Evidence is a well known resident of Los Angeles and has been since well before the emergence of Dilated Peoples in 1992.  Before becoming the producer and rapper we know him most for today, the Venice Beach native was tagging buildings with the paint-can, spraying the name, VANE.  The LA group has delivered four albums to date with a fair number of popular singles, but The Weatherman LP marks the first solo outing for the producer who’s been hard at work over the past few years crafting tracks for some of the undergrounds elite.  Evidence and Rakaa have always been able to spit enough for a full album and with Babu on the decks, they're unstoppable, but can Ev do it on his own?  Working with a few old friends; Alchemist, Planet Asia, Rakaa and Defari and some new ones; Slug, Little Brother and Joe Scudda; Evidence hopes to prove his worth as a solo artist with their help.

The album immediately starts off with the uber-soulful I Know, the chorus of which is slightly off-beat and off-putting, but it still grabs your attention at least for the first song.  With his familiar samples and scratches, Evidence keeps the song building and keeps the album moving.  The album seems strictly created for the Los Angelinos he's been representing for years, complete with a weather report that calls for rain (hence Weatherman LP), eventually ending with a flood.  Evidence has long been known for his slow and monotone flow, which is why the Jay-Z sampled Mr. Slow Flow is perfect for Ev.  With production by Sid Roams, the track employs a haunting background beat and a high-pitched church organ steamrolling throughout, Evidence seems most comfortable here, but when it’s followed up by the Alchemist track, Letyourselfgo with Phonte, it's no surprise that some tracks on the album simply don't compare to others.  The pairing of Evidence and Alchemist has always led to some quality production, this album is no difference, but now they're both rapping too.

Evidence suffers from what a lot of rappers deal with today, which is the constant repetition of clichéd rhymes.  On 20/20 he took Diddy's familiar line, I don't write rhymes I write checks and simply flipped it to Don't worry if I write checks, I write rhymes, which is somewhat funny considering Diddy's practices of payment for rappers' lyrics is well-known.  On Down in New York City Evidence blatantly spits the familiar, If I have to choose a coast/I have to choose the West/I was born in the West/so don't go there, and while the practice of re-using G.O.A.T rhymes for your own albums has been done before by folks like Jay-Z, it comes across like biting rather than an homage here.  The bulk of the album is devoted to his mother, who he lost in 2004, at the height of their fame for Neighborhood Watch while on tour with Kanye West. When Evidence left the group mid-tour to be with his mother, she suddenly passed away two weeks later, after which Evidence had to decide whether he could continue with music.  Evidence fell into a deep depression and much of this album is affected as a result, but tracks like Chase the Clouds Away and Perfect Storm showcase the strengths of a group that has such a rabid West Coast following.  Continued on page 2 »