Dilated Peoples - Expansion Team

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Dilated Peoples – Expansion Team

After releasing their great debut album in 2000, Dilated Peoples has come back a year later with the follow up entitled Expansion Team. The lead single Worst Comes To Worst received plenty of airplay and success even here in the UK where it even managed to get into the Top 10 on the singles chart, which really is a big achievement for any rap single. Anyways does the whole album match up to the quality of the single, well you’ll have to read on to find out.

Live On Stage – the opening track on the album, starts with a live concert introduction to Dilated and the crowd reaction as they come out. Once the actual song kicks in you can see that listening to this album is going to be a major pleasure. A great beat, good lyrical performances, a hook which you won’t forget in a hurry and plenty of DJ Babu’s scratching over the top. A great start to the album. 5/5

Worst Comes To Worst – this was the first single to be released from the album, and you can see why. Talking about putting your friends and family first in life, Evidence and Iriscience rap about life in California, to the backdrop of a killer beat from The Alchemist and more scratching from Babu. The hook is good, and this almost certainly the best song on the whole album. Nuff said. 5/5

Clockwork – this song carries on the trend set by the first two tracks in that it is great. Good lyrical performances, a relatively simple but effective beat, and more of that brilliantly timed scratching. The hook is one of those vocal sample which has been scratched and delayed, and fits in perfectly with the rest of the song. 4.5/5

Trade Money – this is basically a song about making money, and how doing so doesn’t actually always bring happiness. They both rap about how poorer people are sometimes more close to earth and understand the meaning of life, and that how happy you are depends on what you spend your money on if you have lots of it. This is actually a pretty deep song, and shows the underground roots of Dilated to the fullest. 4.5/5

Heavy Rotation (feat Tha Liks) – that’s right, two of the best groups on the West Coast hooking up on a track together. As was to be expected, the result is a great song about partying on the West Coast, with both the Peoples and as to be expected Tha Liks putting in great performances. The beat is great, and the laid back hook finishes off this song brilliantly. 5/5

Self Defense – this track is basically talking about how on the streets you must be able to defend yourself, because defense is the best form of offense in their opinion. The scratching is top notch as usual, the hook is good and Evidence and Iriscience put in another good lyrical performance. 4/5

Phil Da Agony Interlude – this is a short track by Phil Da Agony, showcasing his ability, with a good beat. Only lasts about half a minute though so it gets. 3/5

Proper Propaganda – this track has to have one of the best beats on the album, with an even more old school feel to it than the rest of the album. The Peoples flow perfectly with the beat as per usual, and this track really this just pure quality through and through. 5/5

Dilated Junkies (feat J-Rocc, Rhettmatic and Melo-D) – this start of this beat sounds similar to the one used for Wu Tang’s Back In Tha Game track, but any similarity which there may be can be forgotten because this beat really is brilliant. The vocal sample fits in perfectly with the beat, and the scratching of Babu brings this beat up to an even higher level. Good lyrical performances by the Peoples and all of the guests, another great song. 4.5/5

Panic - this is a track about being under pressure, and how you have to say cool in this type of situation otherwise you will fail. The beat compliments the topic of the track perfectly, the hook samples a crowd and is good and lyrically the track is good as ever. 4/5

Pay Attention – this song has a more laid back beat then many of the other tracks on the album and features a great female vocal sample running through the song. It is basically about paying attention to what is going on around you, and to open up your mind. Good raps once more, another good track. 4/5

Night Life – this is basically a track about what they get up to at night on the streets. The track has quite a sinister beat, and the Peoples keep this theme up with dark raps and a hook which fits in really well with the rest of the track. Babu comes in with some more quality scratching, and overall this track is pure class. 5/5

War – this track is about the war on the streets, and has like a military beat going on in the background. It has more of a freestyle feel to it, with every line containing the word war, and the beat just in the background more than anything. It only lasts one minute thirty seconds but it is a really deep track. 4/5

Hard Hitters (feat Black Thought) – this is the main battle track for the album, saying how the Peoples are ruling at the moment and it will take a brave man to take them on. The beat is great as almost every beat on this album is, and Black Thought puts in a great performance as a guest. As you would expect for this type of track it is very good lyrically and shows the skills of Evidence and Iriscience plainly for everyone to see. 4.5/5

Defari Interlude – this interlude has a lot of scratchy over a decent beat and then some great rapping by Defari with some great lyrics, repping LA to the fullest. This shows his skills, and for me he has to be one of the most underrated rappers on the west, and he certainly deserves more credit than he is currently getting. The track is quite short but it is still great. 4/5

Expansion Team Theme – this track is basically outlining what Dilated Peoples and the Expansion Team are all about. Great lyrics from Evidence and Iriscience, another simple but effective beat and a great way to finish off this brilliant album. 4.5/5

As you can see from the ratings that I have given to the tracks this album really is my favourite album from 2001 no doubt. I have to say that it is probably in my all time top 10 because it really is great independent sounding hip hop, and is what I think hip hop should be all about. It is hard to pick out the best tracks because they are all so good but certainly Worst Comes To Worst, Live On Stage and Proper Propaganda have to be amongst the best on the album. With a great mix of old school sounding beats and very new school raps this album is in my eyes a classic, and I cannot wait to see what they manage to produce on their next album, because if they get better then we are going to be looking at an album which could be a good contender for the best ever hip hop album.

Overall: 10/10

[Liquid-Dogg]

totally dissagree wit everythin u said, that album is straight shit! no 2 ways about it. The beats are borin, the rhymes are enuf to make u wanna kill urself, and that white guys voice jus goes straight through u! damn! i dunno why the so respected in the underground scene...then they sold out doin Wc2W

[Scribe]

I agree with your review of the album, although I would have rated it slightly lower than a perfect 10 (maybe a 9). The album was one of my favourites of 2001.

[AlerG]

your fav 3 tracks were mine too...i love proper propaganda...this cd is an underground classic and pure original from the roots hip-hop classic...most people won't see that though...shit reminds me of gangstarr in their day, peace.