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Oct 01, 2013 Deltron 3030 By J. Pace

Witness the return of Deltron 3030, aka the one-and-only Del the Funky Homosapien, turntablist Kid Koala, and hip-hop producer extraordinaire Dan “The Automator” Nakamura—just 13 lucky years after they first took up arms against a semi-fictional corporate-ruled future dystopia. As we in the real world drift further into precisely that, the first Deltron 3030 album is rendered downright prescient, and this follow-up is elevated to an incisive, satirical piece of left-field genius. Deltron 3030—back right when the universe needs ‘em.

Fire it up and there’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt (yes) laying out the post-apocalyptic scene in an introductory voiceover. It’s Stardate 3040: society is crumbling, banks are collapsing, the middle class has “faded into irrelevance,” and almost everyone has set aside hope that Deltron and the Automator might show themselves again. (Oh, and both the Area 51 and Loch Ness Monster conspiracy/aquatic dinosaur fantasy were proven true, just FYI.)

It might as well be 3040, it’s taken so long for a follow-up, but in the interim all that humans have done as a species has provided the former Funky Homosapien with massive fodder for his satirical stylings. Either he hasn’t missed a beat, or we’ve finally caught up with him. Both, it seems-Deltron 3030 has seriously constructed a novel this time around, some kind of Shakespearean sci-fi story worthy of a Ulysses-style reading guide to keep it all straight. Del the Funky Homosapien remains blessed with a crazy brain, a funky vision, a wicked sense of humor, and a wellspring of positivity to set him apart from pretty much anyone.

It should also be noted these guys have a lot more friends than Mr. Gordon-Levitt. Comedy couple David Cross and Amber Tamblyn perform dialogues as get-off-my-lawn elders of 3040 (“You gonna finish that hoversandwich?” “I gotta wait ‘til it hits the floor.”) The Lonely Island also perform as rapping, get-off-my-lawn elders. Celeb chef David Chang riffs on future foodstuffs on “The Future of Food” (turns out everyone just wants beet salads and pork buns). Other guests include Damon Albarn, Mike Patton, Jamie Cullum, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Zach de la Rocha—the list goes on.

But it’s still Del doing most of the verbal heavy lifting. In a press release quote, he said, “I don’t know if you could even categorize this as a hip-hop album—it’s more like a rock opera, but using rap.” Indeed it is. Skits, exposition, and a very in-depth story told through rapid-fire lyrics that one can’t even begin to summarize through piecemeal quotes. Let’s just say he’s a man unafraid to rhyme the phrase “esprit de corps” and to-through geeky, inventive satire, an enviable vocabulary, and deft delivery (plus bangin’ music thanks to his comrades)—reinforce our own in these complicated times. Here’s at least one aspect of the future dystopia that was worth the wait. (www.facebook.com/OfficialDELTRON)

Author rating: 8/10