Dilated Peoples are a familiar name on the underground hip hop scene. Comprised of DJ Babu, the militant Rakaa Iriscience and versatile producer and lyricist Evidence, the group have always kept to their roots and never allowed mainstream competition to dilute their sound. Each member has had varying success with their solo careers, but the group together more than outweighs the sum of its parts – now all they need to do is prove this in a live setting.

But before the group came on the audience were treated to the best supporting act any hip hop group could have asked for – the Minnesota wordsmith, Brother Ali. Having cancelled his last gig in Brighton, which was meant to take place last year, Ali had some making up to do. Ali managed this capably, showing off his maverick-like personality on stage and proving he was not scared to broadcast his strong opinions with the audience. He played a few songs from several of his albums, including ‘Us’ and ‘The Undisputed Truth’. ‘Tight Rope’, ‘Take Me Home’ and ‘Truth Is Here’ got the crowd moving the most.

Dilated Peoples maintained the high standard, kicking off with ‘The Platform’. The crew came straight in with astute rhymes and heavy soul-backed rhythms, connecting instantly with the audience. “How many of y’all like beats by the Alchemist?” asked Evidence before going into Alchemist-produced tracks like ‘You Can’t Hide You Can’t Run’ and ‘Back Again’.

Babu was scratching his vinyls like he was getting rid of lice. “Make some noise for Babu for fucking that shit up. The next beat is a Babu joint, it’s my favourite beat of the night,” said Evidence before Babu dropped ‘Love & War’ – a track which samples old soul classic, ‘(Love Is Like A) Heatwave’ by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas.

“There is time for pretty shit and now is not the time,” Evidence explained to the audience before breaking into some of his solo material off ‘The Weatherman LP’ and ‘Cats And Dogs’. The highlight of Evidence’s solo slot was his performance of ‘You’. The DJ Premier-produced track morphed into Royce Da 5’9″’s ‘Boom’ and Gangstarr’s ‘Full Clip’ during the second and third verses.

At the end of the night, Evidence made all the audience hush, before saying: “they’ve turned our mics off, but thank you for a great night.” This comment was followed by a deafening applause from the crowd which ended another stellar hip hop show at the Haunt.

Haunt, Tuesday 19th November 2013
Words by Jack Dutton
Photos by Mike Tudor @ Studio85UK