With the release of the band's major-label debut, The Platform, and a high-profile summer stint on the Warped Tour, perhaps those outside of hip-hop's inner circle will have a chance to catch Dilated Peoples' eloquent street poetry. These guys have been working the angles for nearly a decade in their hometown of Los Angeles, ignoring the temptation to cash in on rap's frequent trends, and now they're poised to reap the benefits of hip-hop's modest old-school renaissance.
The album's title track, and the entire record for that matter, is a tribute to real record-scratching and lyrical skills, with a real DJ, Babu, dropping the type of head-bobbing beats that a drum machine just can't provide. With smart couplets, such as The Platform/It takes respect/to perform the art form/In times of battle/glamour rappers get their hearts torn, Evidence and Rakaa do justice to the bumping backdrops. And with such respected artists as Cypress Hill's B-Real and Tha Alkaholiks making guest appearances, it seems that plenty of big-name rappers respect the message being delivered from the soapbox-like Platform.
