Published: Tuesday - April 17, 2007
Words by Jay Casteel
Evidence (Photo: ABB Records)
Entering the game in 2000 with The Platform, Los Angeles trio Dilated Peoples proved that you don't have to be gangsters to get some recognition in the Golden State. Being from the City of Angels and dropping a record on a major was quite an accomplishment for the group, but shortly thereafter, they began to suffer from what music industry folk call "politics."
What began as a promising deal that would result in solo albums for the group's individuals never materialized, so here we are seven years later, contracts fulfilled, Dilated free from record label constraints and group member Evidence is finally able to release his solo debut -- something he says the group has always dreamed about. Although the label shackles are off, there is a downside. Being that EV wanted to record his debut the way he wanted without interference, he opted to go independent, which means no major label budget as he was used to at Capitol. The result: a reborn and hungrier emcee has been unleashed. It's The Weatherman, and he's here to reign on Southern Cali.
In a candid conversation with the Los Angeles native, Ballerstatus.com got the nitty gritty about what Evidence had to go through to reach this point in his career, why Dilated has managed to survive without fitting the Los Angeles rapper mold and why fans will love his solo LP.
It's usually known as sunny California, but with the release of EV's The Weatherman LP, it's nothing but cloudy skies -- a metaphor the rapper explains in this Q&A, so keep reading.
BallerStatus.com: You've been in Dilated Peoples for a minute, so why break off and do a solo album?
Evidence: It's always been our intention to do solo records. That's what the Dilated platform was about when we hooked up. Rakaa [Iriscience], myself and Babu are three different dudes from three different sides of town, and the fact that we could to come together as Dilated, it was a blessing that we could even find a common theme to run through our whole career. I think that's why a lot of people enjoy Dilated because there is such diverse aspects within the group.
When I met Rakaa, he was a solo artist and I was a solo artist, who just hooked up to do a song, produced by QD3. That song kinda snowballed into the group, then later came Babu. When we signed up with Capitol in 2000, it was always our intention to do The Platform, do Expansion Team -- our first two records -- then do solo records and come back as the group. We had a five album deal. If you look at the linear notes of Expansion Team in 2001, I wrote "Look out for our solo LPs, coming soon" because we thought it was gonna happen back then. When we applied to do out solo records, we had found out -- through our contracts -- that Capitol had the first rights to our solo records and if I would've signed with them as a solo artist, I would have gotten tied up into five more records as a solo artist.
The President that signed us at the time at Capitol, Roy Lott, left after our first album, so our relationship with them -- for the most part -- had been diteriating ever since. It was something I didn't wanna do. So we fulfilled our contract, did our albums as Dilated and I finally got the opportunity to do this now. The second I got free of my contract at the end of 2006, I jumped into the studio immediately to do this first album, The Weatherman LP. It's something I've been planning for a long time.
This year is the year for Dilated as individuals, then 2008, we coming back unified. A lot of labels have been hollering at us, but right now, we're on hiatus as a group.
BallerStatus.com: How do you feel the fans will respond to the individuals members as solo artists?
Evidence: I think they will embrace it, as long as they understand Dilated isn't breaking up and there's no beef between us. Babu and Rakaa are heavily co-signing my movement right now. They are on my album, so Dilated ain't going no where. It was always intended to be like a Wu-Tang where all the individual members could sign on their own, but always been a unit.
I think Dilated fans are really gonna enjoy what I'm doing because my guard isn't up as much right now. I'm letting you into who I am. I've gone through a lot of personal experiences that I needed to share that might not be appropriate on a Dilated record, like celebrating the life of my mother who passed away a two years ago. Just certain things I wouldn't weigh a Dilated record down with. Dilated, for me, was more about my wordplay and how I spit. This time, I'm really speaking on topics that are really relevant to my lifestyle right now and what I've been going through.
The production is still the same. It's myself, Alchemist, Babu, Joey Chavez, Sid Roams, DJ Khalel, Jack One... like it's still that in-house vibe. When you hear the guests on the record, it's really refreshing because you can tell and A&R didn't put me in the room with some stranger and said make a hit record. This is who I chose to be on my album. The majority of the album I did on my own, to show I could do it by myself because a lot of people doubt you when they go out on their own. But I got Little Brother, my girl Reese, Joe Scudda, the Alchemist rapping and the most important guest is Rakka (to show we're still a unit), Slug from Atmosphere, Chace Infinite and Sick Jacken. I picked my guests well on this record.
BallerStatus.com: So, being that you are accustomed to being on a major with Capitol, how are you dealing with going back to your indie roots?
Evidence: It feels dope because I'm hungry. It's really bringing that hunger out in me. Anything I put out is gonna be a reflection of me. If If I really get out and grind this record for a year, it's gonna show how my work ethic is and how I had to step it up completely. There's not a lot of money behind this project, so if it's successful, I have the fans to thank for that. It's just refreshing.
BallerStatus.com: One thing Dilated has always done is been yourselves. You guys are from L.A. and the cliche'd picture of rappers from L.A. are gangbangers, but you've still gotten love a lot love despite the fact you guys aren't gangster rappers. Why is it Dilated has been able to be successful without falling into that stereotypical gangbanger cliche that is Los Angeles?
Evidence: The biggest success to me was when Snoop invited us down to the Dogg Pound's "Cali Iz Active" video. Like... we got invited to that. That was ill to me. That was really saying to me like, "Ya'll rep L.A. and we see you, and we appreciate ya'll sticking to your lane." Like Cali is so diverse, that's what The Weatherman LP is all about -- erasing the misconception that it never rains in California with the reign of Evidence so to speak. I'm showing the other side of the city, you know? The cover of my album is Cali (showing a picture with it raining), just not the side you're used to seeing.
To be honest, my partner Rakaa, his family comes from that gang element, but he -- at a certain point in his life -- said I'm gonna do graffiti, listen to Jimmy Hendrix... this is my route. His family respects him for that. You don't have to be a thug or try to be somebody you're not to get accepted by that crowd. I think we're the perfect example of that.
BallerStatus.com: So what's the future hold for you?
Evidence: I'm grinding this album for a year straight. Expect me to stay on the road. That's all I got -- word of mouth, internet, Myspace, Youtube and shows. I don't have the luxury of having the big banners up and snipes across the whole city. I'm just gonna do it -- I hate the word -- but organic for the lack of a better term. It's gonna be a real campaign. If I have success, it's a beautiful thing, but if I fail, at least it's on my own terms. That's why better than suceeding on someone else's.
Dilated, we're putting out our first DVD this summer, "The Release Party DVD," celebrating the release of us off Capitol Records. We didn't have the rights to put that out either, so everything we wanted to do that we couldn't do, we're doing that shit now. Rakaa and Babu are putting out their albums, then we coming back in 2008 to solidfy us as a group.
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