Having revolutionized three disparate rap sub-genres with his arch antics—gangsta P-Funk with his cousin Ice Cube, slippery left-coast underground with Hieroglyphics, and dizzying cosmos rap with Deltron 3030—Del the Funky Homosapien has been something of a thinking man’s clown.

But this self-produced fifth album, his first in nearly eight years, is far from inventive, and even less funny. Leaden beats and a stilted flow—at one time, his ace in the hole—leave 11th Hour dim, dull, and worst of all, empty. On “Situations,” he burbles, “You can’t let emotions control you.” Here? Not even close.