Del the Funky - Funk This Interview

[big dawg]

It takes courage to be different. In an industry that demands for many artists to conform and compromise their artistic integrity, Del The Funky Homosapien, stands apart. Throughout his musical evolution this cousin of Ice Cube and leader of Hieroglyphics, has cemented his status as a highly respected artist and producer.

Del’s new album, Eleventh Hour, is available now and with this project the hip-hopper is hoping to add to his already impressive catalogue of hits that includes: “Mistadobalina,” “Catch A Bad One,” and “Clint Eastwood,” from the self-titled Gorillaz album.

Before the eleventh hour hit and time ran out, Sixshot spoke with Del about how he got out of life’s dangerous fast lane, his relationship with Ice Cube, changing up his lyrical and musical style, the hard truth he learned about hip-hop, being a loner, his spirituality, and more.

I read that the title refers to the pressures of time on the human condition and state of mind. Can you elaborate on that for us?

The title has a lot to do with the final call—judgment day. It’s either too late or it’s right on time—that’s what 11th hour means. I guess I’m a dramatic person so it spoke to me. I thought of that title and was like, “Yeah that’s it.” I find myself living on the edge a lot.

In terms of how?

I’ve been in some crazy situations. I’ll leave it at that. I’ve clamed down a lot, but I’ve been in some situations where I could have been either locked up or killed.

What was the turning point for you?

Well I calmed down quite a while ago, but people around me weren’t calm. So I had to learn how to separate myself from toxic people. So it wasn’t really me as much as it was people around me.

Speaking of those around you—how much would you say your cousin Ice Cube influenced your development?

[Ice] Cube taught me a lot of stuff about how to write lyrics. Before I used to think that writing your lyrics down was stupid. Back in like the ‘80’s I wasn’t thinking about making no records ‘cause I'm thinking about battling somebody. [Ice] Cube was like, “If you write it down you can use it for something else, instead of saying it and then you forget it.” I never thought of that so [Ice] Cube introduced me to some of these things.

Is he still a mentor in your life now?

Everything that [Ice] Cube taught me, I keep with me. I'm sure he picked things up from me. I talked to him not too long ago and he said he always respected me for the fact that I would never change my style. No matter what nobody would say I would always keep my style. I was able to learn and grow but I wasn’t willing to just sell my a** to just get on out here. He’s the same way. He ain't never change. He’ll be like “F*** you!” He’ll say whatever he wants to say and wouldn’t give a damn if the FBI were knocking on his door—which they were.I respect his business hustle and ability to be able to work with different kinds of people.

You’d think [Ice] Cube is a racist from what he says in his songs—that he don’t like white people. That’s not true. He works with anybody and he ain't racist. He has an opinion about things that are wrong, but that doesn’t stop him from being able to work with people. That stuck with me.

For this album you wanted to really create a more focused and cohesive record. I read that you had to sit and think of a vision to accomplish that goal. So what was the end vision that you had in mind?

As far as music is concerned I had to sit and think of what kind of music would I want to do to represent me, which obviously is funk. I decided to exclude all these other forms of music besides hip-hop—but anything else is going too far to the left. Basically I just wanted to keep it funky. Lyrically I wanted to keep it more to the ground instead of so far out. I wanted to keep it earthy, where people could relate to me if they wanted to relate to me.

You also studied music theory to develop more of background knowledge on music. In that process did you have to at some point learn to balance the technical aspects with your innate artistry since sometimes the technical side can interfere with the artistic side?

Not really because I had a main direction I was trying to get to. I wanted to learn the James Brown school of grooving. I wanted to learn the James Brown theory of music which is based on grooving. I couldn’t understand that until I understood music theory ‘cause they’re musicians and whatever they were talking about I didn’t get it. So I had to learn the basic music theory to get that. I learned a little bit more than the basics ‘cause it was so interesting and natural for me that I absorbed it real quickly. I wasn't a blank slate to the point that whatever I took in would influence me.

Early on in your career you had hip-hop purists who weren’t feeling your music and you rebelled. Then I read that you regretted that move because hip-hop wasn’t the big family you thought it was. Do you still hold that view?

Yeah pretty much. It’s never like you think it is. You have your fantasy before you really see what you gon’ get. A lot of things I didn’t know and that's how life goes. I still feel that way but its nothing. Basically everything is like that in life. You can’t have high expectations for things. You could have high expectations for yourself. That’s only really dealing with whether or not you know you deserve it, and know what you’re doing and your skill level is. But you can’t really do that with other people. You got to be balanced and be ready for anything.

What was the hardest adjustment you had to make once you realized that the dream wasn't all it’s cracked up to be?

It was more like a life lesson than anything. So it wasn’t just centered on hip-hop. A lot of it I knew already from dealing with people growing up. But hip-hop seemed like my safety zone. Then I found out hip-hop is just like the rest of the world. You got your good and bad; you got people that support you and those that don’t; but you gotta take it with a grain of salt. You can’t let that affect what you’re doing. I try to listen to what real people gotta say. If they listen to my album I might listen to their opinion. If it’s somebody that ain't listen to my stuff I can’t take their opinion seriously.

Do you feel like an outsider now?

No, ‘cause I talk to a lot of cats in hip-hop. I'm a loner pretty much. I do things on my own and I like to operate that way. I talk to people; I hang with people, and try to collaborate with people. I wouldn’t say I feel like an outsider ‘cause I love hip-hop.

You characterize yourself as a loner. Is part of that also a defense mechanism to shield yourself away from negative people and influences?

I could imagine it probably is, but I don’t have a problem dealing with people. I deal with people pretty good. I just feel like it's easier through life sometimes when I'm by myself. I'm really reflective and like to think a lot. You can’t do that when you’re around people all the time—your brain doesn’t get a chance for some quiet. You can’t just sit down and think and plot out your life. Plus a lot of activities that I do are things that you do alone. So things that I enjoy doing don’t require others to be around. That doesn’t mean that I can't work with other people ‘cause I do that too. I just got to do it from my safety zone so that I can retreat.

How do you define your spirituality and what does it consist of?

I believe there is a universal force that brought us all here and there is energy that exists with that. There's a direction that we are supposed to go in. If you go against that direction you’re playing yourself. I’ve read a lot of different things from different religions. Islam is one religion that stuck with me. I won’t say I'm a Muslim because I don’t practice. I believe that they all say the same thing basically; it’s just from somebody else’s perspective. I feel like we’re all human beings and we all have these emotions and feel these certain ways. So I believe positivity will rule out negativity. But you need negativity for positivity to even be relevant. Positivity doesn’t mean anything without negativity. So when your spirits are down that’s okay. Many people aren’t okay with that and they feel like they need to bring their spirits up. That might be by f****** or smoking weed or smoking crack. But dealing with it is what builds your spirit. It builds character. So all this stuff exists for a reason. These are just some of my ideologies. This is the lens I look through


source-sixshot.com