“State of the Nation” by Deltron 3030

"State of the Nation" is a dispatch from Deltron 3030, the 2000 debut by the hip-hop supergroup of the same name: rapper Del the Funky Homosapien, producer Dan the Automator and DJ Kid Koala. Del wrote the words; the Automator composed, arranged, produced and mixed the track, Kid Koala works the turntables, and Damon Albarn lends his voice.

The album is a rap opera that takes place in a dystopian 3030, with Del recast as Deltron Zero, a burned-out mech soldier and computer prodigy taking on a New World Order in the 31st century, where oligarchs keep both human rights and hip-hop under their boot. Del's writing swings from social commentary to jokes to space-war battle rhymes, and the Automator wraps it all in a thick, eerie fog.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.