I was a big NWA guy in the late 80’s so naturally I was a big Ice Cube fan. I loved Cube’s storytelling on Straight Outta Compton and didn’t learn until later that he was helping out with Eazy E’s rhymes on Eazy-Duz-It as well as on Straight Outta Compton. When Cube left NWA I was devastated and just didn’t really understand the business decisions that led to his departure. Cube ended up linking up with The Bomb Squad who were from the East Coast and handled the production for Public Enemy. Cube was introduced to them after his feature on the Public Enemy album Fear of a Black Planet. The Bomb Squad used a sample based approach on their beats and laid aggressive soundscapes for Chuck D and Flavor Flav to rap over. My older brother was a huge Public Enemy fan so I was up on them through him. When I first put 2 and 2 together that Ice Cube’s first solo album would be produced in full by the same producers who made Public Enemy’s beats I was more than intrigued. Cube and The Bomb Squad then dropped the classic AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted album in 1990 and the rest is history. I loved that “Who’s the Mack” video as a 10 year old. I would watch it with my hand on the TV remote ready to turn to a different channel when my parents walked in!
I was down with the California rap scene and even though Cube went to New York for his beats on his debut solo album, he was still West Coast to me. But through all of my NWA, Eazy-E, and Ice Cube listening, I needed to offset my aggressive gangsta rap attitude with some different vibes. I loved rappers like Dana Dane, A Tribe Called Quest, and De La Soul who were straight hip hop to me. I liked the hardcore gangsta rap but I also liked the boom bap conscious rap. I was versatile with my rap music. Yo! MTV Raps is how I found the large majority of the music I liked but I also used to find out about artists from my brother. I was watching Yo! MTV Raps one day when I saw a video for a new rapper I had never heard of. The rapper had a hilarious name and the song name was wild too. The beat was funky and the chorus was catchy. Enter Del The Funky Homosapien with the track “Mistadobalina”.
This emcee’s name was Del The Funky Homosapien?! Where was Del from? Who was Mistadobalina? His debut album was called I Wish My Brother George Was Here. What does that even mean? What’s with the album cover? I loved the Montreal Expos hat but why was he sitting in the forest and what’s the deal with all of the eyeballs? Flip the album over… Wait…. The album was produced by Ice Cube of Da Lench Mob and DJ Pooh? WHAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!!?
I just had to know more. The album was dope from beginning to end. Still didn’t understand where the Ice Cube connection came from until that final song called “Ya Lil’ Crumbsnatchers” where Cube was on the intro…. Cube announced that Del was his weird cousin who he was trying to get on some gangsta sh*t… Then Del just comes in right after Cube and absolutely kills the beat with an easy happy flow that just wasn’t heard much (if at all!) in 1991. Del was the total opposite of Cube and was somebody I feel I could relate to more than all of the gangsta raps I had listened to from 1988 - 1991. I have to give props to Tribe and De La but I’d say that it was Del from Oakland, CA (aka Bay Area) who made me a true hip hop head. While Cali was known for the gangster / reality rap, it was innovative rappers like Del who opened the door to his Hiero Crew (Souls of Mischief, Casual), The Pharcyde, and others with a different vibe to enter the game. Shout out to Cube and Del for inspiring me at a young age to become the creative person that I am today as a 40 year old!
