If you thought you could just roll up to last month's Del the Funky Homosapien show at Churchill's Pub in Miami, you would have been sadly mistaken. Though the solo output of the legendary Hieroglyphics crew has been eclipsed by his status as a member of Gorillaz, the elastic-mouthed Del is still very much in-demand. The Churchill's show sold out hours before the Bay Area native went on, with fans getting herded in crowds around the club parking lot while hoping for a few people to leave early and give them a chance to squeeze in.
Luckily, local guys made good Mayday! just brought a little bit of Del back home, virtually. The Miami live hip-hop juggernaut has been traversing the entire country -- seriously, the entire country, including towns you've never heard of in B.F.E. Washington state and Nebraska -- as support for Tech N9ne. The group has studio backlogs for days, though, and lately every new track has had a left-field guest star of some sort.
The recent Ace Hood cameo wasn't that surprising considering that artist's geographical proximity, but the just-released new Mayday! single "The Ride" comes out of left (coast) field. Voila, a taste of Del the Funky Homosapien in Miami, kind of, to dry away your tears if you didn't make it into the show.
The track finds the group's instrumentation a little more pared-down, even dubbier than usual, staying in a syncopated pocket as Del's unmistakable, multisyllabic flow opens up the track. Frankly, his opening bars don't make much sense beyond the general boasting of rap superiority, but who cares? The pleasure of listening to Del has always been in hearing how words and rhymes stack up and fold in on themselves while he seems to just sit back and chill.
When Wrekonize and company come in, the song turns into a slinky ode to doing whatever the hell you want, because we all die alone. But that kind of creeping existential dread never sounded so sexy.
Download the track below -- it's just one of a promised series of free releases before the group's debut album on Strange Music is due out this fall. What, you didn't think the Tech N9ne tour was random, did you? It hits Culture Room on Friday, July 29, and tickets cost $36.50 (including all fees).
Download: Mayday! feat. Del the Funky Homosapien - "The Ride"
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