We're nearing a twenty year anniversary for Del the Funky Homosapien. That doesn't mean his work is antiquated. Quite the contrary. Instead the emcee works to re-frame the funk that he works with so frequently. Some critics might feel that such a singular approach is nothing but old hat at this point. And they might be right, however, the fact that Del remains a name that catches rap-fanatics attention explicates the rappers continued relevance. Sure, he's not going to release another I Wish My Brother George was Here, but no one else is either.

Having issued three albums this year, Automatik Statik should feel like nothing more than a cobbled together clutch of left overs and cleaned up free styles. It's not. The disc is a pretty unified approach to the genre, making use of familiar musical settings for the rapper. "Dammit" isn't as G-Funk influenced as some of Del's earlier albums, but it's still stankin'. That said, though, the raps that Del breaks out aren't necessarily all that enticing. A series of old boasts and similes is only broken up by a comedic mention of some international company going bankrupt.

To reference a book entitled Country might seem out of place here - maybe. But the books author, Nick Tosches, in discussing the confluence of country, blues and rock 'n roll notes that it's all the same, but each is re-written from other musics. It's not new.

Del’s stuff here on Automatik Statik isn't new, but no rap is at this point. Folks might point to the Anticon folks as being the vanguard of something new, but at this point, the collective has been around for at least a decade, thus not new any longer. None of this means newly released musics aren't good or entertaining. It is. And if Del continues to deliver work in this vein, there'll always be a market for him.

A few odd things do crop up though. Firstly, throughout the entire disc, Del refers to himself as Sir Dzl - no doubt a weed reference. Fine and good. We get it, you like to get high, but we knew that after looking at the back of No Need for Alarm if not before. It's just a clunky name to go by: almost as awkward as Aesop Rock referring to himself as Ace Rock or some such derivation. Just uncalled for. But there's an even more surprising idea that shows up.

Del doesn't live in Oakland anymore. "What," you might exclaim, but it’s true. Perhaps the pervasive violence has prompted the rapper to move to Richmond, a city a bit north of Oakland, as he mentions during the album. Maybe not. That town, though, is renowned in the East Bay for being a bit lively during the evening times. So, who knows?

Either way, Automatik Static is another competent entry into Del's catalog. It's not a classic, but surely listenable. Grabbing a different Del album might be more frequent occurrence than tossing this guy on, but it's a consistent work.