Assembled in Oakland, California in 1991 while frontman Del The Funky Homosapien was simultaneously working on his debut solo album, Hieroglyphics first emerged on the West Coast hip-hop scene as a loose collective of musical affiliates. Formed of Del, Pep Love, Casual, DJ Toure, in-house producer Domino and the four-piece group Souls of Mischief, the group initially strengthened their ties through frequent collaborations and live performances, properly coming into the public eye seven years later with the release of their first joint album, 3rd Eye Vision (1998). With multiple members having already enjoyed commercial success including Billboard 200-charting albums by this point in their careers, the posse served as a supergroup of sorts, and their debut project sold over 100,000 copies, entering the Billboard Heatseekers chart at number 26 and the R&B/Hip-Hop chart at number 88. Their second album as a group, Full Circle, arrived in 2003, aided by the newfound publicity Del was enjoying after teaming up with British virtual band Gorillaz for the international chart-topper “Clint Eastwood”. Peaking at number 155 on the Billboard 200, Full Circle served as Hieroglyphics’ most successful team-up to date. After a quiet spell which saw the group release numerous compilations, they returned in 2013 following a ten-year wait with their third album, The Kitchen, which entered the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop chart at number 45. After tiding fans over with the Halloween loosie “Heebie Jeebies” in 2014, the crew’s individual members continued to pursue their solo projects, with the group technically remaining active to this day but seldom releasing collaborative material in the ensuing years.
