Happy 20th Anniversary to Dilated Peoples’ debut album The Platform, originally released May 23, 2000.
The late ‘90s golden era of underground hip-hop was far from just a New York City thing. While it was undoubtedly the epicenter from which a lot of the best music was being made and released at the time by labels like Rawkus, Fondle’em, Hydra, and more, there was also plenty happening on the other side of the country. Groups such as Jurassic 5, Ugly Duckling, People Under the Stairs, solo artists like MURS, Planet Asia, Defari, Saafir, and Rasco, and collectives such as Hieroglyphics and Solesides/Quannum Projects, were all making exquisite indie rap music. It was in the same style and attitude as their east coast counterparts but also influenced by the classic west coast sound of the late ‘80s and early to mid ‘90s.
In the case of the Likwit Crew collective, their original leader was a bona fide gangster rapper. After putting on Tha Alkaholiks and seeing them find success, King T helped to develop an impressive stable of talent that would later spin off in different directions to include numerous artists who went on to create acclaimed music. Among the ranks was Xzibit, Madlib and his Lootpack crew, Madlib’s brother, Oh No, Declaime, and last but not least, Dilated Peoples.
Consisting of rapper Rakaa “Rakaa Iriscience” Taylor, rapper/producer Michael “Evidence” Perretta and Chris “DJ Babu” Oro, Dilated Peoples had been around since 1993 but were picking up a decent fanbase by the end of the decade and in the run-up to the release of their debut album The Platform in May 2000.
The Platform brings back happy memories for me since before it was even an album. My 12-inch copy of the Dilated Peoples multi-single “Work the Angles”/”The Main Event”/”Triple Optics” from 1998—all of which later appeared on the album—was one of the hundreds of amazing pieces of underground vinyl I purchased around this time from a local record shop that has long since closed down. It’s a record I still play regularly today and in 1998 provided a suitable appetizer for the group’s first full-length effort.
The soundtrack of The Platform and the braggadocious subject matter of a lot of the raps are rooted in classic New York boom bap and the same dusty aesthetics and raw, gritty sound coming out of that city’s underground scene. Still, the album is also unabashedly west coast.
In addition to giving shine to contemporaries like Planet Asia and Phil Da Agony, Dilated Peoples stack their debut with features from some of California’s most iconic artists: Cypress Hill’s B-Real guests on “No Retreat,” Everlast appears on “Ear Drums Pop (Remix),” Aceyalone is on “The Shape of Things to Come,” and “Right On” features Tha Alkaholiks, including production from E-Swift.
The quality of the production plays a massive part in how good this album is. DJ Babu himself laces “Service” and Evidence heads behind the boards for four cuts, including the excellent “Ear Drums Pop” and “Triple Optics.” Although not quite as skilled then as he is at producing now, Evidence’s production on The Platform is top-notch and showed the first signs of the signature sound he’d go on to refine. Outside of the three group members, The Platform also has beats from Joey Chavez and the underrated Kutmasta Kurt, the latter producing my favorite track on the album, “Work the Angles.”
The Platform also served as the official jump-off for the illustrious career of one of music’s best talents, Alchemist. As a childhood friend of Evidence, Alchemist had been working with Dilated Peoples since their inception. His work on The Platform, and the tracks he produced around the same time on Focused Daily for Dilated Peoples’ associate Defari, brought his production expertise out from the racks of 12-inches at Fat Beats to full-length album recognition. It wasn’t long after this exposure that Alchemist earned placements on albums by high-profile artists, including Mobb Deep, who he would go on to produce several classic songs with both as a group and on Prodigy and Havoc solo projects.
Production aside, The Platform is built upon superior rhyme skills from two microphone technicians. Rakaa Iriscience is a natural-born emcee with the ability to open his mouth and start rapping illustrious bars without seemingly pausing for breath or breaking a sweat.
As for Evidence, his lyrics are sharp as a knife throughout. Anyone who follows Evidence’s music today will know that he now sounds very different on the mic. Ev has stated in interviews that in the early days of his career, he rapped in a different tone that didn’t come naturally because he thought people might not like the real sound of his voice, which he proudly raps in today. The Platform is performed entirely in this different, unnatural tone. However, even with the hindsight of knowing this wasn’t how Evidence wanted to be heard, it still sounds dope 20 years later nonetheless.
Every album Dilated Peoples has released in the 20 years since The Platform has been excellent, including their most recent effort, 2014’s Directors of Photography. They still regroup for occasional tours, and their on-stage performances rank highly in the best live rap shows I’ve personally seen. All three members of the group have critically acclaimed solo careers, and Evidence, in particular, has spent the last 15 years working hard to reach his current status as one of the most respected and beloved artists in the game.
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