Happy 25th Anniversary to Dilated Peoples’ second studio album Expansion Team, originally released October 23, 2001.
Few groups make the progression from independent darlings to mainstream artists without giving up a little something in the transition. Los Angeles’ Dilated Peoples are one of the exceptions. The trio’s songs helped define the “underground” hip-hop scene of the late 1990s and were instrumental in putting the indie label ABB on the map. Composed of Michael “Evidence” Perretta, Rakaa “Iriscience” Taylor, and Christopher “DJ Babu” Oroc, the crew took pride in creating rock-solid beats and lyrics-oriented hip-hop. They reached their pinnacle as a group with Expansion Team, released 25 years ago.
Like their other leading contemporaries in the Southern California scene, Jurassic 5 and People Under The Stairs, Dilated Peoples were consummate road warriors, touring extensively around the globe, often as an opening act that could hold their own with the headliners. All three groups earned a dedicated audience organically, years before they ever released a full album.
After recording some of the better independent 12-inches of the late 1990s, Dilated released The Platform (2000) through Capitol Records. The Platform was a well-constructed debut, built upon Dilated’s workman-like, meat-and-potatoes approach to hip-hop. The pair of emcees focused on providing lyric-heavy exhibitions, while Babu flexed his skills behind the turntables. As Ben Pedroche wrote in the tribute to the album for this site, even with the project’s “dusty aesthetics,” it was still “unabashedly West Coast.”
A little less than a year-and-a-half later, Dilated released Expansion Team, the group’s best overall album. It’s well-known that sophomore albums can prove tough for artists, as many can have problems coming up with fresh material after filling their debuts with music they’d often spent years creating. Dilated showed no signs of growing pains on Expansion Team. The project doesn’t have some of the rawness present on Platform, but the slightly more refined edges serve the group well.
Expansion Team showed how much the group grew in a year. Both Evidence and Rakaa improved as emcees, in terms of delivery and content. The project’s production is stronger as well. Evidence’s skill behind the board continued to grow, and Babu established himself as great hand as both a DJ and producer. Furthermore, they draw from a deeper pool of beat-making collaborators, and even though some are from other parts of the country, Expansion Team is still distinctly West Coast.
Expansion Team begins with two Alchemist-produced bangers. Alc and the crew have known each other since childhood, and the producer earned some of his earliest placements working with the group. He continues to hook them up with banging tracks, including the album opening “Live On Stage,” where the two emcees and DJ herald the potency of the Dilated live show experience. Alchemist also produces “Worst Comes To Worst,” the album’s first single and one of Dilated’s signature tracks, providing the group with some smooth Stax-soul, Evidence and Rakaa detail their efforts to deal with adversity, while always making the safety of their crew paramount.
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Whereas The Platform featured production mostly from beatmakers closely associated with Dilated, the group enlists some high-powered talent to craft the album’s sound, particularly its opening half. DJ Premier provides some early heat on “Clockwork,” one of his better productions from the early ’00s. It features his signature swing as he provides stabs of horns and strings over a thumping bassline. Both emcees are at their liveliest, as Rakaa raps, “For boom bap rap brought some state of the art shit / After two L’s, I’m cool like James Todd Smith.”
Da Beatminerz provide some reggae-influenced, dubbed-out skank on “Trade Money,” where the two emcees ponder how the pursuit of financial gains shapes people’s lives and mindsets, including their own, as Evidence raps, “If you hold yourself back to make papes, get it straight.” LA underground legend Cockni O’Dire contributes background vocals, chatting to the groove throughout the song.
JuJu of The Beatnuts laces the crew with “Self Defense,” sampling strings from a 1970s-era Argentinian song to support the duo’s most confrontational track on the album. The pair weave combat-heavy metaphors as they train for the rigors of life, with Rakaa declaring that “I don't throw stones, I throw statues and sculptures.” Questlove provides layers of drum tracks and percussion on “War,” a brief Rakaa solo track based on a warfare-oriented routine that he performed as part of Dilated’s live show for years.
Dilated also worked with several outside lyrical collaborators. The aforementioned “War” segues into the Babu-produced banger “Hard Hitters,” a dedication to the art of emceeing, featuring a sinister verse from the always murderous Black Thought. All three operate with precision over the energetic orchestral soul sample, but Thought gives a commanding performance, rapping, “Had a crowd screaming ’bout how they don't want your thang – keep it / The sharpest one in the game, it’s no secret.”
But most of the guests on Expansion Team can be considered part of Dilated’s “affiliates.” “Heavy Rotation” is a collaboration with their “extended family” members Tha Liks (as in Tha Alkaholiks). Few crews have had the chemistry that Tha Liks possessed in their prime, and the group delivers entertaining verses on the Evidence-produced, midtempo track, infusing humor with hard-hitting battle rhymes. J-Ro invokes long-forgotten 1990s fashion as he raps, “Your style is Major Damage: it’s played out and ripped up,” while Tash threatens to “slap the track with an open fist backhand.” Both members of Dilated hold their own, as Evidence warns, “Battle Ev? You sign with Blue Cross or AFTRA?”
Babu’s Beat Junkie crew gets the spotlight on “Dilated Junkies.” Over a chopped soul sample, the emcees interact with their DJ and three other members of the collective (Rhettmatic, Melo-D, and J-Rocc), kicking four-bar verses to introduce scratch solos by each. During an era when the DJ on a record has become an increasing afterthought, it’s refreshing to hear each mixmaster speak with their hands.
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Expansion Team’s back-half is mostly made up of Evidence and Rakaa solo cuts. Both demonstrated on their early 12-inches and The Platform that they were able to hold down a track by themselves, and they continue to excel here. Each emcee dips into conceptual territory with these showcases, giving the album more depth.
Babu produced a pair of Rakaa’s solo exhibitions. First is “Proper Propaganda,” the album’s most overtly political entry, where Rakaa describes his responsibility to act as a “hardcore reporter with orders from headquarters,” using the powers of his words to inspire others to action. On “Pay Attention,” he defines himself as “a poet with the warrior spirit inside” while outlining Dilated’s commitment to its craft and their efforts to move to the proverbial next level.
Evidence covers similar ground on “Panic,” an appropriately dense and claustrophobic solo track produced by Alchemist. Evidence describes how his outlook as an artist has shifted over the past few years, going from “sit[ting] up in the shadows and rebel against fame” to searching for ways “to blow the fuck up” while maintaining artistic integrity. He basks in his success in finding a balance, knowing “now I think ink can bleed through paint pens.”
Expansion Team ends with “Expansion Team Theme.” Joey Chavez delivers a stripped-down production, featuring spare keys and occasional chirps, while Rakaa and Evidence explain their efforts to maintain constant vigilance and awareness of their surroundings. Ev still takes the time to warn potential opponents, stating, “If you fuck with these locals catch Ghostbusters’ logos.”
Expansion Team succeeds in depicting a group that’s comfortable within their initial success, but still hungry to achieve more. Dilated Peoples find a way to be more “accessible” without compromising the values that first drew fans to their music. Even though the music is a little mean clean, they maintain their commitment to providing their audience with the rawness.
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