Whether you know Del The Funky Homosapien as a member of Gorillaz and the rapper on their smash alt-pop hit “Dirty Harry,” as the leader of Bay Area hip hop collective Hieroglyphics, as Ice Cube’s warped younger cousin, as one of the godfathers of Nerdcore, or as the guy who teamed with Dinosaur Jr. on the Judgment Night soundtrack, one thing is for sure: IF YOU KNOW HIP HOP, YOU KNOW DEL.

Celebrating the release of his long-awaited new studio album, The Eleventh Hour (on ultra-hip indie label Def Jux), Del stopped by Purple Reign Studios in Inglewood to drop a mean freestyle about videogames and chat about rappin’ in the Bay. Del was joined by Hiero bandmate A+, who introduced him before he let loose with a rapid-fire impromptu rhyme over a crazy Messiaz beat that proved yet again why this cat is one of the best in the game. Plus, he threw in references to Super Mario, Zaxxon, Yoshi, and even Congo Bongo! The man knows games. And with his sly, Cheshire cat grin in full effect, Del also chatted about how freestyling and battling started in the Bay Area and where it’s at now. And he should know!

Check Del out on Attack of the Show this Tuesday, March 18. Freestyle 101 goes up at 9 a.m. PST (that’s noon over on the east) every Tuesday Next week we bring you New York rapper Pack FM, followed by Ice-T, Buckshot, Ali Vegas, Big Noyd, Kool Keith, B-Real, and many more. Make sure to dig our behind the scenes photos, visit us on MySpace and rant in our Forums. And if you dig Del, go watch other West Coast artists such as The Pack, Myka 9, P.E.A.C.E., Lifesavas, Ras Kass, Tash, LMNO and Phoenix Orion.