If there was any question as to whether Evidence, Rakaa Iriscience and DJ Babu have been sleeping since they put out 20/20 in ’06, their forthcoming release will silence the naysayers and delight the ears of Dilated fans across the globe.
Directors of Photography will be the group’s debut offering under the Expansion Team/Rhymesayers umbrella, and it’s likely listeners will be transported back to the late 90s after pushing play. There are only a handful of collaborations on the album, including Alchemist’s gritty ditty “Cut My Teeth” where EV and Rakaa swap stories of their struggles growing up in SoCal, and “Good As Gone” serves as a polite “fuck you” to the cynics who didn’t believe DP would make it this far (and the beat courtesy of hip-hop legend DJ Premier is straight fire). DJ Babu is the album’s secret weapon, and his skilled scratch patterns are in the spotlight on “Figure It Out [Melvin’s Theme].”
In a recent interview with Brooklyn Radio, EV remarked that “this album will show everybody the solidarity and that we pulled together to make it. And then from here on out, whether we do rush to make another Dilated, or we do make a Duck Season or whatever, you understand that we fuck with each other, and that’s the bigger picture of Dilated Peoples and Expansion Team.”
You can stream Dilated Peoples’ Director Of Photography LP via Pandora already, but make sure you cop it on iTunes or your local record store and support good hip hop!
