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Just
over a decade ago, Rakaa aka Iriscience was creeping the back
lots of Los Angeles tagging the overture to a vision. Hailing
from the graf crew Create2Devastate (C2D), Rakaa followed in
the footsteps of the greats who came before him and spent time
writing poetry. Meanwhile, Evidence was drifting around Venice
and L.A. as an aspiring B-boy - dancing, rhyming and dabbling
in the world of graffiti. In the very same city Babu was
catching his first awe-inspiring glimpse of Grandmaster DST
scratching in Herbie Hancock’s Rockit video, realizing his own
destiny in spinovation.
Upon first meeting in 1992, Rakaa and Evidence knew they
shared a common respect for Hip Hop culture and their graf
writing. Simple greetings turned into lengthy conversations,
and eventually a decision to team up and create some music
together. They clicked immediately and began to expand on
their mutual interests in Hip Hop. Rakaa was already involved
with other organizations but was still open to starting a new
group with Evidence. “I was asked to join an L.A. Bomb Squad
chapter of the Rock Steady Crew by Crazy Legs. Still to this
day it’s very important to me and I feel very proud to be a
part of it,” Rakaa says. “I was already really into poetry,
speech, debate and some theater. Hip Hop is just what I chose
to become a part of. At one point I felt a connection between
the poetry and freestyle. It’s just what stands out most to
me.”
Evidence was a Hip Hop junkie as far back as he can remember.
Even though he has gained recognition for his skills on the
mic, he has still had to endure critical fingers pointed at
his multicultural background. With a Russian mother and
Italian/Puerto Rican father (and even more nationalities mixed
into his family tree), Evidence realizes that some people can
only focus on the lightness of his complexion, even though his
track record in Hip Hop culture has been respectable. “I had
to deal with more internally than with what people were
saying,” he explains. Graffiti is [filled with] multicultural
cats – it didn’t really matter, if your shit was fly it was
fly. Most graffiti artists are anonymous, and when people go
out and bomb they see your tag, they don’t see the person –
that’s the beauty of graffiti. I never tried to make what I am
a big deal – it’s just that other people tried to make it a
big deal. I’ve got a bunch of different blood in me, I
consider myself Italian - that’s how I was raised. Now you’ve
got [people labeling themselves] ‘Italian rappers’ and ‘Irish
rappers’, but it just is what it is.”
Although Evidence incorporated beat making into his gamut of
cultural skills, he didn’t intend to turn producing into a
full-time job. “The production thing really wasn’t my choice”
he says, “It was out of necessity so we didn’t have to hit
people up for beats. My dream was always to be a rapper”. He
found that people were more willing to work with him as a
producer than as an emcee, most likely contributable to the
competitive nature that most emcees possess.
In 1994 the Rakaa and Evidence signed with DJ Lethal, who was
working with House Of Pain at the time, and he agreed to shop
their project - landing them on Immortal Records. They worked
with Xzibit on the single “Gone for Broke” and Redman entered
to produce and rhyme on “Mood Swings”. The complete record was
never released due to industrial neurosis after House Of
Pain’s second album didn’t do as well as the first. Immortal
did include one song featuring Dilated Peoples on The Next
Chapter compilation “Into The Time” produced by E-Swift of the
Alkaholiks, however once the compilation was released Immortal
lost their distribution deal with Sony Music. Due to
contractual legalities, Dilated was forced to leave their
masters with the label.
Evidence and Rakaa forged ahead on various independent
projects, without pondering the loss of their first project.
Evidence had experienced many changes in his voice since the
age of fifteen when they first began recording. He enjoyed the
more mature vocal quality he had after the Immortal deal fell
through. Evidence soon began production on Defari’s album and
Dilated was introduced to Bay Area mogul Beni B with ABB
Records in 1997. That same year the group inducted their
friend and deejay extraordinaire Babu into their creative
cipher.
ABB Records put out the 12” single “Third Degree” as Dilated
Peoples toured the Cali club circuit with fervor. Their second
12” “Work The Angles” made noise in 1998 with the formidable
finesse of Kutmaster Kurt’s production. After impressively
moving more than 30,000 copies, the remix “Rework the Angles”
featuring Xzibit, AG and Defari graced turntables nationwide.
Record labels began to approach them with hefty promises, but
Dilated Peoples chose to sign with Capitol Records – a label
inexperienced in promotion of the underground Hip Hop genre.
Since the group already had a healthy repertoire of recorded
tracks, it was a relatively smooth transition. In 2000 The
Platform was released, and Dilated pushed on with their
independent endeavors as well. They toured relentlessly in
2000 and even joined forces with Okayplayer.com, the internet
home of The Roots, Common, D’Angelo, Reflection Eternal and
The JazzyFatNastees. The first design of their domain,
www.DilatedPeoples.com, received accolades for its functioning
virtual Los Angeles train system and secret surprises. The
more exposure they got, the more their internet guest book
filled up with avid listeners yearning to know more about
them. Capitol Records re-released The Platform early in 2001
with a promotional thrust garnished by Dilated Peoples
newfound mass appeal.
Hard Hitters
Babu has proven that he is more than the average Hip Hop
deejay. His juggling extends beyond beats into the time
management of his two group commitments and various production
endeavors. “It’s pretty rough. I’m just lucky that before I
committed to Ev and Rakaa they knew how important Beat Junkies
was to me. Both groups really understand my need to be
involved with both of them,” he explains. “It’s hard – I don’t
even know how I do it. I’ve got a really supportive family
too. Everything I do benefits everyone - at the end it’s
always worth it. When I wasn’t with Dilated Peoples, it was a
balance of being with Beat Junkies and being a manager at Phat
Beats in L.A.”
Rakaa seems to breeze through his music much as he does his
life – with a mellow approach and strong presence. One would
never guess that his biggest challenge in the business is
boredom. His words flow softly and melodically as his eyes
seem to focus on everything but the intended listener as he
speaks. “My mind is always moving and I’m always working on a
million different things, whether it’s music or something
else. I get bored easily and I have to catch myself. I’ve been
doing things to help my focus [like] meditating and
breathing.” Evidence’s only thought on challenging situations
is that he thinks too much before shows, leading to
unwarranted stage fright. “Once my foot hits the stage, I’m
alright,” he smiles.
With their steadily rising stardom has come a barrage of
criticism from worshippers of mainstream music. Dilated’s
sound is based on original Hip Hop, and Rakaa is quick to
admit that industry professionals have attempted to get the
group to change their sound to suit the crossover crowd. “Of
course, they try and give pressure. If you’re making product
and somebody’s trying to sell it, they want you to make the
most buyable product – but nobody makes the decision but us.
We have the ability to say this is what we’re gonna do and
we’re gonna stand behind it. That’s why we did it ourselves
when we left our other label – to perfect the craft and to let
anybody in the future know that we’re willing to do it for
ourselves.”
Rakaa describes his lyrical style as “heavy hardcore rhythm &
poetry - constantly evolving”. Evidence offers little
description of his style, but definitively states “I want to
be heard. A lot of people have a million words and you can’t
understand them. What I do is audio stimulation. I can write
something down, but if I can’t make people feel it then there
is no point. People say I rap too slow or whatever but they
can hear me.” As a duo they combine written rhymes with
freestyle to contain the purity of their art. “Some songs are
pure freestyle, composed in the studio,” says Rakaa. “I think
the ability to freestyle allows you to try different things in
the studio and it adds to the spontaneity.”
Dilated Peoples has had to deal with criticism, as most
artists do, without jeopardizing the relationship between them
and their fans. Babu confesses the challenge of not letting
negativity get to him. “I’m really just learning how to deal
with it now. I try to base everything on skills. I don’t stay
on the net too much or chatrooms – you gotta let it roll off
your back. People know I’m humble and down to earth and it
hurts when someone attacks me.” A nonchalant Rakaa further
explains, “Criticism comes in a lot of different styles and
from a lot of places. Certain criticism I deal with
positively, certain criticism tests my patience and peace of
mind, and some I ignore as opinion.” He copes with praise in a
similar fashion. “They’re both expressive and are two ends of
the same stick. I take into consideration the source – it’s
positive energy – how can I be mad at that?”
“I’m a Hip Hop fan more than anybody,” Evidence ardently
projects. “I live it – I’m really hard on myself. When I hear
somebody say I don’t try and I put my heart in it – it’s hard.
The people I don’t care about are the shit-talkers. The people
I do care about are the supporters. Hip Hop is so divided, so
I’m not going to please everybody. A lot of rappers are
ashamed of their fans – I’m glad our group is for ALL of our
fans.” Babu continues in agreement, “I’d rather have a small
group of fans who listen to our music for years instead of a
large group who only listen for a few months.”
Expanding the Angles
Keeping their philosophies in mind, Dilated Peoples set out in
2001 to create a project that would further solidify their
niche in Hip Hop. Their new album Expansion Team is indicative
of the ‘family’ mindset that holds Dilated together. Rakaa is
succinct in his description of the new songs. “Basically, just
like The Platform, the overall theme is just expression. I
guess that’s a very loose thing, but it’s something that’s
very important to us. Expansion Team is Dilated Peoples and
people that are definitely open people – it’s just stretching
the game out a little bit.”
Guest appearances on Expansion Team include The Alchemist, DJ
Premier, ?uestlove, Da Beatminerz, JuJu of the Beatnuts, Black
Thought, Joey Chavez, Metis Cole, and Likwit crew members
Defari, Phil Da Agony and Tha Liks. All of the combinations
come together with continuity and strength, and the production
skills of the Dilated crew tie each string of beats into the
perfect bow. Babu is adamant that for their collaborations, a
handshake is better than ink. “Everybody we got to work with
was an honest collabo,” he says. “We picked these people out
of purely having respect for their art, and somehow meshing
their style with ours.”
The confidence that Evidence conveys in his feelings about
Expansion Team is concrete. “The best part about this record
to me is that we established our sound. Our original intention
for this album was to record it all in one place, and mix it
with one engineer to keep it real exact and right. Due to our
touring schedule and where the producers live, it just wasn’t
possible, so we had to do it the way we didn’t want to –
recording it anywhere we could, all over the fucking country
under different circumstances – and we pulled it off. That’s
one thing I’m really proud of in our group – we don’t have to
be in one place.” He also contends that regardless of who
worked on the track, Dilated had a hands-on approach to the
album. “Even if I’m not producing a track I’m there from
beginning to end. We all created a group involvement in the
procedure.”
“It was just a good experience across the board,” says Rakaa.
“Probably the craziest thing was going out to New York for a
couple weeks and locking down most of the D&D [studios] – we
had two or three people working on songs at the same time, so
we were running back and forth between rooms – we were out
there making the most of our time and having a blast.” While
in New York a portion of the video for the first single from
the album “Worst Comes To Worst” was filmed, and initially
featured footage of the crew performing between World Trade
Center towers. After the September 11th attacks on the United
States, the Dilated team went back to the drawing board and
cut the scenes with the towers.
During the New York studio sessions, tracks with Da Beatminerz,
Juju, Premier and Alchemist were recorded. Babu speaks with
enthusiasm about their time in the Big Apple. “Working with
Alchemist is always a dope experience. He brings the best out
of us always. It was our first time working with Da Beatminerz,
that was my funnest experience working with all these new
producers. I feel like fam now with a lot of these guys, going
through the creative process. We’ve known each other’s work
from before, but being locked in the studio with them after
coordinating the songs was a really great way to get to know
these cats. Evil D and Walt – those are like our brothers now.
They gave us one of my favorite songs on the album “Trade
Money”. Working with Premier was the shit to me. We collabed
on the cuts – he’s a real hands on producer – he’s up in there
coaching everybody on their rhymes. He’s a dope motivator.”
Although some newer fans to Dilated Peoples may be surprised
at the collaboration with DJ Premier, Rakaa is quick to let
people know that the arrangement was not a fluke. “We didn’t
cold call Premier – we toured with Rage Against The Machine
and Gangstarr before. We are definitely fans of his music and
his production. He expressed to us that he was definitely
feeling our music for years, we hear him rock our twelve
inches in his mix shows when he’s at the clubs. To work with
him was a great experience, but it was also comfortable.”
Roots crew members Black Thought and ?uestlove appear on
separate tracks on Expansion Team. “Working with Black Thought
- that was ridiculous,” says Babu. “He’s part of our
Okayplayer family – so it’s special love obviously. He’s one
of my favorite emcees, and he’s one of those emcees that
whatever he spits on he makes the track sound that much
better. He came in, grabbed a blank pad of paper and a pen,
wrote for two and a half hours straight, kicked [the beat] one
time and was done in five or ten minutes. Strictly
professional.” Rakaa debuts the recorded version of his poetic
interlude “War” with a drum track orchestrated by the
Soulquarian percussionist ?uestlove. Although they did not
record in the studio together, the magic of ?uestlove’s battle
cadence and Rakaa’s musings is fully captured. “The song is
inspired by the different conflict that I see,” explains Rakaa.
“The fight for peace is a war in itself, and it’s just a crazy
circle of life. It draws upon different representations of war
that have been a part of my consciousness.”
Working with longtime friends Tha Liks was memorable for all
three group members. Evidence glows with respect for the
mighty Likwit crew, and speaks highly of their willingness to
share the creative spotlight. “I consider them veterans. Those
are the people I looked up to coming up in this L.A. scene
when we didn’t have a deal. They showed a lot of love for us,
and they continue to. On our first album we had a song with
the Alkaholiks called “Right On”, and most of the reviews or
comments I got from people were ‘yeah that’s a dope song, but
it sounds more like Dilated featured on an Alkaholiks record’,
so this time we just wanted to do it Dilated style.”
In addition to touring to promote their album in the United
States, Dilated was asked to do a two-week tour in Europe with
Linkin Park in September, which was cut short due to
priorities with the release of the new album. “Mike from
Linkin Park called me and extended the offer,” says Rakaa.
“They didn’t have to, but they did - they are fans of our
music. I thought it was a real cool thing to get out there and
rock with new people – also, quiet as it’s kept, get into
these places so we can work with the real hardcore headz too.
Linkin Park are cool cats.”
Rakaa understands the difficulties of being a new emcee trying
to break into the scene, and kindly offers words of advice to
aspiring artists. “Study the rules to any game you play. Go
back and listen to what people are saying. This is a cold game
out here that you’re playing, so be prepared for that. Most
importantly take the time to develop sensitivity. You need
sensitivity to feel momentum – to know when it’s time to
explode and when it’s time to rest up. Figure out a way to
make what you want to do translate, then work on a way to
building bridges between that and people.”
With bridges allowing their streams of consciousness to flow,
Dilated Peoples allow their fans to meet them halfway without
having to cross over to a single side. As Rakaa, Evidence and
Babu look squarely into their future with clarity, they can
most assuredly visualize the shape of things to come. Dilated
is to grow, and the Dilated crew are people of expansion –
growing in the culture and carrying on the legacy of the Hip
Hop nation.
Dove
~Sheepish Lordess of Chaos~
Courtesy of Elemental Magazine www.elementalmag.com
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