tame One from Atrifacts.

Don't get me wrong, Artifacts a great and represent NJ very well in the world of hip hop.  I just never really pegged them as out there as Del can be at times.  What really surprised me was just how well they did end up working together.  In some ways it reminds me a lot of how well Del meshes with Casual.  Tame One, like Cas, keeps things moving and while I can't call his performance on this album straightforward, it's certainly more grounded than Del and as a result the song structures feel a bit more sturdy.

Del really brings the heat on this one.  Since he only tackles half of the vocals, it's even more impactful when he cuts in with his trademark flow, dropping complicated lyrical structures and rhymes.  The production is pretty solid.  While it's certainly more of a modern sound than the usual golden era boom bap that I prefer, the bass if full and the drums have an aggressive crack to them.  It doesn't sound like some of the minimalist bullshit that seems so popular these days.  These beats have teeth to them, even if the samples are a little more spacey than the more soul and funk driven style that I tend to prefer.

Del The Funky Homosapien & Tame One – Parallel Uni-Verses:
https://parallelthought1.bandcamp.com/album/parallel-uni-verses

Del The Funky Homosapien - Both Sides of the Brain 2xLP

Hiero Imperium (1999)

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.

I've spoken at length about how much Del The Funky Homosapien means to me, particularly his 2nd album, No Need for Alarm.  Even though by late 1994 I wasn't listening to much hip hop and had mostly transitioned to indie rock and punk, I still tried to keep tabs on Del and the rest of the Hiero crew. I picked up Del's tape, Future Development in 1997 but that wasn't a real high profile release.  The next time I saw Del in a record store was when this album came out.

I picked up the CD of Both Sides of the Brain the very moment it came out.  In 1999 I was still in college and had just started my internship at the company that ended up being my first job once I graduated.  I was in New Yersey and the company was in NYC.  So, I took the bus in from Willowbrook mall to the Port Authority.  I have extremely vivid memories of sitting in Port Authority with this album in my Discman trying to absorb everything that was happening.  I look back very fondly to a lot of my times in the 90s.  Sitting on the floor of the Port Authority waiting for the bus isn't particularly high on that list of memories.

I finally picked up the vinyl version of this recently on Discogs.  It hasn't been repressed since its initial 1999 pressing, so it tends to go for a decent amount these days. Luckily I found a deal.  The cover is a little rough around the edges, but for the most part it isn't anything I'm not able to deal with.

Both Sides of the Brain never totally connected with me the way other Del records did.  I'm not sure if it was just too long or the fact that I didn't really like the album opener "Time Ids Too Expensive" all that much.  Don't get me wrong, I do like it and there are some really killer tracks on here like 'Phony Phranchise,"Jaw Gymnastics" and "Fake as Fuck."  But when it really comes down to it, I'd rather listen to some of his other records that followed like Golden Era. I also think in part, this album got overshadowed by Deltron 3030, which came out just a little bit later.  That one blew my mind.

Del The Funky Homosapien - Both Sides of the Brain:
https://delthefunkyhomosapien.bandcamp.com/album/both-sides-of-the-brain

Del The Funky Homosapien - Golden Era 2xLP

The Council (2011) 

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.

It's probably pretty obvious that Del The Funky Homosapien is my favorite MC of all time.  I'm constantly extolling his virtues and have been doing that since I was in the eighth grade.  He was particularly influential for me in 1993 when No Need For Alarm came out while I was in high school.  As such, he has been one of the very few artists that I have kept close pretty close tabs on since the golden era of hip hop.  

That's not to say that I've been able to stay right up to date with everything he does, in fact I have another LP of his on his way to me that I was unaware of until pretty recently, despite it being released over a decade ago.  But, I was very aware of Golden Era when it came out in 2011.  But, I opted to purchase a CD version when it first came out.  The Golden Era triple CD set also included two additional albums that had previously been digital only; Automatik Statik and Funk Man.

When I decided that I needed to add the vinyl to my collection (which doesn't include those other two albums), it had gone out of print and became difficult to track down.  I've been keeping my eye out for it and I was pretty psyched to be able to pick it up for $20 off Discogs a few weeks ago.

As far as the album goes, it's one of my favorite Del full lengths, particularly over the past twenty years or so.  I typically like everything Del releases, but sometimes the beats aren't exactly what I'm looking for.  That is definitely not the case with Golden Era.  The beats are full sounding, upbeat and really harken back to the sounds of the Golden Era that Del is referencing with the album title.

In particular, "Double Barrel" may be the best Del track I've heard since "At The Helm."  It has a similar driving drum rhythm giving Del a straightforward beat to weave his lyrics through.  I've always thought Del works best in this arena.  Rich, full beats that are steady in their tempo.  That lets Del create the dynamics with his lyrical flow, coming slightly off beat here and there only to reconnect and make it make total sense a few bars later.

There's a reason I think Del's the best and a lot of that is on display during Golden Era.  While I'll always recommend No Need For Alarm as the best place to start with Del, if you're looking for something of his to sample that's a bit more recent, this is a great album to try out.

Del The Funky Homosapien - Golden Era:

https://delthefunkyhomosapien.bandcamp.com/album/golden-era

 

Del The Funky Homosapien & Parallel Thought - Attractive Sin LP - Red Vinyl

Parallel Thoughts Ltd. (2012)

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.

Despite the fact that Del The Funky Homosapien is my all time favorite MC, there are still albums of his that I haven't tracked down on vinyl just yet.  Attractive Sin was one of the highest on that list but the cost of obtaining a copy a few years after it went out of print kept it at arm's length for a while.

Over on Discogs it regularly sold for $50+ so I just kept searching.  Luckily, eBay ended up saving the day.  One day a copy popped up for $20.  I followed the auction all week and for whatever reason, I was the only person to place a bid.  It seems odd to me that records can be more expensive on Discogs than they are on eBay these days, but I'm just happy to have been able to get this for a reasonable cost.

As far as the music goes, Parallel Thought serves up some really interesting beats.  They are bass heavy with jazz flourishes that set the mood for Del.  As usual, Del's lyrics are borderline insane with complicated rhyme structures and diverse battle rap material.  I really feel that no one can hold a candle to Del when he's got a great beat to rhyme over and this entire is no exception.

Del The Funky Homosapien & Parallel Thought - Attractive Sin:
https://parallelthought1.bandcamp.com/album/attractive-sin

Del The Funky Homosapien - Wrong Place 12"

Elektra (1993)

 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.

If you've been reading any of my Wednesday posts, you've definitely read mention of Del The Funky Homosapien. He & his Hieroglyphics crew are responsible for my favorite releases in the history of hip hop. I had decided that I needed to get my hands on the various golden era singles from those groups as the B sides and remixes were sorely missing from my collection on vinyl.

This is the last of my Del 12" singles.  He had released others, but my main focus was tracking down everything trough the No Need For Alarm era.  I have it in mind to gather some of the others eventually, but I'm still trying to fill some of the holes in my vinyl collection of his full length albums before I move to the singles.  Even though I have been going through these single chronologically, I still managed to save the best one for last.

I did have the cassingle version of this when I was in high school.  Specifically, I had the Maxi-Single version.  This version had two extremely important non album tracks.  One of them is the song "Undisputed Champs."  It was a non album track that was exclusive to this single and it featured Del, Pep Love and Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest.  In 1993, having Del and Q-Tip on the same track was a completely mind blowing thought as they were responsible for some of my favorite records of this era.  The song does not disappoint wither as both are in top form for their verses.  I feel like this could have been a "Scenario" level event if the song had been highlighted on an album or if it had ended up being made into a video, but instead it ends up being something of a lost classic.

As good as "Undisputed Champs" is, that wasn't even my favorite song on this single.  The Casual remix of "Wrongplace" is unbelievable.  I can't go so far as to say it's the version that should have been on the album as the original version fits into that record so flawlessly, but as a standalone track, you could make the argument that this is a superior version. It's not just the production that is different.  This version has an alternate vocal take as well.  The slow grooving bass provides a foundation for Del to essentially go a little crazier than usual.  The structure of his rapping is more out there than the album version, with emphasis on different syllables and rhymes built out differently.  I really love it.

These songs along with the non album tracks from the other singles I've written about over the past few weeks were eventually compiled onto an Elektra 'greatest hits' CD.  But that one never came out on vinyl so I knew I had to hunt down these singles and I'm psyched I have them all now (Aside from version of "Mistadobolina" that just has different artwork, but yeah I'm still looking for that one too).

Del The Funky Homosapien - "Undisputed Champs":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErPZAfz9-Rc&ab_channel=DelThaFunkeeHomosapien-Topic

Del The Funky Homosapien - "Wrong Place" (Casual Remix):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsUsLPOVtHQ&ab_channel=DelThaFunkeeHomosapien-Topic

Del The Funky Homosapien - Catch A Bad One 12"

Elektra (1993)

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.

 If you've been reading any of my Wednesday posts, you've definitely read mention of Del The Funky Homosapien. He & his Hieroglyphics crew are responsible for my favorite releases in the history of hip hop. I had decided that I needed to get my hands on the various golden era singles from those groups as the B sides and remixes were sorely missing from my collection on vinyl.

We've finally arrived at the first single from Del's second album, No Need For Alarm.  I've mentioned before that No Need For Alarm is my favorite hip hop record of all time, but I'm not sure I've also pointed out that "Catch a Bad One" is my favorite song from that album.  The very first time I heard that crazy cello loop I was instantly hooked.  I couldn't say for sure if I heard this song before the album itself was released.  I don't remember seeing it played on Yo MTV Raps, and I have no real memory of buying the album or how I knew it had been released.  I usually have a pretty solid memory for that sort of thing, but these details have sadly been lost to time.

I never had this single back in the 90s, and it didn't seem like a big deal.  It's mostly album tracks with "Catch a Bad One," "No More Worries" and "Wack M.C.'s."  All great songs for sure, but I already had them on the album.  The only exclusive track was a remix of "Catch A Bad One," so never splurged on the cassingle.  It wasn't until many years later that I realized that this remix really wasn't much of a remix at all.  It's essentially an entirely new song.  New beats, new lyrics, pretty much new everything.  Sure, Del does reuse four of the words from the original hook, but aside from that it's pretty much all new.  It's great and I'm really pleased to finally have it on vinyl.

Del The Funky Homosapien - "Catch A Bad One":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpP_DslgZvY&ab_channel=DelThaFunkeeHomosapien-Topic

Del The Funky Homosapien - "Catch A Bad One" (Remix):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mC1bVAh_iY&ab_channel=DelThaFunkeeHomosapien-Topic

Del The Funky Homosapien - Made In America 12"

Elektra (1993)

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.

If you've been reading any of my Wednesday posts, you've definitely read mention of Del The Funky Homosapien. He & his Hieroglyphics crew are responsible for my favorite releases in the history of hip hop. I had decided that I needed to get my hands on the various golden era singles from those groups as the B sides and remixes were sorely missing from my collection on vinyl.

Made and America is essentially a standalone single that came out in 1993.  It was after I Wish My Brother George Was Here, but before No Need For Alarm was released in November of that year.  The song originated on the soundtrack for the film of the same name starring Ted Danson and Whoopi Goldberg.  Had I not Googled the name of the movie, I wouldn't have known that.  Never heard of the film and it's pretty odd that one, Del is on this soundtrack and two, his song got a single and a video when Gloria Estefan and DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince also have songs on it.

While I do not remember ever seeing the video played on Yo MTV Raps, I do remember the cassingle of this popping up in 1993 at some point.  It's a fun single that has three different versions of the song.  The main one is Whoopi's Mix and that's the one that appears on the actual soundtrack and is the version the video was made for.  Solid song for sure and I dig the percolating bassline that the track is built on.  Del's lyrics are sort of in an in between stage as well, he's not delving into the more complicated rhymes that would become the calling card of No Need For Alarm, but he's definitely upped the ante when compared to some of the songs from his debut.

The other two remixes, one by the SD50s and the other helmed by Del, are also good takes on this song.  I think I probably like Del's version the best of the three as the beat us upbeat and the bass riff is a head nodder.  While I wouldn't rank any of these versions if I were to list the very best Del tracks, that's not a knock on these.  Del's discography is pretty much the best one in the history of hip hop, in my humble opinion.  These tracks float around in the middle of the pack, but it's mostly due to how incredible his body of work is.

Del The Funky Homosapien - Made In America (Whoopi's Mix):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2DL6l9EvQk&ab_channel=UPROXXVideo

Del The Funky Homosapien - Made In America (Del's Mix):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QP1L4Q0-PY

Del The Funky Homosapien - Dr. Bombay 12"

1992 (Elektra)

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.

 If you've been reading any of my Wednesday posts, you've definitely read mention of Del The Funky Homosapien. He & his Hieroglyphics crew are responsible for my favorite releases in the history of hip hop. I had decided that I needed to get my hands on the various golden era singles from those groups as the B sides and remixes were sorely missing from my collection on vinyl. This one is the third and it's the final single from Del's first album.

The album version of "Dr. Bombay" is definitely one of the highlight's of Del's debut.  It didn't get the same sort of airplay that "Mistadobolina" received, but unlike "Sleepin' on My Couch," I do remember it being on Yo MTV Raps at least a couple of times.  For the remix on this single, the beat is not as layered as the album version, and the stripped down production really puts the emphasis on the lyrics.  In a lot of ways it sounds more in line with the styles Del would be known for in a couple of years.

The other remix is of "Hoodz Come in Dozens," this one tackled by the SD50s.  While good, I don't see it being the huge departure from the original the same way that the "Dr. Bombay" is.  The last track on this 12" is the previously unreleased "Eye Examination."  This one was produced by Del and again is a glimpse into what Del was going to unleash into the world when No Need For Alarm came out in 1993.  The beat has hints of Tribe Called Quest, but is still filtered though that bay area funk sound.  Del uses this canvas to put down the type of lyrics and rhyme structures that it seems only he can do.  Killer song and it's a shame that it's not one of his more well known tracks.

Del The Funky Homosapien - "Dr. Bombay (Remix)":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J4mx5_fJBM&ab_channel=DelThaFunkeeHomosapien-Topic

Del The Funky Homosapien - "Eye Examination":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgJ8DqOfZBo&ab&ab_channel=DelThaFunkeeHomosapien-Topic

Del The Funky Homosapien - Sleepin' On My Couch 12"

Elektra (1991)

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.

If you've been reading any of my Wednesday posts, you've definitely read mention of Del The Funky Homosapien. He & his Hieroglyphics crew are responsible for my favorite releases in the history of hip hop. I had decided that I needed to get my hands on the various golden era singles from those groups as the B sides and remixes were sorely missing from my collection on vinyl. The second 12" single that Del released was also from the I Wish My Brother George album, "Sleepin' On My Couch."

As a single, it's not really all that interesting.  Just the album version fo the song along with the instrumental.  On the B side is "Ahonetwo, Ahonetwo," the same as the B side for the "Mistadobolina" single.  Though this time out, it's just the album version and the album version instrumental.  No remixes here.  More than anything, I wanted this in my collection for the artwork and just for completist purposes.

As big a Del fan as I was and despite how frequent the "Mistadobolina" video got played on Yo MTV Raps, I have zero memories of ever seeing the video for "Sleepin' On My Couch" get played.  I've seen it on the internet since then, but back in the day, I'm not even sure I knew it was a single from the album.  It's a great fun song and was always one of the album tracks I gravitated towards, but I guess as a single, it just didn't make the same inroads as "Mistadobolina" did.

Del The Funky Homosapien - "Sleepin' On My Couch":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m4Bxvkpnew&ab_channel=DelFunkeeHomosapien

Del The Funky Homosapien - "Ahonetwo, Ahonetwo":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p2vUsGKcTg&ab_channel=DelThaFunkeeHomosapien-Topic

Del The Funky Homosapien - Future Development 2xLP

Hiero Imperium (2002, 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 25+ 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.

As I have mentioned in the past, Del The Funky Homosapien is my all time favorite hip hop artist.  His second album, No Need For Alarm, was a seminal record for me and is definitely the sort of album I'd post a picture of on Facebook if someone asked me to play one of those games where I have to list the albums most influential to me.  After that album, Del was dropped from Elektra and retreated to the underground.  He reappeared in 1998 and put out Future Development on cassette as one of the first releases of the newly launched Hiero Imperium record label.

I mail ordered that album when I was in college along with the second Casual album, Meanwhile.  I never thought that Future Development quite lived up to No Need For Alarm as a whole, but there are some truly incredible tracks on this record and honestly, I like it more now than I did when that tape was initially playing in my car stereo.  I heard an interview with longtime Hieroglyphics producer Domino who said that the final Future Development record was not exactly how it was originally envisioned.  Specifically he had mentioned that the Del track "At The Helm," one of the highest highs of the first Hieroglyphics group album, was one of the songs originally planned for this third full length.

But again, there are hits on here.  Opening track "Lyric Licking" is incredible, with its pumping, low bass line and Del's unique lyrical delivery.  If the rest of the record had production like this, Del would have had another stone cold classic on his hands.  Where I think the album loses me a little is that the beats on the bulk of the album are a little softer than what I had been anticipating.  The hard hitting drums and unique samples were shelved in favor of a sound that can really only be described as mellower.  Lyrically, Del is swinging for the fences every time, and connecting way more than he misses, but it's the beats that leave me wanting more.

However, as I mentioned earlier, the more I've listened to this record over the years, the more I've grown to appreciate the things that make it different.  That, plus the fact that it could be considered the album that launched the modern independent rap scene, makes it a pretty important release in the history of hip hop.

Del The Funky Homosapien - Future Development:
https://delthefunkyhomosapien.bandcamp.com/album/future-development

Del The Funky Homosapien - No Need For Alarm 2xLP

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

Del The Funky Homosapien - I Wish My Brother George Was Here 2xLP

Elektra (1991)

Something I am going to be doing for the foreseeable future is write about old school hip hop records every Wednesday.  Partly because I've spent the last few months stocking up on key records that I only had on CD and partly because I'm just in the mood to have something different to write about.  Wednesdays are the most appropriate day to do this as Wednesday was Ed Lover Dance Day back on Yo MTV Raps in the 90s.  I spent a lot of time watching that show in the early 90s.  It was responsible for exposing me to so many great records.  Today's record is one of those.

So, full disclosure, I didn't just get this record on vinyl recently.  I've had it for many years, but when starting up something new, I thought it was an appropriate album to begin with.  That will be the case over the next three weeks as well.  I'm going to writer about the three most important hip hop records to me before I start getting into recent acquisitions.  But before I get into the big three, I have to write about I Wish My Brother George Was Here as it really starts there.

I was in 8th grade when I saw the video for "Mistadobalina" on Yo MTV Raps.  I had been listening to hip hop for little bit at that point, scamming CDs from BMG Music Club and Columbia House in my quest to hear new things.  I was getting inmto Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions, but something about Del struck a different chord with me.  He was a little weird.  He wasn't all that serious and "Mistadobalina" was an incredibly catchy song.  I picked up the album and really liked the whole thing.  "Dr. Bombay," "The Wacky World Of Rapid Transit" and "Sunny Meadows" were some of the highlights and made many a mix tape played in my walkman in the back seat of the car to avoid talking to the rest of my family.

Now while I really do like this record, the reason it's so important to me is because it made me anxious for Del's second album, No Need For Alarm.  That is one of those records that changed the way I thought about music and is my all time favorite hip hop album.  We'll get to it in more detail next week, but who knows if I would have found it had it not been for I Wish My Brother George Was Here.

Del The Funky Homosapien - "Mistadobalina":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFieSQHmQT0

Del The Funky Homosapien - "Dr. Bombay":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AUP4KLCW6s

Del The Funky Homosapien - "Sunny Meadowz":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoXaT00rKa4

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - I Wish My Brother George Was Here 2xLP

Traffic (2004, Reissue)

Admittedly, I don't buy a ton of hip hop records anymore.  I listened to a lot of rap from about 1988 to 1993 or 4, but after that I just lost interest.  As the genre became more popular, I feel like the options became less diverse.  I know a lot of the really innovative stuff got pushed underground and I have stuck my toe in from time to time, but to me, that late 80's early 90's era was the golden age of rap.

Released in 1991, this could be considered one of the most important hip hop records I ever bought.  Not necessarily because of its direct influence, but because I liked it enough to purchase Del's follow up No Need For Alarm, in 1993.  No Need For Alarm became my all time favorite hip hop record ever and led me to go crazy buying everything in that was released by Del's Hieroglyphics crew.  Souls Of Michief, Casual, Extra Prolific; they all ended up being some of the greatest records I ever heard, but it all started here.

I Wish My Brother George Was Here is primarily built off of Parliament Funkadelic samples.  Though, when this record came out, sampling P-funk wasn't quite as common as it later became.  Most people know the hit single off this record "Mistadobalina," and it's a hit in every sense of the word.  Seeing the video on Yo! MTV Raps made me immediately rush out and buy this album.  But's in not a one song record.  "Hoodz Come In Dozens," "Pissin' On Your Steps" and The Wacky World Of Rapid Transit" all should have been big hits.  The entire album is remarkably strong and it's downright eerie to think that this record came out 24 years ago.

While Del would absolutely surpass his debut with No Need For Alarm, I Wish My Brother George Was Here is no slouch of a record.  Del's dynamic lyrics and slightly off kilter flow are still on display and while it doesn't hold up quite as well as No Need For Alarm, it's still a pretty important record to have in the collection.  I couldn't tell you why it took quite so long to add the vinyl version to mine.

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - "Mistadobalina":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFieSQHmQT0

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - "Dr. Bombay":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AUP4KLCW6s