Posted on 03/20/2007
As one third of Los Angeles hip hop group Dilated Peoples, Evidence has been immersed in the culture for over a decade.  Along with fellow emcee Rakaa and turntablist DJ Babu, he was given a platform to speak to the masses, and did so with four albums sporting an uncompromised underground aesthetic.    In stark contrast to the typical major label horror stories, the emcee/producer had no ill words towards Capitol Records, the label with whom they just finished their contract with.    

"Signing with Capitol was a great thing," the gravelly voiced emcee says over the phone from LA.  "I'm proud of how we handled ourselves during the years... tried to turn underground groups into hitmakers.  We kept our guard up, remained who we were, and were never ashamed to say we are an underground group.  And we did have hit records; ‘Worse Comes to Worst,' ‘This Way,' ‘Don't Get It Twisted,' those are all records that saw the light on radio, MTV, and BET."

    With no obligations to any label, the trio faced a crossroads.  Though the group is still intact ("Dilated is not breaking up- that's so unofficial it's not even funny," Ev emphatically insists), 2007 will be the year of the members' solo releases, starting with Evidence's Weatherman LP.  The album is an outlet for the rapper to touch on topics that he normally might not speak on in the context of Dilated Peoples.  

    "Being in a group is an amazing thing, but some form of personal identity can get compromised. The three of us are all such different people; sometimes we have to come up with a concept we can all agree on.  A lot of people will come up to me and thank me for how political Dilated is, but I can't really take direct credit for that- that's Rakaa.  People will thank me for how much Dilated has brought the turntable back to hip hop, but I've got to give Babu most of the credit for that.  This record was important for me to establish myself as a person and let people see my side of things."

    From the beginning when they issued 12-inch singles on indie label ABB Records, the plan to explore solo options was always there.  Timing was the issue.  "You have a five album deal with the label, and they're like ‘yeah, we'll sign you as a solo artist for another five albums.'  Being tied up for ten albums is just not a good look.  I waited for our contract to be up, and the second I got free, I jumped into making this solo record."  

    Having already established a relationship with ABB, it made sense to put the Weatherman LP out through them.  Still, the adjustment from a major to an indie was a bit of a transition.  "I love ABB, but there are certain things I got used to being on Capitol- having a little money front-ended on my project, getting a shot at TV and radio ad campaigns.  I have all that at ABB, but because we're spending our own money, it's limited.  I've got to respect them though, because they are stepping outside the box of how they normally operate for me, spending more than they normally would, but it still can't compare to Capitol.  It's a very grassroots campaign."

    "At the same time, I like it because on a major, things can get watered down- it's not as special.  On this record I'm trying to build my EV logo as a brand.  I'm not putting the Dilated logo on the front of the record, even though I am Evidence of Dilated Peoples for life and longer, we're not shoving it down peoples' throats.  I think that causes a lot more people to respond to it, because they feel like they're part of a movement, which they are. Supporting this record puts the money directly back in my pocket and not to some building in Hollywood,.  I put a lot more work into this, put my heart on the line, showed a little more vulnerability than I have before.

    Nothing exemplifies such a sentiment more than the album's closer, "I Still Love You," a heartfelt tribute to his mother who passed away last year.  Evidence's tendency to lean towards darker sounding production is prevalent throughout the album as well, "though there is a lot of bright stuff on the album, too," he adds.

    Weatherman LP also finds a dope list of collaborators on tracks with Evidence, many of whom might throw listeners for a loop.  "I didn't have an A&R to reach out to people on this one, so everyone is somebody I personally knew and are just a phone call away."  Ev broke down a few of the songs from the album:

NC TO CA (feat. Defari, Joe Scudda, and Rapper Big Pooh)
"We had an off day in Los Angeles on the Dilated/LB tour, we all went to my studio, I had a beat up I had made, and we did the song in a few hours, real quick.  No pressure on this album, just making music like we would any other day, just to do it."

LET YOURSELF GO (feat. Alchemist and Phonte
"I started it with Alchemist, and then we called Phonte for the hook, We wanted a singing hook, but he came back with a rapped hook.  Had we known he was going to do that, we would have just asked him to rap on the song, but what he did was so ill that we kept it.  We'll end up doing a remix with him where he raps a third verse.

LINE OF SCRIMMAGE (feat. Slug)
Slug always let Dilated come through to his store Fifth Element in Minneapolis.  I've always wanted to do something with Atmosphere, so I figured what better place to do it than on my solo record.  Slug over an Alchemist beat!  He's really dope.  He told me he was gonna do a crazy singing style, and when I heard it I followed suit.  

    With a tour planned (though he had just found out that the Canadian dates had to be cancelled due to problems crossing the border), Evidence is prepped to share his work with the world.  As for the future of Dilated?

    "I don't know if Dilated will ever go back to a major label, unless it was a really bright situation, more like a partnership.  There have been calls, but we really haven't been answering the phone- we're just focused on other things.  We're making a new Dilated DVD, the first one ever actually, that's gonna come out this summer, telling the whole story of the group, our history, and other things that before we didn't have the rights to put out as well. I just kind of want to keep Dilated on ice while me, Rakaa, and Babu all do our solo thing and then in 2008 we'll reassess and put out the new Dilated record."

*note to readers: keep your eyes peeled for the Dilated DVD Evidence refers to here, shot and directed by Jason Goldwatch from DECON Media, in stores now!  


- Sean Kantrowitz