Dilated Peoples - Neighborhood Watch (14 tracks) +Album Reviews

Great album from Dilated, but...

Chris Milam | Richmond, VA USA | 04/06/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After a 3 year hiatus, Evidence, Iriscience, and Babu bring us their third album, Neighborhood Watch. After avoiding the sophomore slump with their excellent 2001 album, Expansion Team, Dilated was looking to deliver a classic with this one, but falls short mainly due to Evidence's much-criticized method of delivery.Lyrically, Ev has almost taken a step back, and his monotone flow sounds as boring as ever, particularly on his self-produced "Love & War". He shows spurts of energy on higher-tempo tracks like "Who's Who", but doesn't hold a candle to his partner in rhyme, Rakaa Iriscience.Rakaa is severely slept on as an emcee, probably due to Evidence's lack of charisma on the mic. When he goes for delf, such as on the politically-charged "Big Business", it's obvious that he's stepped up his game:"But I fight for peace, that's what the problem is
War is big biz, ask an economist
They speak in volumes, just
Callin' anti-war and anti-American synonomousBack in the day I'd have gotten blacklisted just for speaking up
Hoover probably would've screamed 'Communist!'"Production-wise, Dilated's friendship with the Alchemist doesn't hurt Neighborhood Watch at all, as he gives them heat with tracks like "Marathon", "Poisonous", and "World on Wheels". Evidence's beats are still top-notch with tracks like the aforementioned "Love & War", and Babu is also fine-tuning his skills behind the boards, lacing the Dilated-Likwit posse cut "Closed Session" and his remake of "DJ Premier In Deep Concentration", cleverly titled "DJ Babu In Deep Concentration". Everyone's favorite college dropout, Kanye West, drops in to produce and guest on "This Way", which tries way too hard to recreate the feel of Talib Kweli's "Get By", but still sounds good. The only dud is Evidence's solo track, the boring, ironically named "Caffeine", which production-wise doesn't hit with the same force that the rest of the album does.Neighborhood Watch is one of the best hip-hop albums of 2004 so far, but it's not the step up from Expansion Team that it should have been."

A slower, less frantic side of Dilated

Jeff | Boulder, CO | 07/13/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've been an avid DP fan since the release of their first LP, The Platform. I was honestly a little disappointed with quite a few of the tracks on Expansion Team but was also blown away by a few (i.e. Worst Comes to Worst, Panic, Night Life, Pay Attention.) Well its three years later and Neighborhood Watch drops.As is the case with most Dilated records, the production is hit or miss. Here we've got laid-back bangers like Marathon, Caffeine, Poisonous, Reach Us, and Big Business. Kanye takes the boards for This Way as well as contributing a decent verse. I couldn't get over the similarities between this track and his track for Talib Kweli, Get By, but its a real nice beat. There's a little more energetic fare in World on Wheels and Love and War. I really wasn't impressed with the gritty, repetitious beat for Who's Who, but all in all, the production is more hit than miss.Lyrical content on Neighborhood Watch is pretty decent. We get some political commentary, bitch commentary, state of hip hop jive, and brag raps. As far as flow goes, the Peoples really haven't evolved too much. Evidence's lyrics are sub-par from his raps on The Platform but I enjoyed them more than his contributions to Expansion Team. His flow is still precise and sharp, though, and I've always loved it. Rakaa is spot-on on almost every song and compliments Evidence very nicely.As the amazon.com reviewer said, we were all secretly hoping for a hands-down classic in Neighborhood Watch. Dilated Peoples are amazing but haven't reached the level I know they can acheive. Cop it and crank it."

Simply put.....not as good as past albums but still good

DJ Benny (AKA Ben A.) | Boston Burbs, MA | 04/10/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Dialated People's quality overall has dropped a bit, mainly cause of Evidence's flow, and certain production on some songs. But it is still a very good album. Irascience is still a mad lyrical genius, but overall on this album you can tell they branched out they're style a bit to appeal to more mainstream listeners. They're not exactly trying to sell out, although it looked like it with Kanye West on a track. Even so, the song with Kanye West is one of the best on the album, same with Love and War, Marathon, and Posionous. Even so, they are still a fresh group with a much better message than most mainstream rappers, which gives them the same approach towards their carrers as Kanye West and the Roots. In otherwords, a good album, not their best, but Dialated will still be around for a while."

I'm torn, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

P. T. J. | Detroit MI | 07/05/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Note: 3 and 1/2 stars!
"Neighborhood Watch" feels like an unkept promise from a group who has (in the past) been a trustworthy source for quality music. I don't mean to undermine their messages; Dilated Peeps keeps true to their standards, spreading largely positive messages. As a matter of fact, I'd give this record an A++ for messages, Evidence and Rakaa show a very thoughtful and determined side of themselves on this CD, which is more than half the reason I gave this album a 4 star rating. The problem is, this record often sacrifices it's beats and, in some cases, it's lyrics for this reason. Their single, "This Way" featuring Kanye West was without a doubt, a truly addictive track. The problem is, this is Dilated Peoples' single, and both Evidence and Rakaa get outshined by Kanye. I ignored this fact when hearing the single, however, reasoning with myself "Well, they've always been a solid group in the past. I'll get the CD." You know what they say. Curiosity killed the cat... and it turns out, your bank-account too. After listening to the album, I wanted my twenty dollars back. I never spend twenty dollars on a CD, I almost always wait till I can find it used for less, but no, I had to get it opening day. What a shame. The choruses are almost always overly repetitive, and I can't pick out more than one, maybe two verses on the CD that shine... apart from Kanye's. Think about it. Aren't the best hip-hop CD's often the ones with a verse or two that gets replayed in your head even after you're done listening to the CD? HOWEVER, there ARE some very play-worthy tracks on this CD. Don't get me wrong. This CD would not have gotten off with a four star rating if it didn't. Track 9, "Love and War", which is mysteriously reminiscent of their classic cut "Worst Comes To Worst" from Expansion Team, boasts a head nodding beat, a strong message of togetherness and struggle, and the lyricism you expect from emcees the caliber of Evidence and Rakaa. I suppose this CD is more of a let-down for me because I've been a Dilated Peoples fan for a long time. I've become used to a certain standard they carry. Maybe it was bad luck, not every CD a group releases is gonna be hot, but what makes it the worst, is that there was no really noticeable word-play on the album. That's a big part of what rap is about - lyricism. If you don't have potent lyrical talent, your record won't survive. The closest you get to good word-play comes off of the single "This Way", "Tryin' To Breathe", "Love and War", and "Poisonous" featuring Devin The Dude, the latter being probably one of the most stand-out tracks on the entire CD.So, here's a quick sum of it all for ya.PRO'S
*Tracks 3 (Tryin' To Breathe), 6 (Poisonous), 8 (Big Business), 9 (Love and War), 11 (World on Wheels), and 13 (This Way) are all play-worthy tracks, though that only comes to a total of 6 out of 14 tracks getting play.
*Solid messages, ranging from anti-misogynism, politics, drugs, drinking, thuggin' and general survival. Very positive album, something the industry needs more of.
*Beats ranging from dismally repetitive (very unlike Dilated Peoples) to incredibly addictive and original (now that's MUCH more like it).CONS
*What happened to Evidence and Rakaa? Lacking wordplay.
*No noticeably stand out verses, lines, or emcees for that matter.
*An "every third track" affair, which makes rotation frustrating, since after every good track, you have to skip two or three to get to the next one. SUMMARY
A 3 and 1/2 record that boasts some very addictive 'head nodders' as well as positive messages, (which is why I hesitate to be too hard on them), but this record still feels as though it could have lyrically promised so much more."

Worthy of Heavy Rotation

P. T. J. | 04/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's hard not to love this cd. If you've heard their previous two cd's (The Platform and Expansion Team) you'll notice the slight difference in tempo and subject matter. Believe me it does nothing to diminish their talents. Lilting beats, Divine use of the turntables, Lyrics that catch your attention and don't just fade into the music but actully work with it, and in the case of "Big Business" force you to listen and take notice. What else can I say? Dilated Peoples true to form manages to throw out the same great intensity and skill in almost every song on this release, they just keep getting better. I've listened to this cd non-stop since I bought it the day after it came out and I couldn't imagine getting tired of it anytime in the near future.If you buy it you'll love it."

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