Happy 20th Anniversary Salute: Deltron 3030

                                                                    

What's good peoples?! This next twentieth anniversary salute goes out to one of the most unique and original concept albums in all of music, not just hip-hop, but music overall.  When sci-fi meets opera and hip-hop in a triple threat match, this is the album you'll come out with.  Much like the much heralded Dr. Octagon or A Prince Amongst Thieves before it, this album is a virtual movie.  An album that belongs in the realm of old Star Trek easily.  The production, the feel, the aura and the concept as a whole went way beyond the realms of what traditional hip-hop should've been.  Much like the aforementioned efforts, this album was recognized as one of the most innovative and brilliant albums ever delivered, and has since become a cult classic.  Ladies and gentlemen, this is west coast emcee Del The Funky Homosapian and producer Dan The Automator as Deltron 3030 and their self titled album. 

Dan The Automator had been known up to now for his work with the aforementioned Dr. Octagonecologyst, as well as his collaborative project with the legendary Prince Paul, Handsome Boy Modeling School, and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.  Obviously, his name was in tight circles.  Plus later collaborations with Gorillaz would further raise his stock within music.  As for Del, the famed cousin of Ice Cube was known especially for his first two very impressive albums, I Wish My Brother George Was Here and No Need For Alarm, which produced cuts like "Mista Dobalina", "Boo Boo Heads", "Catch A Bad One", "Sleeping On My Couch", and others.  He also delivered a year 2000 release entitled Both Sides Of The Brain, which itself was a pretty good release.  These two together, along with DJ Kid Koala, comprised a group of forward thinkers to create quite the musical and conceptual experience. 

Del plays Deltron, a mech soldier that resides in a world where evil soldiers are out to eliminate human rights, but also want to kill hip-hop as well.  Deltron is pretty jaded and disillusioned, but is out on a mission and ultimately becomes hip-hop's champion and saves the world as well.  The intricate and detailed nature of this story reads like an audio comic book.  Del completely hooks you in to his mission as he presents to us how serious his calling is.  Automator presents him with such a haunting yet engaging soundtrack for Del to have.  Cuts like "Mastermind", "Positive Contact", "Time Keeps On Slipping", and "Battlesong" are very clever and intriguing cuts that display the nature of Deltron's complex yet essential battles.  Also, guests such as the esteemed MC Paul Barman, Prince Paul, Brad Roberts, Mr. Lif, and Sean Lennon all assist in this masterwork as very necessary characters that either help or try to hinder Deltron's progress.  The slick part comes at the album's very end as the song "Memory Loss" throws in a bit of "Catch A Bad One", presumably to help Deltron remember Del somewhere in there. 

What Deltron 3030 managed to pull off was an album that was among the most unconventional rap albums to ever exist, but also a way to show that, if done right, sci-fi rap can be cool.  If Kool Keith as Dr. Octagon didn't show that, this album definitely does.  This has been considered an "Alternative Rap" classic, along with the likes of all the aforementioned along with Madvillainy, The Unseen, Endtroducing, Black Up, and One Word Extinguisher.  They delivered a sequel to the debut entitled Event 2.  Although it was definitely a great sophomoric effort, it would be unfair to compare it to the unmistakable genius of the first effort.  Del, Automater, and Koala presented an epic release that showed thinking outside the box and presenting an album for a specific type of audience can resonate into an album for the ages.  We toast our glasses in salute to this unforgettable album.  Until next time!