Dilated Peoples “Neighborhood
Watch”
With a top 40 single already under their belts, Dilated Peoples
““ the hip-hop trio of Evidence, Rakaa and DJ Babu ““ is
clearly looking to capitalize on the recent crossover success of
acts such as Kanye West, Talib Kweli and Black Eyed Peas with the
release of their third album, “Neighborhood Watch.”
Unlike those releases, this album suffers from a lack of any real
creativity or inspiration. The production values, once the main
strength of Dilated Peoples’ albums over the years,
aren’t much more than serviceable, although guest producers
the Alchemist and Kanye West mix things up respectively on the
opener “Marathon” and “This Way” with some
success. But it says something about the quality of the album when
a shameless Kanye West rip-off of his own “Get By” may
be the best beat. And though the production may give off a slightly
bland vibe, the rhymes can’t be described as anything other
than flat-out boring. Evidence and Rakaa were never particularly
exciting MCs to begin with, but the lack of interesting production
only further highlights the group’s inability to handle the
onus lyrically. In a year with early strong albums from the likes
of Madvillain, Murs and Kanye himself, “Neighborhood
Watch” is almost instantly forgettable. It all adds up to the
worst Dilated Peoples album yet, and puts in doubt how much longer
they can remain relevant at all. -Alfred Lee