As hip-hop culture (DJing, MCing, b-boying, graffiti art and beatboxing) evolved in the late 1970s and early 1980s, two things were hallmarks of the movement: DJing and lyrical excellence. In the last several years, no rap group has done more to champion those elements than Dilated Peoples. The Los Angeles-based trio of Rakaa, Evidence and DJ Babu inject their music with humor, insight and social commentary, and DJ Babu’s cuts add an additional layer of excitement and complexity to the group’s material.
The trio’s first three albums -- 2000’s The Platform, 2001’s Expansion Team and 2004’s Neighborhood Watch -- are hailed as exemplary examples of quality hip-hop. So after enjoying the biggest radio and television exposure of its career with the 2004 hit “This Way,” produced by and featuring Kanye West, Dilated Peoples wanted to make a point that they had a clear vision for their music, hence the 20/20 title for their new album.
“We’ve done a lot of experimentation, worked with a lot of different people and tried a lot of different things,” Rakaa explains. “With this record, we wanted to really get back to a real, uncut pure vision and get back to the pure, boom-bap sound that really made us all get together as people and want to make music together.”
Lead single “Back Again” perfectly illustrates this point. With DJ Babu (also a member of the World Famous Beat Junkies) accenting the thumping cut with his precision scratching, Evidence and Rakaa update their fans on their musical agenda and highlight their dedication to the art of rhyme. “Don’t worry if I write checks, I write rhymes,” Evidence says on the cut, playing off a famous line from Diddy. Evidence felt it was important to draw attention to lyricism with the group’s first single. “In today’s rap game, people are worried about whether or not I’m making money, but it’s not glorified that I’m writing my own rhymes or making my vision clear,” he explains. “I just felt it was a bold statement and needed to be said.”
On “Alarm Clock Music,” the crew gets off equally thought-provoking rhymes over a powerful, keyboard and scratch-propelled beat. “We named the song ‘Alarm Clock Music’ because it is supposed to wake people up,” Rakaa says. “We wanted the beat and those cuts to come across like that. Lyrically, the third verse in particular had to do with conflict, whether it’s on the block or nation to nation. It doesn’t matter if it’s across the street or across the world because they’re very closely related. The song itself is a wake-up call.”
Then, on the soulful “You Can’t Hide, You Can’t Run,” the group raps about making the best of a bad situation. “Life is going to come at you regardless,” Rakaa says. “It doesn’t mean you can’t flip lemons to lemonade and lemonade to Minute Made. You can make the best of a bad situation and I think it’s more necessary than ever. There’s no shortage of nonsense coming at you because it’s a crazy world right now.”
Protection - we do a lot of it these days. Sun cream for our skin, sunglasses for our eyes, condoms for you know where - but do you remember to protect your hearing?
Click to find all the information you need to look after your hearing now so you can enjoy music for years to come
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