EVIDENCE (January 2007) | Interview By: Nima

       Dubcnn recently took time to talk to one third of the incredible trio known as Dilated Peoples. Evidence, who is gearing up to release his long awaited solo album "The Weatherman" in March, sat down with us to discuss the new album, the past 7 years on Capitol with Dilated Peoples, recording with his true family on the new LP, being in the studio with Alchemist, why he opted to release via the independent outlet ABB Records, what we can expect from Dilated Peoples next as both a collective and on the solo tip as well as much more on his fans, touring and music in this exclusive interview.


As always we have both the transcript and the audio for you to check and please feel free to send any feedback regarding the interview to: nima@dubcnn.com

 

Interview was done by phone in January 2007

Questions Asked By : Nima

Evidence Gave Dubcnn.com A Shoutout! Check That Here

Full Interview In Audio : Here

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Dubcnn: We’re here with one third of the group Dilated Peoples, but you’re on the solo tip right now. What up Evidence?

Everything is good homie, man just grinding out this solo record I got coming out March 20th 2007, brand new day, brand new street, everything is beautiful right now.


Dubcnn: I wanna get right in to it with “The Weather Man LP” why did you choose to go with this title?

Well, it’s basically like an alias my fans gave me back in the days, you know, when I first started rhyming, for some reason, I don’t know what it was but I’d always be talking about some kind of weather, whatever it was, a hurricane or storm or some shit, I just felt like it kind of described my
style. I was looking at the internet, maybe 4 or 5 years ago, maybe even a little long, and people were like “Yeah he’s dope but he talks about weather too much” *laughs*. So I was like “Ok, if that’s the case, then I’m the weather man!”

And basically, I’m also a real opinionated person, as far as whether I’m feeling you or not type of shit. But more importantly, the reason why I called this the “Weather Man LP” is just really to erase the misconception that it never rains in Southern California. It’s like the rain of Evidence so to speak, you know? On the first LP “The Platform” we had put the LA subway system on our cover and people didn’t know what it was, they thought it was something from New York but we were letting people know that this was right underneath your feet right now, even if you don’t notice it’s here. The same kind of thing with “The Weather Man”, people think it’s all sunshine, palm trees, they think it’s just gangster rap out here, they don’t really realize that there’s a lot of different elements to Los Angeles. So I’m kind of erasing the misconception and just showing you a different side of the city.


Dubcnn: How long have you been recording for the album?

Basically, we had a five album deal with Capitol Records that Dilated Peoples signed in 2000 and it was four LP’s and the fifth one was either a live record or a greatest hits. And you know we finished our fourth album “20/20” earlier this year for Capitol, we turned it in, toured it minimally, cause you know there was... I don’t wanna bash nobody, but support wasn’t really there that should have been. So what happened was, the second I realized that contractually I was not obligated to them anymore, I went right in the studio ready to record this album because, you know, Dilated Peoples came together as three separate individuals who are here to put this platform together so to speak, but it’s always been our intention to establish our identities through solo records. So it just so happened that
Capitol Records wanted my solo album and wanted to tie me up for five LP’s, which is something I didn’t wanna do, so the second I saw the free loophole on the contract, I basically jumped through it and got busy on my record.

On the inside of “Expansion Team” in 2001, I was like look out for our solo LP’s coming soon, and it took five years longer than expected. So my fans have been waiting for this for a long time. It’s been about six months working progress and I really banged this fucker out! I love everything about it, it’s really a brand new me. I’m definitely showing a different side of what people expected and I think people are gonna hopefully by the time this shit drops really understand where I’m coming from and be on a whole new page with Evidence.


Dubcnn: Was this all solo work or did Rakaa and Babu have an input on the album?

Babu produced two joints, he produced a joint called “Things You Do” and he produced a joint called “Moment In Time” featuring Planet Asia and not to mention his cuts are all over the album. Rakaa made a song with me called “Perfect Storm”, you know, so it is still a family affair. We still do Dilated shows, during the Dilated set they gave me 15-20 minutes to let me get busy and promote my solo album. We got love for each other; I don’t want anybody to think Dilated is breaking up! It’s just that 2007 is year of the individual members of Dilated Peoples. Rakaa got his project going, Babu got
Duck Season III going. We’re gonna do a lot of things to help each other stay afloat in this game. So when we come back with Dilated in 2008, people will, like I said before, understand our individual personalities and identities that much more and it will make us that much stronger.


Dubcnn: You hit the lab once again with Alchemist for the song “Hot And Cold”. Tell us about the recording process of that song.

That’s a beat I made! Most people think he made the beat, which is a compliment to me, you know what I mean? But Alchemist is a rapper too, he’s been one of my best friends for a long time and nobody really co-signed me like he does, he really believed in me you know?


Dubcnn: Best believe he mentions you all the time as well.

Yeah no doubt. You know I believe in him as a rapper which is a thing a lot of people don’t know. They know him as a producer but he was actually a rapper before he was a producer, so that’s really me just showing love right back, saying “let me do the beat, let me have you on my record for your
vocal skills, cause that’s something I respect you know”. A lot of the world doesn’t realize that he got ill spittery, so basically you know “Hot & Cold” is a joint where we’re talking about shit that’s hot, shit that’s not (laughs) you know what I mean? Hot and Cold, that’s the bottom line! People loving that one, cause it’s so many one liners, so much shit to sing along with. I been starting doing my Evidence solo shows and I did my first show on December 10th, which is my birthday, in Los Angeles, and it was just jam packed. And when I did that song, everyone sang all the words with me. So it was an indication of what I’m doing, it’s connecting with the people.


Dubcnn: Yeah, you know now that you mention that, I didn’t even think about it first. I was like “Ok, Alchemist produced this”.

That’s right. You know, it pops up on all the .com’s like “produced by Alchemist”, but to me that’s a compliment, that lets me know that I’m stepping it up on the beats. He’s stepping it up on the rhymes, so we’re gonna meet in the middle somewhere.


Dubcnn: Definitely. How about the first single “Mr. Slow Flow” did you give yourself the title?

“Mr. Slow Flow” that’s you know, I got that from EPMD, Parrish Smith of EPMD. They say “what’s the M.O. and another rapper was hit by Mr Slow Flow”, something he said back in the day, and I just loved the way it sounds. Plus we had the Jay-Z scratch “I slow flow ya’ll to death”. So it was something that was perfect for me. I love that song; it’s a perfect representation of where I’m at right now. You know, no fillers. Not even one filler line taking over to the next line, every line is a punch or a subliminal punch.

The tone of my voice, I’m real comfortable with right now. You know, that one is produced by Joey Chavez and Bravo, who are a new production-team called Sid Roams in New York City, you know, and Joey Chavez is like one of my best friend since back in the days. He produced all of my first stuff, all my first demos, so I’m real comfortable rhyming over his beats and I just feel like if you put that song on right now, it’s like I’m going against the grain, I’m not out there searching for radio, searching for a video, I’m just being me. The people who come to the table are the people I’m fucking with.


Dubcnn: Has the single been serviced to radio stations yet?

Nah, it hasn’t. On January 17th we’re gonna go with it, right now we’re creating a buzz over the internet, me performing it live and you know, getting it to the people direct. I got some promo CD’s I’ve been throwin out, getting it like that. DJ Premier, he playing it as the first joint on his show every week. Shade 45 added it, my man Phat Philly in Croatia, going crazy.


Dubcnn: I was just with Phat Philly the other day, he was out here with J-Ro from Tha Liks.

Yeah, that’s what’s up. You know we’re connecting it world wide man. It’s a much bigger picture than people might even realize, but this shit is gonna be something, trust me. When March comes, everybody’s gotta get in line with this. For real, there is something happening and I can tell everyday by the way people are reacting to what I’m doing. You can’t really measure a person’s integrity or determination but I’m there first hand to let it off everyday and I think people are taking it well. Hopefully you know, hopefully the rest of the world catches one.


Dubcnn: Are you planning on shooting a video for the song?

Yeah, I’m shooting a video right now with Jason Goldwatch, you know, Jason Goldwatch directed our “Back Again” video, our “Worst Comes To Worst” video. He does all the DVD’s, from Jeezy to Ludacris’ “Red Light District”, you know, Company Flow, El P, he does a wide variety of DVD’s, he got a company called Decon Media that’s really running shit. So he’s gonna shoot the video, I’ma do something real non PC, something that a lot of people are scared to do, but I don’t really wanna let the cat out the bag, but I’m basically taking the concept back to spit and Beatstreet and I’m just gonna walk around and diss the shit outta everything *laughs*. It’s a ‘Fuck The World’ kind of record and that’s how I’m feeling right now. So, I’ma be going to some popular landmarks in Los Angeles, probably be writing all over that shit, some of which they might probably be a little upset about, some
might even hinder my career in the future, but you know what, somebody got to take a step out and do it sometimes and I feel like that cat should be me right now.


Dubcnn: Aight. So who is all producing on the album?

The main production is held down by Alchemist, he did the majority of it...and you what that means. You know what I mean, straight up. He did a song called “Chase The Clouds Away” which could be a really big record. He got down and dirty with me into some grimy shit on a song called “Let Yourself Go”, with Phonte from Little Brother doing the chorus, it’s really crazy. Me and him spitting back forth. I got my man DJ Khalil from Self Scientific who’s like probably the deadliest right now, if you ask me. He made it on Jay-Z’s album and he one for Game .


Dubcnn: Oh he been deadly.

Yeah, he just been crazy but the world is just starting to get it, like I said before sometimes it takes a minute for people to catch up. But everybody in the circle of people that I run with, I believe in, more than a lot of strangers. People that I came up with, I believe in. So it’s like, a big inspiration is coming from a lot of my friends which is something that a lot of people can’t say, which I feel blessed. I got Jake One, who’s just been killing it lately also, and for a long time, out of Seattle. He‘s been doing a lot of stuff, man, he did “Be Easy” with Hot Rod and Mary J. He did a lot of real ill shit, from the underground all the way up to the top. So, Jake One did a song called “Down In New York City” for me, which is kind of like my take on Biggie’s “Going Back To Cali”. I just kind of flipped it and made that into New York. I just kinda took the concept and ran with it and made it backwards, you know, a cat from California out in New York, like BIG was from New York, out in Cali. People loving that record right there, I just actually shot it to DJ Premier last night, he called me for exclusives. I just leaked that record so it’ll probably hit the internet in the next couple weeks, as soon as he starts playing it.

Like I said before it’s Sid Roams. S-I-D-R-O-A-M-S. Sid Roams is Joey Chavez and Bravo, my two pretty much staple producers I grew up with in Venice, CA, where I’m from. And they are out in Brooklyn right now, since they moved to New York they really found their sound and established what they’re here to do. So they did three joints on the album. First one “Mr. Slow Flow”, they did a joint called “Believe In Me” with Res. Res did the chorus. She’s amazing to me man. Then they did this other joint called “Perfect Storm” like I said, which is featuring Rakaa and Madchild from Swollen Members. That joint I just did last night, so I’m real excited about it. So that’s the three they did.

I did five joints on there, people definitely gonna hear that I’m stepping my game up as far as production. I just produced “The Medicine”, Planet Asia’s new album, I did all 16 cuts. That’s something I’m real proud of. You know people gotta start to recognize that I’m hanging out with Alchemist, Joey and all these people. I’m not sitting around and just smoking weed doing nothing. I’m really looking at them and learning from them, plus I came up under QDIII, which is pretty much my biggest influence since back in the day. I lived next door to him, growing up in Venice and I took a lot of production values from him that I applied at my career, to this day. You know, he did Pac’s “To Live & Die In L.A.” from Pac and did all the Beef DVD’s, so he’s not only the illest thinking producer, he’s like a rap-mogul if you ask me.


Dubcnn: Definitely.

I did about five joints. Babu did two and that’s it (laughs). All my friends man, just a family affair on this record.


Dubcnn: Sounds good. I heard the album was mastered by Big Bass Brian, tell us about working with him.

Oh Brian actually mastered the singles. He did “Mr. Slow Flow” and “Hot And Cold”. I’m not sure if I’m gonna do the whole album with him right now. It’s just because shit is mad expensive, to keep it real, you know what I’m saying? *laughs* I got a lot of people to pay right now and shit, so it’s like, if I can finish it with Brian, it would an honour, cause he’s one of the best. He’s got more number one records than anybody. But if it’s not mastered with him, like I said, I took a lot of tips from him, too *laughs*. I got love for Big Bass Brian and Bernie Grundman, the man who created all that shit man. That dude right there, Bernie Grundman is a legend.


Dubcnn: As far as guest appearances, I think you mentioned Alchemist, Rakaa, Madchild…

I got my list right here, cause I don’t want to forget anybody *laughs*. I got Alchemist on the album, I got Little Brother on the album. But I got them spread out, I got Phonte on the chorus for “Let Yourself Go”, and I got another song called “NC To CA” which is me, Rapper Pooh from Little Brother,
Joe Scudda and Defari. So it’s like me and Defari representing Cali and Joe Scudda and Rapper Pooh represent NC.


Dubcnn: Damn, that sounds crazy.

Yeah it’s a monster man. I got “Moment And Time” featuring Planet Asia. I got “Believe In Me” featuring Res. We doing a song today, called “Born In L.A.” with me, Sick Jacken from Psycho Realm and Chace Infinite. That shit is gonna be crazy like, I’m from Venice, you know Jack Pico Union, Chace is born in Inglewood representing Mid-City. We just gonna talk about different perspectives of Los Angeles, you know what I mean. It’s gonna be a crazy record, Alchemist on the beat. I got a song called “Line Of Scrimmage” which is featuring my man Slug from Atmosphere, which is something crazy. I don’t know if the cats at dubcnn know about Atmosphere…


Dubcnn: Oh I know about them, I’ve actually been to one of their shows.

Yeah, then you know about that shit, them dudes got a crazy following man, I love how he just sticks to his own lane, not trying to please anybody, just happy with what he’s doing.


Dubcnn: It’s something different I had to get used to it, but I really respect what he’s doing.

Exactly. That’s how I feel too and I put him over an Alchemist beat and it’s just *laughs* a whole new thing, people are gonna trip out when they hear Evidence and Slug over an Alchemist joint. That song is called “Line Of Scrimmage” and I really like how it came out. Then like I said, I got Rakaa on it, and Mad Child and that’s it man. When I told people I’m doing a solo album, a lotta people know me in my immediate camp as a producer or they knew me through Dilated, as one third of Dilated, so a lot of people aren’t necessarily expecting me to hold down the whole record by myself, you know.

But I love the fact that I’m the underdog and people don’t necessarily expect that from me, cause I got a lot to prove and I’m really hungry and determined right now. So when I tell people: ‘Nah, nah, nah I’m on the majority of my whole album, ten songs by myself man.” People are like: ‘Ok, ok. I see…” *laughs* Like it hasn’t registered with everybody yet but you hear what I came with and when you hear how I’m focused right now and you hear what I’m doing… man I can’t tell you enough about how happy I am with the result of this record. So, it’s mainly me man and I even fell back on
the production to make sure that I could be on point with my lyrics. The people who are coming in on this record featuring, are really accentuating what I’m doing and they really helping me create a vibe and making it different. But for the majority this is my thoughts.

A lot of people don’t know, but in 2004 I lost my mother, God bless her soul, and I been really through a lot of ups and downs since that point. I got on tour with Kanye and everything was just beautiful, we had the “This Way” video out and I got a call on the road, and I had to leave cause she
wasn’t well, and I had to do some crazy shit, spent the last week of her life with my mother, which is something that nobody can tell me about. You know, no one can really match that or try to feel the pain on that, I went to the therapist, I trained Brazilian Ju-Jitsu, I tried to do all kind of things to get my head right and the only thing I really found peace in doing, was my music. So, it’s really been like my therapy, and I got a song dedicated to her called “I Still Love You”, which is the last song on the
album, which I could never put on a Dilated album because it just wouldn’t fit.

So there’s certain reasons why I’m doing this record right now, certain things I need to talk about and I think the people gonna feel that, you know, because it’s just what I’m going through and I’m choosing to let people in, I’m not trying to keep them away from it. So a lot of my inspiration is my mother for this record.


Dubcnn: You decided to release the album through ABB Records. How did that happen?

That was my choice. You know, a lot of people came to the table, especially based on my success with Dilated, four LP’s, sold over a million records world wide. I mean if you’re talking to somebody at Interscope, they might view that as a failure, but to me *laughs* a kid from Los Angeles who used
to take the bus everywhere, to sell a million records on four LP’s around the world is an incredible accomplishment, finically and just for what it stands for, us really doing what we doing, what we love and standing for, what we believe in. So obviously a lot of people did view that as a success and they figure ‘You are one third of Dilated, let me get a piece of that.’

But I didn’t really want to ride off the coattails of Dilated Peoples. I’m not saying this is Evidence of Dilated Peoples, this shit is just Evidence. I got Rakaa featured on my album, I got Babu featured on my album, I don’t have Dilated featured on my album. I’m really just trying to start something brand new with this record, and really find out who’s fucking with me. I don’t wanna have a lot of carried over fans who might have loved the turntablism of Babu, or love Rakaa’s political angles on things, to just cop this record because they feel obligated. I want people to buy this, if they really feeling it. If that means I gotta do smaller shows, and really build a backup, then good! If I gotta tell labels not to put me in the “D” section, no, this is the “E” section, then so be it! So what I chose to do, is not even entertain these options and just fuck with ABB, fuck with Benny B, fuck with people who believed in me since the beginning. So we just started from ground zero again. Maybe next year, all the dickriders will come to the table and get in line, but right now, I’m finding out the people who believe in me directly. I hired my man Brock, I’m putting a good team in place, I’m really excited with what I’m doing. It’s nothing as exciting as waking up everyday with this hunger all over again, you can’t take that away from me at the end of the day.


Dubcnn: This past year, you were involved in the Dilated Peoples "20/20" project, as well as Planet Asia's "Medicine" album. How do you look at 2006?

2006 was good, it was building process and a tear it down kind of process at the same time. I produced the majority of the Dilated Peoples record which was a personal accomplishment for me, producing Kindness For Weakness, You Can’t Hide You Can’t Run, Rapid Transit, doing all these songs. When I produced “The Platform”, the first Dilated LP, I had the most songs on it. Then as time went on, I got less and less. “Expansion Team” I had less, “Neighborhood Watch” even less. So it was really a personal goal of mine, to take my range back in my own group, and show that I can handle the production, specially after coming off the Kanye West “This Way”, it was very important for me to re-establish with my fans, what we do, what we stand for and how we do it.

So, I love the Dilated record, I just feel like it was a little under-promoted, being that it was our last with Capitol, I don’t really think that they wanted to spend something that wasn’t gonna be there anymore, so I think they just kind of threw it out to the dogs, which is alright with me. It’s our least selling record to date on Capitol, but it’s one of my favorite. So at the end of the day, the music is more important than the sales. Planet Asia’s album was something that I really needed to do, because we all started out doing 12” singles, but now, I got Alchemist doing “1st Infantry” and his new album “Chemical Warfare” coming out, I got Babu doing “Likwit Junkies” album with Defari, doing whole albums now. Cats is stepping their bars up, 9th Wonder on ABB doing albums for everybody, whole length albums, and the music is not suffering because of that, muthafuckas is just
really stepping they game up.

So I wanted to let people know that that’s something that I could do too. So I stepped to Planet Asia like “Yo, let’s do a whole album! Let’s not just do a cool 12”, let’s put out a whole project and let people know what I’m capable of, what you’re capable of.” Like Premier would do with Gangstarr,
one producer, one MC, one engineer, and have the sound be real consistent. That’s what we do, and I think that “The Medicine” is one of his best records to date. Feedback has been great, promotion is what it is, on these independents it’s not as easy to get it out to the mainstream outlets, but people who are fucking with it are fucking with it in a major way. So that’s beautiful thing for me.


Dubcnn: Is there any word on an upcoming Dilated album as of yet?

2007 we’re putting our “Release Party DVD”. We’re calling it the “Release Party” cause we are free. *laughs* It’s basically gonna be an incredible piece of work, because it’s the making of all four albums from the beginning to the end. Tour footage from four years, interviews from four years, studio sessions making “This Way” with Kanye, or “Worst Comes To Worst”, with Alchemist, just stuff people need to see. “Expansion Team” tour footage with the homie with a breezy in the back of the bus, just shit that is like really letting you into the Dilated lifestyle. We never had that, it’s kind of the door that’s always been closed to people. We let you see us on stage, we’d give you some of us on the record, never all of us, but we’re kind of letting you in with this “Release Party DVD”. It’s filmed by Jason Goldwatch, same dude who’s doing my video, coming out on Decon Media, we’re putting a couple of new joints on there too. So I think 2007 will be on ice with Dilated, the DVD will carry us through the year, our solo projects will carry us through the year, and then when we come back 2008, we’re gonna come back real strong as Dilated Peoples, cause a lot of people have been calling
trying to get Dilated. We kind of haven’t been answering the calls right now, cause we wanna build the buzz back up, get everything right, so when we come back out, we come back strong.


Dubcnn: I don’t know if you’ve been hearing about this, but Bishop Lamont has really been trying to bridge the gap between the Hip-Hop scene and the whole Gangsta scene. He’s been working with Dre, Scott Storch and them cats and at the same time he’s got Pete Rock, Madlib and shit.

I don't know Bishop Lamont real well, and like I said before, I had my first show December 10th, and I had Mykestro opening up. You know what I mean? So it’s like, we all do our parts to bridge the gap. I think one of the reasons Dilated has been so incredible is because we could get down with Atmosphere type groups, and at the same time Mobb Deep show us love when we go out to New York. Certain people are able to mess with those different kind of worlds, like a Talib Kweli or something like that. It’s not everyday that those kind of things happen, so if Bishop is gonna make that happen, and he has the backing of Dre, then that’s a beautiful thing right there.


Dubcnn: Ok well before ending this off, let's get back to "The Weatherman". How does it feel to have a solo album recorded?

It’s just a brand new excitement everyday, it’s mine, from the artwork to mixing of the record, to the guests I choose, it’s 100% me. I don’t have 200 people that I have to get confirmation from, or have to find a mutual idea to write a song, it’s just an extension of me. We were talking about it before, like on “Rapid Transit” off the “20/20” album, I said “I wear my heart in my sleeve, I just keep my jacket over it”, and that’s kind of how I’ve been my whole career. I let people into my life just enough, but not fully, I’ve never been the Kanye of the Eminem type, or the Slug type, to where you’re letting people into your whole life every single day about everything you do.

So with “The Weatherman”, I felt like “You know what? Let me move towards that a little bit further, let me let people in a little bit so they can understand where I’m from, what I do, how I came up, what’s going on in my personal life” and that’s really what I did. I got a lot of rhymes that’s just spitting, still, of course, that’s what a lot of my fans like me for, but at the same time, I felt like stepping it up a little bit. “The Weatherman” is a more personal record than anything I’ve ever had before, because it’s me. I can’t hide behind the name Evidence like I can with Dilated Peoples. Sometimes with Dilated I feel like being the star that day, sometimes I feel like falling back that day, sometimes I don’t show up for the interview and Rakaa handles it or vice versa. It’s different responsibilities within the group that we all delegate.

But with Evidence, it’s Evidence, I can’t run from that. If Evidence doesn’t show up, the show ain’t gonna happen. So it’s a new responsibility, something that I feel like I’m ready to handle, and I think when the people see me at the shows live, really looking in their eyes, and they see me in the interviews being passionate, and they hear the record and how excited I am, that’s gonna translate. They’re gonna be like “Okay, maybe this is a leader to follow and not just somebody who’s trying to get over on the people”, because at the end of the day, the fans can smell some bullshit a mile away man. I feel like that’s not what I’m bringing to the table. I toured the world with some of the best, I learned from a lot of the best, and I would be a fool to not apply all those lessons and abilities that I
learned from all these people into my solo record. So I’m definitely giving you all of me. Hopefully, it translates into success. But if it doesn’t, I still know that I put in 100%, and that’s something nobody can take away from me.


Dubcnn: Okay man, go ahead and promote the project once more before we go.

Word, the album is called “The Weatherman LP”, dropping March 20th 2007 on ABB Records. Evidence, my first solo record. I got a lot of backing from all my family on this record, people who came through came through for the love, they didn’t come through for the budget or for any ulterior motives, they came through because they wanted to bless me. I really look forward to taking this record overseas as well, because overseas have a lot of love me for me and my group Dilated Peoples. Lookout for me on the road, I’ma start hitting the road! Because without a lot of money, you can’t really depend on radio play nowadays, so look for me at the in-stores, look for me at the shows, look for me in interviews like this, with people that are fuckin’ with me because they are, and not because I had to put some money down. That’s that real shit right there. And if it does pop to video, and does pop to radio, then that’s a blessing right there and I’ll wear that shoe well when the time comes. But for right now, I’m just trying to take it to the people live and direct man. Evidence, the Weatherman, get ready!