Del! The Funky Homosapien* ‎– No Need For Alarm

Without trying to depict in a circumlocutory manner why is this Del Tha Funkee Homosapien's finest moment, I’ll come out with it and say his flow is perfected here, lyrics get laid over juicy underground old school phat beats, the spinning rhythms are constantly hilariously fresh, while the man himself, through a superlative accumulation of precise details or story narrating capacities, he can bring any scene vividly to life. Just check out Wrong Place.
Catch A Bad One is an epochal underground anthem for the ages. Feel that bent violin loop and the cracking beat, courtesy of Casual, who could not take a wrong step back then. It’s arguably the finest track he’s ever come out with, along with the more serious classic Del’s Nightmare.
Doing just about anything from tearing whack MCs spinal chords, crushing opponents ribs, talking shit about b****es, handling beef up in the neighborhood, cracking jokes and a whole array of other things. Check out his virulent verbal assault on Wack M.C.’s:
"What a jerk
you need to find rhymes that will work
You need to desert the rhymin’ field
you’re a nerd
your rhymin’ yields and stops
my rhymin’ shield deflects your puny rhymes
so do decline – any challenge!"
The production is flawless, not quite as mellow as on "’93 ‘til infinity", but along with Casual’s debut album, these three present the best the Hiero boys have to offer. Plenty scratches, great and well placed samples, jazzy beats, sometimes coupled with saxophone or piano passages.
The overall flow of the album is pretty innocent, mainly thanks to Del’s wit and flawless punch lines. A vast improvement upon his first album, yet not as futuristic, and ‘robot’ obsessed as some of his later albums. Even the cover art reeks quality, with the cool use of colors, his name written in graffiti and all, pure eye candy.
If my memory will me justice, I don’t recall this being as gargantuan as the first Souls Of Mischief album (haven’t listened to that one in literary ten years), but Del’s work has more replay value, and he maintained a high quality level of output during the whole time. Actually cross that, last thing I heard with his name on it was Deltron 3030, which I consider to be his second best to this gem.
I also see ha released an album on El-P’s once high and mighty Def Jux powerhouse. I wonder what it sounds like. Maybe it’s time to take another brief dive in this stuff. I remember the early Hieroglyphics stuff being particularly impressive, and this is a gem like few others you’ll come across. I remember having a ‘wow’ expression all over my face days after hearing "No need for alarm" for the first time. Top drawer stuff if you were down with any of the early Oakland orientated stuff!

Besides the official Traffic repress there is an almost identical counterfeit pressing that came out around 2002/03 which has also been pressed in the USA.
It's easy to identify though:
- Most of the Elektra logos are missing
- The labels have a white background (with the big red E missing), instead of fading gray
- The SRC stamps in the rounout grooves are missing