Review Summary: Eight years in the making, Eleventh Hour was brutally mediocre. Eight months later, Del seeks redemption.
Most renowned for seemingly LSD-induced storytelling through the eyes of alter-ego Deltron Zero, the critics haven’t been so kind to Del The Funky Homosapien since the turn of the century.
Deltron 3030 was no doubt a timeless classic, expounding a digital conspiracy theory at the hands (or decks) of Dan Nakamura. The problem with participating in a project this momentous, while simultaneously releasing the indelible
Both Sides of the Brain, is the near complete impossibility of meeting critical expectations. Eight years later, 2008’s
The Eleventh Hour proved this unfortunate assertion; eight months later,
Funk Man is the realization of this egregious mistake. Not only free (one of several hundreds of current ad campaigns claiming “Stimulus Package” rights), this release truly hearkens back to funkier times and is exactly what the disappointed homosapien supporter was hoping for. Albeit very repetitious, the slap and pop bass lines drive home the point; the funk man is back. A talented producer in his own right, Del is easily capable of walking without Automator support; some of these more creative musings are apparent with the poppy “Simple Satisfaction” and the dissonant “News Alert”.
Make no mistake – everything about
Funk Man bleeds and smells funk. As is expected in every American business sector currently, Del stays conservative and shies away from risk. One could argue that, thematically, this displays incredible insight – yet in all truthfulness, it’s obvious this was just a quick and to-the-point machination of funk. Lyrically, he’s as completely odd as ever, and while not to the magnitude of a space age hip-hopera, it’s refreshing to see his old fashioned braggadocio revived. From being so tight as to require “Smellin’ [him]self”, to the typical west coast themes of “Sometimes I Gotta Get Stupid”, Del is the lyrical incarnation of a wizard scientist. Escaping a high energy field in “News Alert” is a perfect example of this nearly nonsensical brand of melodic, multisyllabic sci-fi rap. Dark matter voids, nucleo-ionic fields, continuums of all shapes and sizes – all fair game here. Imagine if the man actually mastered self when returning from his self-induced
Eleventh Hour hell (see “And They Thought That Was Hell”). No, this isn’t Deltron II… and it’s not supposed to be. Appreciate this stimulus package for the copious amounts of scientifical funk within – and hope for better days to come.
3.2 / 5
Download
Funk Man (The Stimulus Package) for free: http://delthefunkyhomosapien.bandcamp.com/album/funk-man-the-stimulus-package
