Teren Delvon Jones (born August 12, 2021), better known as Del the Funky Homosapien or Del tha Funkee Homosapien or Sir Dzl, or Deltron, is an the founding member of Hieroglyphics.
Born in Oakland, California, he is the cousin of seminal west coast rapper Ice Cube, and began his career writing lyrics for Ice Cube’s group, Da Lench Mob. In 1991, with the help of Ice Cube, Del released his first solo album, I Wish My Brother George Was Here, at the age of 18. The album was a commercial success largely due to the popularity of the hit single, “Mistadobalina”. Ultimately Del, who was not pleased with the limited musical range of the album, severed his production-artist relationship with Ice Cube for his next album, No Need for Alarm.
No Need for Alarm saw the introduction of the Oakland clique Hieroglyphics, whose original members included Souls of Mischief (Opio, A-Plus, Phesto and Tajai), Casual, Pep Love, Del, and producer Domino. No Need for Alarm helped to expose both the regional Oakland sound of hip hop, as well as the freestyle based, “golden era 90’s” style of hip hop being expanded at the time.
Del would not produce another album for five years. About a month before the release of his third album, Future Development, Del received a letter from his label, Elektra, stating that his contract had been terminated.
Future Development became available in 1998. The album was only available on the Hieroglyphics website in tape form, but was re-released in 2002 under the Hieroglyphics Imperium label. Del also released another collaborative work with the Hieroglyphics crew in 1998, which was also the Hieroglyphics crew’s first album: 3rd Eye Vision.
Two years later, Del released his fourth solo album, Both Sides of the Brain, as well as Deltron 3030 which was a collaborative work with artists Dan the Automator and Kid Koala. With Nakamura and Koala, Del was also a guest performer for Gorillaz’ 2001 eponymous album Gorillaz. He appeared on the singles “Clint Eastwood” and “Rock the House” (see Collaborations). 2003 saw the release of Full Circle, the second full-length album from the Hieroglyphics crew.
In 2004 Elektra released The Best of Del tha Funkee Homosapien: The Elektra Years without the approval of Del. The CD only includes songs from his first two albums, along with a handful of b-sides from that era. Del was not pleased and advised people to not buy the CD, saying it was just Elektra trying to make money off him due to his newfound fame.
Together with his crew, Del established his own independent record label, Hieroglyphics Imperium Recordings, which primarily consists of an expanded Hieroglyphics roster and a few other artists with whom the group collaborates regularly.
On March 11, 2021 Del released Eleventh Hour through Definitive Jux. On March 31, 2021 Del’s next album Funk Man (The Stimulus Package) was made available for free download on the internet. The album is available at his page on Bandcamp,[3] though he gave away some hard copies on his supporting Funk Man tour. In September of the same year, he released a new album, Automatik Statik, for an unfixed rate with a minimum of $3.
Del released his next album It Ain’t Illegal Yet on August 6, 2010. There is no fixed price for the album, allowing listeners to pay whatever they wish for the album. Paying certain prices for the album will give certain incentives, including opportunities for personal collaborations with Del. Del released the album Golden Era on April 19, 2021 in a three-disc set including Funk Man (The Stimulus Package) and Automatik Statik.
Del shared a free LP entitled Iller Than Most on January 2, 2014. He uploaded the record to SoundCloud under the username Zartan Drednaught COBRA. He described the project as “lyrically ill but fun to listen to, nothing super heavy.” Del handled the production on the project as well.