Follow
us on Twitter for updates as they happen and sarcastic commentary.
Like
us on Facebook for updates in your feed, special offers, and more.
RSS
if you're one of "those" people.
Join
our mailing list. It's so wizard.



Del is an emcee whose persona transcends the indie underground where he has resided for a number of years. He and his Hieroglyphics cohorts have been able to make the career decisions they have wanted to since being dropped from their major label deals nearly twenty years ago. With creative control intact, Del has been able to collaborate on diverse projects (Deltron, Gorillaz, etc.) and avoid pigeonholing himself over the years. On his latest, he teams up with production unit Parallel Thought for an album that finds his lyricism complemented by a strong musical backdrop.


Del has never been marred by weak production; in fact Domino, Dan The Automator, and others’ tracks that he has spit over have been quite competent in producing beats that fit his lyrics properly. Parallel Thought, the unit that produced the Parallel Uni-Verses album with him and Tame One, provide a consistent musical landscape that allows Del to perform his best on. Soulful, funky, and jazzy tracks are abundant on Attractive Sin, and Del shines brightest on this type of production. From “On Mommas House” at the beginning, to “Front Like Ya Know” at the ending, Del brings a freestyle flow filled with the abundance of personality that he has always displayed.


Parallel Thought and Del are a good fit for one another; however there are some issues with some of the songs on the album that standout upon repeated listens. A handful of the beats would almost be better served as strictly instrumental tracks, because with so much going on in the beat, it sometimes takes away from Del. The previously mentioned “On Mommas House,” while being a strong cut, ends up having musical changes, horns, and other noise that end up making Del sound like the track was all done via file sharing. While this is often the way of modern production, patching an emcee over way too much background instrumentation can become a hindrance. Think of what could have happened to Paul’s Boutique if The Beastie Boys and The Dust Brothers hadn’t perfected the album’s engineering.


Despite some of the issues with these more complex musical arrangements, the album is still a fresh, fun, and fulfilling listen. Hopefully more collaborations between the two parties will come down the pipeline in the future; it would be sinful for them not to hook up again.

Related Articles
4 Responses to "Del + Parallel Thought – “Attractive Sin” – @@@1/2 (Review)"
  • zzubtone says:

    thx for reviewing, i was wondering why sir dzl almost never gets mentioned on here. he is very slept on and ppl cant conceive of this guy outside of his pre-2008 styles…fact is, his last 6 albums since then are really raw and funky and got nothing to do with the old shit. THe guys that have continued to innovate styles over their whole career and not just sit on one style like so many others are really few and del is one of them. Sir dzl supergenius !

  • zoom says:

    Ya know, I’ve always been a Del fan since day one but lately all his songs sound like one big freestyle with annoying adlibs. I’m gonna keep listening because its hiero for life, but man, step it up del!

  • zzubtone says:

    this album was alright but del is better on his own beats imo. FunkMan, Automatic Static, It aint illegal yet, West Coast Avengers are some of my fav hip hop albums. Del here is having less fun and being less experimental than what he usually does. I’m not sure east coast production is the best for him (only maybe on tracks like activated sludge, apply it and see, get to drillin where its chilled out) cuz he sounded more boring on parallel universes than on his own stuff too. Yeah Del has a freestyle vibe since a few years…maybe tame influenced him cuz tame was known to do that a lot and had a lot of rhymes every three words or sthg…I often asked myself why del switched to being more spontaneous and raw, but i guess thats his idea of what funk is,,,if ppl these days take a few days to write a song then everyone can sound maybe a bit too clean…so its good to bring the unperfect funk back. thats how i see it boss. He’s a good guy to study, you cant pin him down.

  • sTeeZo says:

    I’m a Del fan most def but, I wasn’t feeling this shit at all.

    There was no chemistry at all on this LP and Del had none of the energy and sharpness that he used to spit with.

    This album made me a bit sad so, imma go bump Del’s first 3 LP’s and try to forget this fucking album was ever made because, there’s nothing attractive about this sin.

  • Comments (4)

    zzubtone

    July 10th, 2012 at 4:04 pm