Editing Del the Funky Homosapien (section)

===1988–1997: Early life and beginnings===
Born in [[Oakland, California]], he is the cousin of seminal West Coast rapper [[Ice Cube]], and began his career writing lyrics for Ice Cube's group [[Da Lench Mob]].<ref name="Hiero">{{cite web|url=http://ensim.hieroglyphics.com/artists/del/|title=Del tha Amazing Homosapien|access-date=September 5, 2007|publisher=Hieroglyphics|author=Hieroglyphics|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814112553/http://ensim.hieroglyphics.com/artists/del/|archive-date=August 14, 2007}}</ref> In 1991, with the help of Ice Cube, Del released his first solo album, ''[[I Wish My Brother George Was Here]]'',<ref name="Hiero"/> at the age of 19. The album was a commercial success largely due to the popularity of the hit single "[[Mistadobalina]]". Ultimately Del, who was not pleased with the limited musical range of the album, severed his production-artist relationship with Ice Cube for his next album, ''[[No Need for Alarm]]''.

''No Need for Alarm'' saw the introduction of the Oakland clique [[Hieroglyphics (group)|Hieroglyphics]],<ref name="Hiero"/> whose original members included [[Souls of Mischief]] (Opio, A-Plus, Phesto and Tajai), Casual, Pep Love, Del, and producer Domino. ''No Need for Alarm'' helped to expose both the regional Oakland sound of hip hop, as well as the freestyle based, "golden era 90s" style of hip hop being expanded at the time.