in over my head (Del The Funky Homosapien - Iller Than Most)

Del The Funky Homosapien - Iller Than Most

Why you'll love it:  Cool noise rock approach to rap

Why you'll hate it:  Mostly the same song over and over

I had been considering doing another webcomic style review for this one.  Criticizing rap intimidates me.  My experience listening to it doesn't go much further than The Beastie Boys and Gorillaz (where I first heard of Del).  Fortunately, Iller Than Most leaves a bit more to discuss than just rap in general.

"Leader" sets the pace rightly in more ways than one.  The first thing you'll notice about this album is the sound composition.  It's gritty, noisy, and all over the low and high ends, with every bell and whistle in between.  This is what it sounds like if Zach Hill were to produce a rap album.  I know what your next thought is: but Zach Hill is already associated with a much more successful group called Death Grips! Yes, I know.  Personally, I feel like this sounds much closer to what you would hear on a psychedelic Zach Hill album.

What else stands out quite a bit on this album is Del's never ceasing rant on people ripping him off, and attacking his character on the internet.  So much as he's spending entire parts of songs torturing imitators, and mocking shit-talkers.  It's a bit weird, and kind of distracts from a couple otherwise good songs.  Extra weird considering he was beating the crap out of someone in a song as Deltron 3030 just last year.

Del's beefs tend to get in the way, and a lot of them seem to be about the same exact thing.  It doesn't live up to the cool and unique sound that backs this album.  Maybe there are a lot more rap albums with such a noisy distorted beat throughout, but I've never heard one; so the novelty had me coming back all year.  I wish it was better, but Iller Than Most is worth a curious listen.