Illegal downloading for fans of Del the Funky Homosapien just got easier

The rapper will perform at The Blue Note next week.

By Tom Carbone

Published May 7, 2009

In the last few years, it's become increasingly apparent that the illegal downloading of music is showing no sign of stopping. It's caused some artists — most recently, Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails — to put out albums on the Internet for free. Though rappers have been putting out mix tapes online free of charge for a while now, we hardly ever see full-length albums released this way.

Del the Funky Homosapien, best known for starting the Oakland, Calif.-based rap crew Hieroglyphics and rapping with the Gorillaz on their breakthrough track, 2001's “Clint Eastwood," is the latest musician to put out an album for free online.

Del said there were several reasons he made the decision to release the album free of charge.

“I am giving the album away because I want people to believe in music,” Del said. “People are tired of the games. I wanted to bring some funk into the world, baby, that’s the reason I did it, honestly. And I knew ya’ll were gonna download it illegally anyways.”

He makes a strong point. Many people these days discover an artist and listen to their albums via illegal downloading online. Del just wants to make the process a bit easier for us.

“I’m not gonna try to fight you, chase you down or beat you up for downloading my song,” Del said. “I download stuff too. I just want people to appreciate music.”

Funk Man (The Stimulus Plan), Del’s sixth album in 18 years and second in the last year, follows much of the same patterns seen on his previous releases. But it’s clear he has definitely improved production-wise and remained just as powerful lyrically. After Both Sides of the Brain was released in 2000, he did not produce anything under the name Del the Funky Homosapien for another eight years.

“I was put on a break,” he said. “I was dealin’ with shit.”

But in 2008, Del released Eleventh Hour and released his latest album just a year later.

Although these albums were released relatively close together, Del claims his production style and recording techniques are always changing.

“My recording techniques are constantly changing because I’m always studying music theory and different recording processes,” Del said. “My entire process has changed over time. But it’s the same as it’s ever been. You put the mic up and just record.”

Although Del has been evolving over time, his recording roots still haven’t changed all that much.

Fresh off the heels of an online-only release of Funk Man (The Stimulus Package), Del is heading out to cities nationwide in order to promote the album. On May 11, Del will be hitting up The Blue Note with Souls of Mischief member A-Plus to put on a show for fans.

“I’m not going to reveal everything about the show, but we do play stuff from every record," he said. "We’ll freestyle a bit, you know, improvise and stuff.”

With a special appearance from A-Plus and songs played from Del’s entire catalogue, Hieroglyphics fans and hip-hop heads alike will find something to enjoy at the show.