A Few Thoughts on Dilated Peoples' 'Directors Of Photography'
Who are they? Hailing from the West Coast, Dilated Peoples are the smooth true blue hip hop veterans who have graced us hip hop fans with the type of hip hop that's timeless. They emerged from the hazy California smoke around the same time that our favourite Gangsta rap pioneers were doing their thing and they're still going strong.
Consisting of DJ Babu, Evidence and Rakaa Iriscience, they just dropped 'Directors Of Photography' via Rhymesayers and it's fair to say it's a pretty awesome album. You may have guessed that there's a theme to this album thanks to its title, or you might have just thought it's a cool title. Either way, Dilated show their skill and wisdom in mixing the whole director of photography theme throughout the album with a bunch of other subjects. That's my first thought, when you're listening to it you find yourself nodding your head, appreciating the flow, rhymes and just general vibe, then Rakaa drops a few subtle movie metaphors in...
Danger in the pit, are they dancing? Are they fighting?
I block off the angles then adjust lighting
Don't believe I touched thunder or touched lightning
Until they see the miracles pictures, then I'm frightening
We just capture the facts
Dilated never left, I'd like to welcome us back
Directors
That's the beauty of this album. Dilated have a lot to talk about seeing as they haven't dropped an album since 2006's 20/20 and they juggle the many different subject matters whether it be living California life, storytelling from their younger days, politics or major labels or just general emcee bravado, with the overall theme.
Aside from their ability to weave the general theme in to an album full of quotable bars, both Evidence and Rakaa offer plenty of wisdom thanks to years in the game. I listen to a lot of young cats, it's what I'm passionate about but when you listen to Dilated you get a different perspective on everything. I wouldn't say that all you hip hop judgmental folk need to listen to this, because that would defeat the purpose - Dilated don't preach, they don't voice their disgust at the way things have become, they just spit hot bars that are more personal than preachy.
Lord forgive my sins
From when the first one started till the last one ends
For every time I thought about sells and spins
Worship for a Benz and birds before friends - Evidence
As you can imagine, the chemistry between all the elements is top notch. That begins with Evidence and Rakaa who can trade long or short verses and can offer vastly different perspective, styles and bars yet keep the flow and vibe of a track alive in each verse.
And when you have someone like DJ Babu on the one's and two's you've got the complete package. Babu perfectly chops up a variety of samples (see if you can pick the Joey Badass sample), as well as offering up some high quality scratching which is like the finishing touch on all the tracks. Some DJ's might over use the ol' turntable scratching, trying to get their moment in the spotlight but Babu stands alone on the album and it's like you know that at some stage in a song you're gonna hear it, but you don't know when or how ... then you hear Babu scratching perfectly - hip hop at its finest.
I mean what do you expect the production to be like when you have DJ Babu, DJ Premier, 9th Wonder, The Alchemist and Evidence contributing?! It's an All Star cast and the album could easily stand alone as a bunch of instrumentals. It's actually mind boggling how so many dope producers and DJ's got amongst the album and contributed to a crisp, head nodding listent throughout.
Overall, Dilated People served up another tribute to hip hop with their easy listening, yet hard hitting beats and rhymes. As hip hop morphs constantly and adapts to the current climate, Dilated do a great job of showcasing their ability to adapt and progress while holding true to themselves, which is hip hop. Kudos.