Credit: Alamy

Del the Funky Homosapien found success with his debut album, I Wish My Brother George Was Here, in 1991, largely because it demonstrated his eccentric personality and sense of humour. But it probably didn’t hurt that Ice Cube, at the peak of his powers, was heavily involved, too.

Ice Cube was one of the producers of I Wish My Brother George Was Here, along with Boogieman and Del himself, and the NWA man’s popularity was undoubtedly helpful for attracting listeners to the record. But Cube’s connection to Del went far deeper than mere business. The two of them are family.

Cube is Del’s big cousin, and, arguably, that’s why he took such an interest in him during the early stages of his career. Aside from his production work on I Wish My Brother George Was Here, Cube also invited Del to get involved with his Da Lench Mob group, for whom Del ultimately wrote some lyrics.

I Wish My Brother George Was Here found moderate success in the charts, but it was very well received by the critics. It demonstrated what a singular voice Del was, but, as for Del himself, he felt somewhat constrained by the record. He felt he could take his sound further, so, for album number two, he decided not to work with Cube.

Many years later, it seems that Del and Cube aren’t terribly close. Speaking to Sound of Boston in 2016, Del elaborated on his relationship with Cube, admitting that the pair didn’t really keep in contact very much—although there was no indication that things were bad between them.

“Haven’t really spoke to him since my brother’s funeral,” Del acknowledged, “but when we talk it’s about regular shit I guess.”

While the pair don’t see each other very much, never mind make music together, their shared love of hip-hop remains something that binds them. “We both are rap fans,” Del said, “music fans, fans of lyrics, so usually I just be on the latest, seeing where he at with it. I was always kinda more hip far as underground shit.”

Given that Cube is older than Del, it seems that he seeks to look after his little cousin. As Del put it, Cube likes to make sure that his head is “screwed on solid,” while, on the other hand, Del clearly still looked up to his cousin musically. That makes sense, given all that Cube achieved throughout his rap career.

“Right now,” Del said, “I would probably want him to check out how my lyrics sound, see if he dig it… I try to be less abstract, more aware of being humorous, so I would wanna see if he was entertained by it all, hahahaha…he usually is but he think I’m a loon too.”