Dilated Peoples - Dilated Peoples Live Set

Dilated Peoples;The Alchemist;88-Keys;Aceyalone - Fresh Rhymes & Videotape Movie

Up until we made "This Way" I had only known about Kanye as a dope producer, not really an emcee. In fact, when I heard his verse on "The Bounce" off Blueprint 2, I actually didn't like his rhyme. Who would've known how much of an impression this guy would leave on me where he ended up influencing me both lyrically and production wise in a major way. I was cool with him right off the bat. I'm a strong personality and he is as well, so I kinda respected him from the jump. It was a real dope experience doing music with Him, John Legend, and Keyshia Cole (who originally sang on the end of "This Way") early on in their careers before the blow up. ..It just sucks none of them call me back anymore. (JOKE!!) - Evidence "The Release Party" DVD + Bonus CD in stores now or order it from http://store.okayplayer.com

Dilated Peoples has always had affiliations with other crews doing their thing. From C2D to AWR and Graffiti crews worldwide, to Rock Steady Crew and Universal Zulu Nation, to our Likwit Crew Family, to our Word Of Mouth Crew (with Jurassic 5, Beat Junkies, Supernatural), to the Good Life/Project Blowed movement and many others. Still, along with our Likwit Crew Fam, the crew that embraced us the most from day one is the Soul Assassins. DJ Lethal from House Of Pain actually got us our first deal. Cypress Hill has also always looked out for Dilated and we will never forget it. B-Real showed a lot of love by blessing the song and the video. S.A. is Family forever. - Rakaa "The Release Party" DVD + Bonus CD in stores now or order it from http://store.okayplayer.com

Ron Laffitte was our A & R at capitol. I always liked Ron, he was pretty much the reason we went there to begin with. Capitol was pretty much a ghost town when we signed up there. I used to sneak on their roof and smoke weed and do other activities as well. All this was pre 911 when security was not really trippin on s#!t at all. I used to tell them I was different people all the time to test how easy it would be to get in. This day...I gave them our real group name and the dude knew nothing about it. Listen for the part where he says," Somebody is here to see somebody" LOLOL. That s#!t kills me. Also when he calls us," Little People" maaaan!! The good Ol days. - Evidence "The Release Party" DVD + Bonus CD in stores now or order it from http://store.okayplayer.com

I never would have thought what we were doing at 15, being rap addicts addicts, posting up at the hip hop shop on melrose trying to spit a rap and get noticed, staying up late weekend nites to record future flavas and the wake up show, would one day lead to a career where we could make an impact on the rap game the way we did collectively. There was so much inspiration from our surroundings in LA, we just be came an extention of that. We studied Cypress Hill. We studied Freestyle Fellowship, The Liks, etc. And now in 2007 there might be a young beatmaker or rapper studying us! So with this dvd, when they watch our journey, they can too get inspired, and that's our way of giving back and recycle the positive energy. - ALCHEMIST "The Release Party" DVD + Bonus CD in stores now or order it from http://store.okayplayer.com

The video shoots for "Worst Comes To Worst" are some of my fondest hip hop memories, just all the folks who were in the video showin love and co signing our group meant so much to us. It's pretty damn funny that Scarface thought Ev was Tony Toca! Ev is kind of a mysterious cat... he always gets confused for other people all the time! This was a great hip hop moment for me.- Babu "The Release Party" DVD + Bonus CD in stores now or order it from http://store.okayplayer.com

Until I hooked up w/ Ev & Rak, I really didn't see myself workin w/ mc's that much. The Scratch Pickles and the X-Men were really blazing a path for dj's w/out rappers, so meeting Ev & Rak actually rekindled my love for working w/mc's and being in a rap group. Intially starting out as a dj, before dj videos, i would listen to groups who had dope dj's......dj Scratch & EPMD, Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Low Profile & DJ Alladin. That's how i really learned to scratch, from listenin to groups who had ill dj's! - Babu "The Release Party" DVD + Bonus CD in stores now or order it from http://store.okayplayer.com

Dilated Peoples is a blue collar group. We have never been afraid to pick up the slack where need be or even just do it all ourselves. This has allowed us to stay in the game while others have had trouble maintaining, while also learning how the system really works on both sides. In the case of our first record deal, it just took some focus, bus fare, and the willingness to devote the necessary time to it to get us out of what many said was an iron clad situation. We had to sacrifice a lot as nothing is free, but we didn't take "NO" for an answer and we won in the long run. - Rakaa "The Release Party" DVD + Bonus CD in stores now or order it from http://store.okayplayer.com

Until I hooked up w/ Ev & Rak, I really didn't see myself workin w/ mc's that much. The Scratch Pickles and the X-Men were really blazing a path for dj's w/out rappers, so meeting Ev & Rak actually rekindled my love for working w/mc's and being in a rap group. Intially starting out as a dj, before dj videos, i would listen to groups who had dope dj's......dj Scratch & EPMD, Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Low Profile & DJ Alladin. That's how i really learned to scratch, from listenin to groups who had ill dj's! - Babu "The Release Party" DVD + Bonus CD in stores now or order it from http://store.okayplayer.com

The backbone of Hip Hop Culture is the DJ. The DJ sent the signal out and the Hip Hop Nation was born. Kool Herc sparked something phenomenal, and architects like Afrika Bambaataa, Grand Master Flash, Grand Wizard Theodore and others helped to develop and build the base that we all stand on today. I knew that I wanted the best when it was time to assemble my squad, and Babu turned out to be both one of the best DJs in the world as well as the best fit for Dilated's vibe. He brought his fans and his energy in to mix with ours, and the combination helped Dilated get to places we would not have been able to get to otherwise. I refused to have a "stage prop" DJ up there fronting like he's doing something when there were cats Like Babu and The World Famous Beat Junkies available. I think that many MCs secretly hate me for giving some of their precious light back to the DJ. - Rakaa "The Release Party" DVD + Bonus CD in stores now or order it from http://store.okayplayer.com

This is just me reconstructing the beat for "Kindness For Weakness" off the "20/20" album. The ASR10 is what I learned on so I still use it till this day. I chose this song cause we cleared the sample. LOL! Otherwise I might have picked a different track, but this works well with the intro of the movie. I love how Jason Goldwatch edited it together with the performance clip. It really shows how we can take it from the bedroom to the stage. In the actual movie you'll notice me bring the "percussion" in out of nowhere while I'm putting the beat together...what you don't see was me shaking the tambourine and various instruments to create the percussion track. I must have looked like a fool LOl. I was very high here. We felt it was too early to bring the massive weed smoking part of the movie in yet, so..... there you have it. (Interesting Fact: This beat was originally slated for Xzibit's "Weapons Of Mass Destruction" album - Evidence "The Release Party" DVD + Bonus CD in stores now or order it from http://store.okayplayer.com

Music video montage for title track off The Release Party DVD/CD in stores July 31 on Decon.

THE RELEASE PARTY is ten years in the making. Follow DILATED PEOPLES on their journey from independent underground success, to signing to a major label, and back again. This feature length Documentary reveals an insiders perspective to the ups and downs of the music industry, as captured by long time friend and collaborator Jason Goldwatch. This unique artist to artist relationship allowed for rare, often unseen honesty between a band and a camera. Candid studio moments, music videos, American and European tours, all woven together into a cinematic masterpiece. Independent once again, THE RELEASE PARTY DVD & CD is Dilated's first release since parting ways with Capitol records, and represents their return to Independent music making.