Del the Funky Homosapien Goes Ape for the Monkees

While his cousin Ice Cube was becoming one of the rough and tumble faces of gangsta rap in the early '90s, Del the Funky Homosapien found inspiration in a kitschy TV pop band from the '60s.

"I was in my mother's room, and I was playing around with the sampler, and I found a Monkees record," he tells Spinner. "I used to watch the Monkees religiously growing up, right? Like before they had VCRs and s--- like that. There's a part in the Monkees show when they would start singing, so I would take my tape recorder and put it up to the TV and record the songs so I could listen to them later. So that's how much of a fan I was -- and still am -- of the Monkees."

The Monkees actually inspired Del's first hit single, 'Mistadobalina,' from his Ice Cube-produced album 'I Wish My Brother George Was Here.' Del owned a copy of the 1967 Monkees album 'Headquarters' -- the first Monkees album to feature mostly their own compositions -- and was particularly drawn to one track.

"The record had a skit on it called 'Zilch,'" Del explains. "Zilch means nothing so it was like a game they were playing on the record, and they recorded them playing it in the studio. Each member of the Monkees would take a turn saying something that meant zilch, and it would go to the next person."

The mostly spoken song was also used in an episode of 'The Monkees,' titled 'The Picture Frame.' In the episode, Mickey, Davy and Mike are duped into robbing a bank, thinking they are stars of a heist movie. When a police sergeant commands them to start talking, they begin 'Zilch.'

The track begins with one of the Monkees repeating the name Mr. Dobalina, Mr. Bob Dobalina -- supposedly a name they heard paged while traveling on tour. In 1991, Del the Funky Homosapien released a song about Mr. Dobalina and took the Monkees into hip-hop.

"I just kind of conceptualized who Mr.Dobalina would be," Del says, "which is basically somebody who thinks he know what hip. He thinks he hip, he think he cool, but he's really right off. Like he ain't right on -- he right off."

The Monkees aren't the only surprising influence for the Oakland-born rapper. He's also a big Frank Zappa fan.

"I listened to some of his songs just on a whim, and I was like, 'Damn, this fool is raw," Del reveals. "Like super raw. How come I didn't know this?"