Del the Funky Homosapien & Amp Live – “Gate 13” (Album Review)

With the surprise release of Iller Than Most on New Year’s Day 2014, Hieroglyphics leader Del the Funky Homosapien is finally returning with his 13th full-length album & he has enlisted former Zion I producer Amp Live to produce it in it’s entirety. After the intro, we go into the first song “Wheel of Fortune”. Here, Del spits some battle bars & flows perfectly over an ominous beat. However, the 30-second reggae beat switch up was just alright. The next track “The Glow” gets braggadocious over a beat over an laidback beat while the song “Gravy Train” is a diss to wack rappers over a funky beat & the sax at the end is beautiful. After the “Funkrolla 3.0” skit, we go into the song “Run Free”. Here, Del vividly tells a story of following some gangsters over a jazzy beat.

The track “Help” gets insightful over a somber beat & a beautiful hook while the song “Humble Pie” recalls a high school bully over a rap rock beat. After the “Far Away” skit, we get into the song “Far Beyond”. Here, Del & Zyme get confrontational over a spacey beat. The song “Chili Sauce” has a flawless synth-funk instrumental, but Del hardly appears on it. After the “Funkrolla 4.0” skit, we go into the song “Sit Ya Ass Down”. Here, we get more charismatic battle bars over a funky beat. The track “On the Ball” with Eligh sees the 2 bragging how they’re better MCs over a bouncy-synth beat & the penultimate track “Get Some of Dis” gets playful over a retro video game-esque instrumental. The album finishes with “Laternal Thinking”, which is just a spacey instrumental.

As soon as I first heard about this at Hiero Day 2017, I already knew this was gonna be dope. It’s nice to see Del the Funky Homosapien bring another producer in the fold for the first time in a minute & Amp Live was definitely a right choice. Del himself even sounds a lot more focused & his lyricism is sharper than ever before

Score: 8/10