Album: Parallel Uni-Verses

Song Title

Time

Intro (Magic)

Keep It Up

Flashback

Franchise, The

Specifics

Before This

We Taking Over

Life Sucks

Teddy

10)

Special

11)

Gaining Ground

Album: Parallel Uni-Verses

Song Title

Time

Intro (Magic)

Keep It Up

Flashback

Franchise, The

Specifics

Before This

We Taking Over

Life Sucks

Teddy

10)

Special

11)

Gaining Ground

Performer Notes

Personnel: Zac Hendrix (sound effects, scratches).
Del the Funky Homosapien's PARALLEL UNI-VERSES isn't designed to be a game changer. Rather, it's an attractively familiar and nostalgic album, one that brings to mind the informal collaborations found on early Lyricist Lounge or Def Jux compilations. Instead of sick rhymes, clever punch lines are the album's calling card with lines like "Selling more units than Moon Zappa" (Tame One on "Before This") and "You simians just simulate" (Del on "Special") being representative of the overall flavor. What makes it all worthwhile is how complimentary the aggressive Tame and the laidback Del are, how fun their strutting and swaggering is, and how funky the tracks feel with Drum and Knowledge from the Parallel Thoughts Crew providing a wide variety of throwback vibes. Punchy bass, jittery scratching, and looped xylophone samples make "Flashback" more than your average homage to hip-hop's golden age, although it's not just the Thoughts crew who are responsible as these veteran lyricists can go way back and "get nastier than Blowfly." Eerie beats make "The Franchise" a highlight, sounding like they might have melted off the b-side of some old Mo Wax 12-inch. But it's the druggy closer "Gaining Ground" that really stuns, slinking across the speakers like Pink Floyd and Massive Attack passing spliffs for six minutes. Songs are allowed as much time as they need but the album as a whole is economical and right-sized at 11 tracks. This is highly enjoyable weekend music from the underground, nothing more, nothing less.

Professional Reviews

Spin (p.76) - "Producer Parallel Thought supports the storytelling with sharp loops..."

Billboard (p.32) - "[T]he duo backs up its devotion to classic sounds with rich layers of funk, soul, jazz, blues and rock-sampling that honor the genre-bending experimentation prevalent in '80s and early-'90s hip-hop."