Frak, Del the Funky Homosapien, Guapdad 4000, G-Eazy, Tuesday, Stunnaman02, Nef the Pharoah, Jada imani, passwurdz, e Afterthought aka AFT

Born Teren Delvon Jones in Oakland, California, Del the Funky Homosapien is proof that sometimes, nepotism is no bad thing at all. In fact sometimes it can mean a talent as unique and unconventional as Dels can be appreciated on a scale that he’d have very little chance of achieving without it, and in the world of Hip-Hop, Del has a connection that most would kill for. His cousin is a man called O’Shea Jackson, perhaps better known as Ice Cube, who became one of the most notorious and respected gangsta rappers of the late eighties and early nineties as a solo artist and as a member of the legendary N.W.A.

When Cube went solo he did so backed by a group of rappers known as Da Lench Mob. After the enormous success of “AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted”, he decided to put forth the group as a band in their own right and executive produced their first album. While working behind the scenes he drafted Del in to help out with the lyrics, knowing that his cousin was a talented rapper himself. However, Del’s style never really fitted with his cousin’s heavy, serious gangsta rap and instead, Cube got the 18 year old Del a deal with Elektra Records to release his own debut album under his own name.

Del’s debut album “I Wish My Brother George Was Here” was released in October 1991, which like most of his work, was critically adored but not a hit commercially. While a massively skilled rapper and a truly unique creative mind, Del’s witty, slyly funny lyricism contrasted hugely with the aggressively political hip-hop style dominant at the time. For his next album he cut all ties with his cousin and went it alone for his second full length album, 1993’s “No Need For Alarm”, which was also critically acclaimed but sank without a trace on the charts. If these records had been released but four years previously, they would have been hits in the age of De La Soul and The Jungle Brothers, but this was the age of “Cop Killer”, and Del just didn’t fit into it.

It took five years for Del to follow up “No Need For Alarm”, and to add injury to insult, Elektra sent him a letter informing him that his contract with them had been terminated a mere month before his third album was due to come out. “Future Development” was released via the Hieroglyphics collective he’d formed to help him with the making of “No Need For Alarm”, and was initially only available via a cassette tape from their website. However, Del’s fortunes were about to change drastically. Y’see, in 1999 he formed the group Deltron 3030 with Kid Koala and Dan The Automator, and released a self-titled album with them in 2000.

Singing on that record was one Mr Damon Albarn of the bands Blur and Gorillaz, a new project he’d started with illustrator Jamie Hewlett. Albarn so enjoyed working with them that he got Dan The Automator to produce their self-titled debut album, and since the album was massively influenced by Hip-hop, Dan drafted in Del to rap on some of the tracks. Four cymbal crashed later and Del was the featured performer on the projects lead single “Clint Eastwood”, a worldwide smash hit that went in at number four on the U.K singles chart. With the new wave of interest generated by the Gorillaz record, Del re-released “Future Development” on CD and it went on to sell 400’000 copies worldwide, after 14 years, Del the Funky Homosapien had arrived.

Ever since then, Del’s been one of the true cult heroes of Hip-Hop, releasing acclaimed records every couple of years and putting a spotlight on up and coming artists with his own independent label Hieroglyphics Imperium Recordings. Songs of his have popped up in films, video games and TV series’, and it’s truly inspirational how an artist of his calibre, not to mention his idiosyncrasy, can find a way of making a career out of doing whatever he wants to do. He’s still at the peak of his powers, and he comes highly recommended.

Born Gerald Earl Gillum and raised in Oakland, California, G-Eazy was absolutely captivated by hip-hop’s culture and music from a very young age. By the time he was in his late teens he’d already performed and recorded with a number of local hip-hop groups like Lil’ B and The Cataracts but it wasn’t until he went to college that he formed his own group. As leader of the Bay Boyz, G-Eazy generated some serious hype for his music with the songs that they uploaded to their MySpace page. However, solo stardom was always going to be the number one priority for the up and coming rapper, who was already working on his solo debut while still in the Bay Boyz.

Showing his dedication to his craft, G-Eazy was also building up a prolific producing portfolio at the same time. When he turned those skills onto his own tracks he came up with “Candy Girl”, a song has since been played on MySpace well over 400’000 times, and it became clear that a talent like his wasn’t going to be under ground for long. He released his debut album “The Epidemic LP” in 2010 and no lesser talent than Canadian rap megastar Drake hand-picked G-Eazy to tour with him at the end of the year. The exposure that the album and the tour gave him led to the massive success of his 2011 breakout hit “Runaround Sue” and its accompanying E.P “The Endless Summer”.

Ever since then he’s been one of the hottest names in modern rap. He’s toured with the likes of Lil’ Wayne and Snoop Dogg, scored a top three album on the Billboard 200 with his third effort “These Things Happen” and worked with A$AP Ferg on his single “Lotta That”. At the time of writing the man’s only 25 years old as well, meaning that he’s had this level of success, and this much experience doing what he does, and he’s still not even close to his prime. Clearly when he gets there he’s going to be something very special indeed, and he’s still going to be making great music until he gets to that point. For that reason, G-Eazy comes highly recommended.