Going back to 2000, we find a futuristic narrative set in the year 3030. Del tha Funkee Homosapien, or “Deltron Zero” in the story, is a superhero sworn to fight against the evils of the universe (viruses, an oppressive government, the Corporate Bank of Time… just to name a few) with his trusty side-kicks, The Automator or “The Cantankerous Captain Aptos” and scratch mastermind Kid Koala or “Skiznod the Boy Wonder”. Yea, this may sound a little corny for a hip-hop album, but with Del on the mic, Automator and Kid Koalo with backup, it’s a hell of a hip-hop classic.
3030 is a slow, melodic symphony that introduces the trio on their grand adventure to save the world. Automator’s trip-hop style comes to light and is enhanced by Kid Koala’s cunningly placed scratches. The only downfall to this song is its drawn out length, coming in at seven and a half minutes. This doesn’t necessarily degrade the song, but may detract some of the attention deficit listeners.
Virus: This dark and maniacal song displays some of Del’s most crafty lyrics. Del tells of a super-virus that will wipe the entire earth out and “revert [us back] to papyrus”. His ability to construct sentences in such a phonetically pleasing way, sets him apart from many other emcees. Del is one of my favorite emcees, and this song is a great example of his lyrical talent.
Mastermind is debatably the most popular track of the album. This song reminds me of the classic Hieroglyphic songs, which first turned me on to Del. The only problem I have with this song is its fake vinyl sounds, which I find irritating in songs, unless (obviously) played on vinyl.
Turbulence (Remix) is another showcase song in Del’s accumulating archive. I was originally going to name the website after a lyric in this song, “electric nectar”, but found it was already taken by some douche that was just domain squatting. :( Oh well, I like this domain name better. :p It’s also worth noting that this is one of Automator’s most captivating instrumentals in the album.
I remember back in my college years, blazing to Del’s admirable phonetical finesse, along with Automator’s stunning trip-hop style. This is an album that will go down in hip-hop history… or should. I am eagerly awaiting the sequel to this album, Deltron Event II… that hopefully will release in mid-2010! (Deltron’s ten year anniversary)
edit (1/10/11): February 2011?
[audio:3030.mp3,Virus.mp3,Mastermind.mp3,Turbulence(Remix).mp3,Upgrade.mp3,Madness.mp3,MemoryLoss.mp3|titles=3030,Virus,Mastermind,Turbulence (Remix),Upgrade (A Brymar College Course),Madness,Memory Loss]
(Listen to a sample of all the featured tracks)
Artist Information:
Genre: Hip-Hop, Trip-Hop
Label: 75 Ark Records
Group Members:
Del tha Funkee Homosapien: Emcee
Dan the Automator: Producer
Kid Koala: DJ
Similar Artists: Gorillaz | Hieroglyphics | Chali 2na
Links: Myspace | Wikipedia | Facebook | Last.fm | iLike | AllMusic
Album Information:
Release Date: May 23, 2000
Note: Production of “Deltron Event II” began in 2006 and is supposidly almost complete
In the latest Hierocast (Hiero’s podcast), Del stated only the vocals need to be completed.
Buy Links: Amazon | Amazon Mp3 | Amazon Vinyl | iTunes
