Hieroglyphics
Del the Funky Homosapien
MC
Casual
MC
Domino
Producer
Pep Love
MC
A-Plus
MC, Producer
Opio
MC
Tajai
MC
Phesto
MC
Location: Oakland, California, USA
Genre: Hip Hop, West Coast Hip Hop
Years Active: 1991 -
Meaning of the Name: Pictures that represent words. Used in ancient Egypt.
Way of Working: Collaborative
Associated: Deltron 3030
Essential Releases
93 'Til Infinity (1993)
Released by Hieroglyphics crew members Souls of Mischief. Coming of age tale about young kids having fun and doing their own thing.
3rd Eye Vision (1998)
Debut album from the established Oakland crew Hieroglyphics. Featuring all four members from Souls of Mischief, as well as Casual, Del the Funky Homosapien and others.
'93 'Til Infinity' captures a moment in time that will last forever: 1993 in Oakland, California. While the radio played the crime-filled rantings of Ice Cube's Lethal Injection or Ice T's Home Invasion, four teenagers rapped about something else: ordinary life. Those kids were Souls of Mischief, members of the Hieroglyphics crew, a group of high-school friends who proved that songs about going on dates and drinking beer were just as captivating as those about guns and death.
America loves an outlaw, especially in the West, where iconic figures such as Jesse James and Billy the Kid rode forth. Yet, in 1993, it wasn't only contemporary outlaws capturing hearts and minds; it was ordinary people. The lure of the real over the mythological, at least to an extent, continues to this day. At the time of writing, '93 'Til Infinity' has over 250 million streams on Spotify and has cemented its place as a true hip-hop classic.
While the tone of Bay Area hip hop in general, and Hieroglyphics in particular, was distinct from its L.A. counterpart, it would be remiss to classify them as polar opposites. Broadly speaking, while L.A. was primarily concerned with street narratives, G-Funk and being in a gang, the Bay Area had a greater focus on individual style.
Bay Area artists such as Too Short and Digital Underground had an undeniable panache that set them apart as unique characters intent on charting their own course. Former Digital Underground backing dancer Tupac Shakur's early Bay Area work cast him as a street poet and activist, an image that contrasts sharply with his later 'thug life' releases on Death Row Records following his move to Los Angeles. The cross-pollination between the two metropolitan centres also gave birth to Hieroglyphics.
The crew's de facto leader, Del the Funky Homosapien, is the cousin of legendary L.A. rapper Ice Cube. Indeed, Hiero made their debut on the 1991 B-Side to Del's single 'Mistadobalina', a collaboration born directly from this familial connection. Although it would be a further six years before the release of Hieroglyphics' debut album 3rd Eye Vision, an indie classic that combined youthful energy with jazzy boom bap, the seeds of the group's success were planted years earlier.
At a time when the blood-thirsty West Coast gangster rap was condemned by the US president, the Hieroglyphics crew made songs about the complexities of growing up on streets plagued by crime; on 'Anything Can Happen' (1993), rapper Tajai describes his friend being killed by a stray bullet.
The mainstream press made much of the rappers who glorified shooting, but largely ignored songs made by the people caught in the crossfire. '93 'Til Infinity' is an anthems of the latter.
Skills
*This is a work in progress. Values are subjective.Emotional Impact
80
Mental Impact
65
Originality
75
Artistry
80
Authenticity
70
Live
65
Production
75
Musicianship
65
Rapping
80
Songwriting
85
Danceability
65
Fun
75
Consistency
70
Range
65
Cool
70
Charisma
65
