Evidence - Weatherman Lp (CD)

All Music Guide

Evidence, onethird of the esteemed underground rap group Dilated Peoples, makes the most of his solo debut album, The Weatherman LP. He retains the best aspect of his group efforts, the outstanding productions. But just as importantly, he ditches the most playedout aspect of Dilated Peoples, their backtobasics conservatism in the face of changing times and trends. Consequently, some may find The Weatherman LP the most satisfying Dilated Peoples album since Expansion Team (2001). As always, the Alchemist is a chief contributor, responsible for the beats on five of the album's 16 songs (discounting the several interludes interspersed among the 21 tracks). "Letyourselfgo" is one of the strongest Alchemist productions here; however, "Chase the Clouds Away" is the key standout, for it's one of the few feelgood songs on this otherwise gloomy album (the weather forecast is overcast and rainy on The Weatherman LP, for sure). Evidence produces a few tracks himself, the best of them albumopener ..."I Know," and Dilated Peoples colleague Babu handles a few too, most notable among them "A Moment in Time," which boasts some phenomenal turntable cuts. Sid Roams, Jake One, and DJ Khalil are also credited with beatmaking. The productions are the highlight of The Weatherman LP, as they are on all Dilated Peoples efforts, but the rapping here is notable. Evidence keeps his themes personal throughout, addressing his view points and feelings openly. You learn more about Michael Perretta, aka the Weatherman, on this one album than on all four Dilated Peoples albums to date combined. He raps about his upbringing ("Born in LA"), his recently passedaway mother ("I Still Love You"), his relationship with the birthplace of hiphop ("Down in New York City"), his artistic selfconsciousness ("Things You Do"), his sources of happiness ("Chase the Clouds Away"), his career ambitions ("I Know"), and much more, practically all of it centered on himself. By the end, you really feel like you know the guy intimately. His world revolves around music, no doubt about it, and little else seems to matter there's practically no mention of women, sex, money, cars, clothes, jewelry, violence, guns, clubs, drug dealing with the exception of his loved ones, whom he clearly values. The world of Evidence is one of hiphop, ProTools, and marijuana, or so you imagine after listening to The Weatherman LP. It's not a fourstar album close, but not quite. In particular, the dark, hardhitting productions can grow wearisome by the end of the album, as can the overall downcast atmosphere. This is largely because The Weatherman LP is so long. Had about five songs been cut, the album would have been nearperfect. In any event, as it is The Weatherman LP is a welcome variation of the standard Dilated Peoples sound, a personalized one, and it's one of better rap albums of 2007, over as well as underground. - Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide Read more Less