Hieroglyphics frontman Del The Funkee Homosapien took to his Instagram & Facebook Account on Tuesday (March 6th) to announce his latest album, Gate13 with Zion I’s member rapper/producer AmpLive out 4/20. It serves as his first proper album since 2014’s Iller Than Most. In a interview with HipHopDx.com , Del had this to say about the upcoming album ““The title is alluding to opening up a way to some bad shit,” Del tells HipHopDX. “Amp and I both be talking about tech shit, musical trends, how shit evolve, you know, nerding out on music. We’ve known each other for years, and got common interests as far as composing music and dissecting it.”
Del says Gate 13 has a few guests on it, including Zyme and Living Legends MC Eligh, but he’s been mostly focused on “reinventing” himself on the project. He started studying comedic writing and battle raps.
he went on to state “I watch battle rap constantly,” he said. “I need that kind of hard creative expression. I’ve been introducing new information and working on making the album a better experience all around. I’m being cognizant of my age range and what I can get away with saying. What’s ‘appropriate’ I guess, culturally. Not like I’m censoring myself, but some things I don’t really have to say.”
“I still goof around a little bit, which is another thing I kinda had to work on,” he said. “It seems the older you get, the harder it is to not take shit seriously. [The album is] not deeply personal but you looking at me from the outside. I gotta make it fun to listen to but everybody got their behind-the-scenes. With fun, it’s easy when you young, got hella time and not many responsibilities. Music is my place to express and have fun.”
When asked where he’s been for the past four years, the Gorillaz collaborator explained he was wrestling with some “life shit.”
“Dealing with ratchet people, shit drags you down and drains your energy — the business, as well,” he said. “You learn people be full of shit sometimes. It can make you bitter. That ain’t good for me or for my business. Hip Hop I feel should be fun to listen to above anything else.”
Del confessed he had to sort out some personal things before he could effectively finish an album. He found it was influencing his musical output too much — and not in a good way.
Gate 13 is expected to arrive on April 20. While he’s confident the record will please Hip Hop purists and longtime fans, he did take a slightly different approach when making it.
“It’s still me but I just tried to refine things lyrically and content-wise,” he said. “The sound of it is like a mixture of ’80s sounds and today’s electronic sounds. Amp is off the chain. We working on some instrumental shit too. But keeping my sanity is the main goal.
To read More: https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.46149/title.del-the-funky-homosapien-studied-battle-rap-comedy-for-new-amp-live-collaboration#
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