So who’s filling the number-two spot at Fall Fest? Who’s that “keep-your-eye-on” artist to complement main course Jimmy Eat World this year? None other than hip-hop trio Dilated Peoples, who released their third album, Neighborhood Watch, last spring. Dilated Peoples are currently in that danger zone between underground unknown and mainstream megastars. Think Outkast before Stankonia.
The band was born in 1992 out of the meetings between Evidence and Rakaa Iriscience in L.A.’s freestyling underground. Both MCs were influenced by the likes of old-school pioneers such as Run-DMC and Public Enemy. The pair grew to a threesome when Evidence and Rakaa Iriscience hooked up with the scratching talents of DJ Babu, of the DJ group Beat Junkies. Together, they recorded two singles with ABB records. The second of the two, “Work the Angles,” brought them enough club play to sign with Capitol. The trio released The Platform in 2000, but got more attention with the single “Worst Comes To Worst,” off their sophomore effort, The Expansion Team. If you know one Dilated Peoples song, it’s most likely that accessible jam.
Dilated Peoples rhyme over straightforward, turntable-driven beats. They don’t really inspire one to get freaky on the dance floor, but they do inspire plenty of rhythmic nodding. The presence of DJ Babu’s more-than-competent scratch coupled with their beat selection has always been reminiscent of old school. Something else that refreshingly separates them from the norm is rap content. Dilated Peoples usually stays away from the five mainstream pop-hop Bs — beverages, Bentleys, Benjamins, bling and bitches. Instead, they rap about a myriad of different things from George W. Bush to hip-hop sellouts. Thankfully, they don’t sound like self-righteous crusaders out to change the world — they just tell it like it is.
Dilated Peoples have evolved a bit since their formation. They started off as pure L.A.-flavor underground, palatable only to those accustomed to the purest of hip-hop sounds. But after hearing “This Way,” featuring Kanye West, on the radio, one can notice that Dilated Peoples are slowly starting to sound more like a studio production than spontaneous art. “This Way” sounds like a Kanye West song featuring Dilated Peoples. It’s a little less obvious on the other tracks off Neighborhood Watch, but the shift is there. “Reach Us” and “World On Wheels” are returns to that old-school style, but songs like “Neighborhood Watch,” with its gunshot and siren sounds, and “Caffeine,” with its harder beats and piano work, sound more like smoothly engineered gangster rap.
When Dilated Peoples hit the stage for Fall Fest, expect a laid-back style from Evidence and more verbal acrobatics from Iriscience.
But what this fan would like to hear is some freestyling — even if it is about studying and surfing in San Diego.
