Del Tha Funky Homosapien Enters the '11th Hour'

It's been eight years since Del Tha Funky Homosapien's last solo album, but the video game-obsessed member of Oakland's Hieroglyphics crew has kept himself pretty busy in the interim. Besides running the Hiero Imperium label with artists like Pep Love and Souls of Mischief and appearing on Gorillaz' hit single, 'Clint Eastwood,' Del has spent the few years preparing his Def Jux debut, 'The 11th Hour.'

The album, produced almost entirely by Del, features guests including Opio, KU and Ladybug Mecca, as wellas more of the futuristic funk beats and battle raps he's known for, with some new twists. "I decided to leave some of the Encyclopedia Brown rapping alone," Del tells Spinner on his way to a show in Palm Springs. "I wanted the average person to be able to enjoy hip-hop again, instead of it being so inclusive ... like you gotta be part of a secret club."

He may now be an official Def Jukkie, but Del isn't leaving Hiero behind anytime soon. They're currently at work on a new album, which, according to Del, is nearly finished. "We want to add some polish and shine instead of just dumping it out there," he says. "Everybody on it -- damn near everybody on damn near every song." This is not surprising, considering the tightly knit group has been making music together since the early '90s. Del credits longstanding friendship as the source of their continued success. "We all pretty much friends from high school, junior high school, elementary school. That's pretty much the main thread. When we was rapping, there wasn't nobody else doing it. We was like outcasts. And we can't do nothing else! What else we gonna do at this point?"

In addition to promoting 'The 11th Hour,' Del reveals that he's got three albums of "funky, up-tempo" dance beats in the can, which he'll focus more on later this year when he finds the proper label to release them. Until then, fans can experience the latest chapter in his storied career, one that clearly displays Del's overall positive view of the sate of hip-hop. "We've got that respect we've always wanted to get, that living we always wanted to have," he effuses. "We worldwide."