Del the Funky Homosapien facts for kids

Teren Delvon Jones (born August 12, 1972), known by his stage name Del the Funky Homosapien or Sir DZL, is an American rapper. He started his music journey in the late 1980s and has released many albums. He is also part of the hip hop groups Hieroglyphics and Deltron 3030. Del is famous for his unique lyrics and creative music style.

Music Career

Early Days: 1988–1997

Del was born in Oakland, California. He is the cousin of the well-known rapper Ice Cube. Del began his career by writing songs for Ice Cube's group, Da Lench Mob.

In 1991, when he was just 19, Del released his first solo album, I Wish My Brother George Was Here. Ice Cube helped him with this album. It became very popular, especially because of the hit song "Mistadobalina". Del wanted to try different kinds of music. So, he decided to work on his next album, No Need for Alarm, without Ice Cube's help.

No Need for Alarm introduced the Oakland music group Hieroglyphics. This group included artists like Souls of Mischief, Casual, Pep Love, Del, and producer Domino. This album helped show off the special hip hop sound from Oakland. It also showed the freestyle rap style that was popular in the 1990s.

Middle Years: 1998–2006

Del did not release another album for five years. Before his third album, Future Development, came out, his record label, Elektra, ended his contract. Del and his group then started their own independent record label called Hieroglyphics Imperium Recordings. This label mostly features artists from the Hieroglyphics group and their friends.

Future Development was released in 1998. At first, you could only get it as a tape from the Hieroglyphics website. Later, in 2002, it was re-released on their own label. In 1998, Del also worked with the Hieroglyphics crew on their first group album, 3rd Eye Vision.

Del performing in Red Deer, Alberta in 2006

Two years later, Del released his fourth solo album, Both Sides of the Brain. He also released Deltron 3030. This was a special project with artists Dan the Automator and Kid Koala. Del also joined the virtual band Gorillaz as a guest artist for their 2001 album, Gorillaz. He sang on their hit songs "Clint Eastwood" and "Rock the House". In 2003, the Hieroglyphics crew released their second album, Full Circle.

In 2004, Elektra Records released The Best of Del tha Funkee Homosapien: The Elektra Years. Del did not approve of this album. It only had songs from his first two albums and some extra tracks. Del was not happy and told his fans not to buy it. He felt Elektra was just trying to make money from his growing fame.

Recent Years: 2006–Present

On March 11, 2008, Del released Eleventh Hour through Definitive Jux. On March 31, 2009, his next album, Funk Man (The Stimulus Package), was available for free online. You can find it on his Bandcamp page. He even gave away some physical copies during his tour. In September of the same year, he released Automatik Statik. For this album, listeners could pay any amount they wanted, with a minimum of $3.

Del released his album It Ain't Illegal Yet on August 6, 2010. For this album, fans could pay whatever they wished. Paying certain amounts could even give them chances to work with Del personally. On April 19, 2011, Del released Golden Era. This came as a three-disc set that included Funk Man (The Stimulus Package) and Automatik Statik.

On January 2, 2014, Del shared a free album called Iller Than Most. He put it on SoundCloud under the name Zartan Drednaught COBRA. He said the songs were "lyrically ill but fun to listen to." Del also produced all the music for this project himself.

In 2024, Del started a series called Manik Mondaze on his YouTube Channel. He and his local crew, including Baslonius.Funk and Lord Takim, post new songs every week. They also share special interviews and behind-the-scenes content on the Manik Mondaze Official Website.

In Other Media

Del's songs have been used a lot in video games and movies. They have also been in skateboarding, rollerblading, and snowboarding videos.

In 2000, his song "Catch All This" was in the game Street Sk8er 2. "Jaw Gymnastics" was in Knockout Kings. "Positive Contact" from Deltron 3030 was in Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX. In 2001, "If You Must" was in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. In 2003, "Positive Contact" was in Tony Hawk's Underground, and "The Izm" was in Rolling. In 2005, the Hieroglyphics song "Soweto" was in ESPN NBA 2K5. Del's song "Burnt" was in Tony Hawk's American Wasteland.

In 2006, "Catch a Bad One" was in Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. "At the Helm" with Hieroglyphics was in Tony Hawk's Project 8. Also in 2006, his song "Dr. Bombay" was used in the movie Beerfest. The Hieroglyphics song "Don't Hate the Player" was in NBA 2K7, and "Clint Eastwood" was in NBA 2K14. "Teamwork" is on PlayStation Home. Del's songs have also been in many snowboarding movies.

Del worked with John King of the Dust Brothers and Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo. They created the music for the video game Skate 3, which came out in May 2010. In February 2016, Del, Black Thought, Murs, and Fashawn made a new song called "Rise Up" for the video game Street Fighter V. A music video for the song was released by Capcom.

In October 2018, Deltron 3030 worked with the Cartoon Network show Craig of the Creek. Del appeared in the episode "The Kid from 3030" as Deltron. The episode featured new songs by Deltron 3030 made just for the show. Deltron briefly returned in a later episode, singing "Positive Contact."

Del has also made small appearances in movies. He was in Ted Demme's movie Who's the Man? and Jonah Hill's movie Mid90s. He also made a guest appearance on the Nickelodeon show Middlemost Post. He played a rapper named "Old Skool," which was a nod to his popular music from the 1990s.

Collaborations

In 1993, Del worked with the band Dinosaur Jr. on the song "Missing Link." This song was on the Judgment Night movie soundtrack.

From 1999 to 2000, Del teamed up with Kid Koala and Dan the Automator. They formed a supergroup called Deltron 3030. Their first album, Deltron 3030, came out in May 2000. This project helped Del gain more fans. The album was popular because it talked about computer technology and science fiction. It told stories about life and hip hop in the year 3030. A second album, Event 2, was released in 2013. In 2005, Del worked with the Wu-Tang Clan on their collaboration album Wu-Tang Meets the Indie Culture.

Del also worked with the virtual band Gorillaz on two songs for their first album: "Clint Eastwood" and "Rock the House". Both songs became popular singles and had music videos. Del was not the first choice for these songs. The Gorillaz album was already finished, and another group had recorded verses for "Clint Eastwood." But after Del finished Deltron 3030 with Dan the Automator, Dan asked Del to record new verses for the Gorillaz songs. In the music videos and Gorillaz stories, Del played "Del the Ghost Rapper." This character was a spirit hiding inside the band's drummer, Russel Hobbs.

In 2009, Del was featured on the song "Lothar" by Sleep and "Dreamin'" by Gift of Gab. In March 2010, Del worked with the band Modern Science on a song called "Do It Right Now." Del also collaborated on the song "Smoke Rings" with Dirty Heads for their 2012 album Cabin by the Sea. In August 2012, Del appeared on the song "The Ride" by ¡Mayday!.

In September 2013, Del was on two songs from Figure's album: "Beast Mode" and "War Call." In January 2014, Del appeared on the song "Viberian Son" with MF Doom. In March 2014, Del was on "Life and Time" with Kool A.D.. In 2016, Del was featured on "World Renown" from Mr. Lif's album Don't Look Down. In April 2017, Del appeared on "Lone Wolves" by Cas One Vs Figure. In 2017, Del was a guest artist on the first album by Halo Orbit, on the song "One Of These Days." He also appeared on "Pizza Shop Extended" by Jay IDK.

Using his Deltron character, Del was a guest on the song "3030 Meets the Doc, Pt. 1" from Dr. Octagon's album Moosebumps. This album brought Kool Keith back together with Dan the Automator and DJ Qbert.

On July 7, 2018, Del was performing with Gorillaz at the Roskilde Festival. During the song "Clint Eastwood," Del fell off the stage. He was hurt, and the show had to end early. At first, people thought his injuries were minor. But he had actually broken seven ribs and punctured one of his lungs. He stayed in the hospital for four days. However, by September 2018, Del was back on tour.

Del worked with Gorillaz again in 2023. He appeared on the song "Captain Chicken" from the deluxe edition of their album Cracker Island.

Discography

Solo Studio Albums

• I Wish My Brother George Was Here (1991)
• No Need for Alarm (1993)
• Future Development (1997)
• Both Sides of the Brain (2000)
• Eleventh Hour (2008)
• Funk Man (The Stimulus Package) (2009)
• Automatik Statik (2009)
• It Ain't Illegal Yet (2010)
• Golden Era (2011)
• Root Stimulation (2012)
• Iller Than Most (2014)

Mixtapes

• West Coast Avengers (WCA D-Funk Limited) (2012)
• West Coast Avengers II (Fela) (2012)
• West Coast Avengers III (Frank Zappa) (TBR)

Other Releases

• "Missing Link" with Dinosaur Jr. – Judgment Night (1993)
• One Big Trip (Soundtrack) (2002)
• The Best of Del tha Funkee Homosapien: The Elektra Years (2004)
• Del's Leak Pack #1 (2008)
• Del's Leak Pack #2 (2008)
• The Ice Cold – Leak Pack (2011)
• Del's Funky Leak Pack Aug. (2011)
• Event 2 a collaboration as a part of Deltron 3030 (2013)
• 3rd World Vision (2015)

With Gorillaz

• Gorillaz (2001 album)
  • "Clint Eastwood"
  • "Rock the House"
• Cracker Island (Deluxe) (2023 album)
  • "Captain Chicken" (feat. Del the Funky Homosapien)

With Mike Relm

• Mike Relm (2008)

With N.A.S.A.

• The Spirit of Apollo Samba Soul (featuring Del the Funky Homosapien & DJ Qbert) (2009)

With Tame One

• Parallel Uni-Verses (2009)

With Parallel Thought

• Attractive Sin (June 19, 2012)

With Marcus D

• Simply Complex "Back to the Roots" (featuring Del the Funky Homosapien) (October 10, 2013)

With AmpLive

• Gate 13 (April 20, 2018)

With Kool Keith

• FNKPMPN (January 01, 2022)