Customer Reviews

Neighborhood Watch

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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 synonomous

Back 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

yo this album is hot! im tell all you people to pick it up! I like every track on the album. Let me just tell you that babu kills record. he is incredible. my favorite song is love and war or dj babu in deep concentration. everybody needs to get this. you wont be disappointed. give a shout out to babu and the rest of the dilated family. if you dont have the other two albums...buy them all three!!!

Dilated Peoples latest album "Neighborhood Watch" (2004) is a solid fourteen track release. What first attracted me to this release was watching the video for the amazing single "This Way" feat. Kayne West, an exceptional cut dedicated to the late JMJ. This to me is one of the most powerful tracks I have come across this year, positive with first class beats, chorus and lyrics. Another outstanding track for me is "Tryin to Breathe", the lyrics on this one go deep. Devin the Dude drops in for "Poisonous" a track about a woman on a rampage. On "Reach Us" Dilated talks about there craft, life, change, and there fans. Dilated Peoples show there love for there crew and family and dedication to stay focused on the memorable "Love and War", then Alchemist laces Dilated with another standout beat on "World on Wheels". The variety of memorable beats are a real highlight of this release, unfortantely I dont always find the Dilated MC's entertaining on the MIC, while there are no tracks I would label bad there are a number that fall under skip material for me. Overall though there are a number of premium tracks which make "Neighborhood Watch" an album definetly worth checking out for Dilated Peoples fans, and for those who enjoy a group that thrives on being experimental and innovative.

Dilated proves with this album it is possible for an artist to go from underground airplay to mainstream airplay successfully and still stick to their original style and roots. The beats have gotten better, the lyrics have gotten sharper but the message is still the same, a must have for any hip hop fan.

In my opinion, Dilated Peoples are the best hip-hop group to ever come out of L.A. I know that's a strong statement, but the combinations of lyrics by Evidence and Rakaa over Babu's beats are simply amazing. Most of their stuff is produced by the Alchemist and it always comes out tight! I can't stand rap that talks about bitches and guns all the time. You've got to have a message and showcase your intelligence to get my vote, and that's exactly what Dilated Peoples does. Neighborhood Watch is an amazing album that I highly recommend!

Judging by the reviews, it's clear that most people think that Neighborhood Watch isn't as good as The Platform or Expansion Team. That's true, but that doesn't mean this album is bad, either. Another thing I noticed is that a lot of people say that Rakaa (Iriscience) is a better rapper that Evidence. I think that's also true, but it's not that Evidence can't rap; it's just that his rapping is decent while Rakaa's rapping is GREAT.

Anyway, there are several gems to find on this album. Many of the songs are still politically conscious, like "Tryin' to Breathe", "Big Business" and the title track. And "World On Wheels" has good lyrics and a nice beat provided by Alchemist, which leads me to another point. Production is unsurprisingly solid on here. It's mostly overseen by Babu, as usual (check out "DJ Babu In Deep Concentration"), but when other producers like Kanye West ("This Way") come aboard, things are still impressive.

Some fans may worry when they find that some of the other songs aren't so politically conscious, but they still impress. "Closed Session" has Planet Asia, Defari and Phil Da Agony joining the group for a nice posse cut that shows they haven't lost their underground roots. The aforementioned "This Way" is ridiculously catchy, and the made-for-radio song "Who's Who" is better than I thought it would be.

While I can do without the filler track "Poisonous", this is still a solid album from Dilated Peoples. And we all know that rap records as a whole have been disappointing for a while now, so if you want to hear some good rap, add this to your collection.

Anthony Rupert