Monday Morning Fuel: Deltron 3030 - Positive Contact
If anything was the crystallization of a great many awesome things about early-aughts alt-hip-hop, it was Deltron 3030. Del Tha Funkee Homosapien may not be in the prime he was back then and may not be quite the beloved and obscure figure he was, but this track has never stopped being a propulsive blast of weird fire. Paired with Kid Koala and under the supervision of Dan the Automator at his peak as well, everything on Deltron 3030 had a patina of fresh experimentation with enough solid beats and heady sci-fi lyricism to accompany it that it was irresistible. There's a reason why the live video above was recorded at KEXP a full THIRTEEN YEARS after it's release, and it's not just to cynically promote the not-as-stellar follow-on to the original Deltron 3030 album. It's because there's something about this album and it's vibe that is unique enough to be almost timeless. Positive Contact was always my favorite track of the bunch capturing the production at its most fun and most off-center moment and Del doing what he does best, which is crushing it lyrically as he talks about a universe that only he can imagine and inhabit. If anyone was the right person to rap about an interstellar, dystopian epic about hyper-violent battle rapping, it was a man who has clearly always been in his own world.
