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It's hard to articulate, without bias, the genius that has manifested itself in the album Deltron 3030. It may be labeled as hip-hop but any lover of music and appreciative of talent will enjoy this album. It is cleverly done, well-balanced, tasteful and yet still flawed, much to the likeness of human intellect. And it's not your typical mainstream "let's shoot everyone, sell drugs, and rape women" mindset of most of today's pop-hop scene.

This concept album, a hip-hopera if you will, is produced by the great Dan the Automator (a.k.a Dan Nakamura) and features turntablist Kid Koala, with Del the Funkee Homosapien as the main MC. Del, who is coincidentally Ice Cube's cousin (as if that is much to sneeze about), is known on the album as Deltron-Zero, an earthling flanked by his two sidekicks The Cantankerous Captain Aptos (Dan the Automator) and Skiznod the Boy Wonder (Kid Koala).

With the inception of the album on the first track "3030", comes one of the best beats I have heard. Ever. Dan the Automator is absolutely brilliant. He weaves a fully orchestrated sound into his beats, something that I haven't heard many DJ's/producers do. It's something out of the ordinary. And on top of this absolutely mind-blowing beat, is Del's cool voice rhyming. Now I wouldn't normally just find the sound of an MC's voice anything out of the ordinary, but, Del has such a flow and wide vocabulary that his rhymes are actually smart (much like Lauryn Hill). He sounds like an educated, well thought-out (albeit, weird) individual who doesn't feel the need to incorporate curse words in order to sound credible. "3030" is absolutely brilliant as the album's inaugural track, it prepares the listener for what is to come ahead.

Whilst I have a most devoted appreciation and love for this album, there are some flaws in it. While these flaws are mostly minor, I feel that it adds to the real flavor of the album as a whole. The album is a little disjointed. Some of the skits (which are now a norm for most hip-hop albums) are … interesting, to say the least. They don't require much talent and don't help move the album along, they are just filler pieces with no real purpose (the track "Meet Cleofis Randolph the Patriarch). And while I do enjoy and bask in the glory that is Del's flow, there are certain tendencies towards arrogance in some of his lyrics that are a little much. On the flip side, however, sometimes Del's lyricism is overshadowed by the geniuses of Dan the Automator and Kid Koala. Sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes, the listener gets too focused on the beat and the turn-tabling. But thankfully, the brilliance outshines the flaws in this album.

For hip-hop lovers, this is a must-listen album. And even for those of you who have their doubts about hip-hop, there is not a doubt in my mind that this album will make you at the very least appreciate hip-hop (and by hip-hop, I don't mean 50 Cent).

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