he first Dilated Peoples record, “The Platform”, was a pretty good record. The tracks, provided almost completely by upcoming beatsmith the Alchemist and the Peoples’ own DJ, Babu, were good, but there was a problem with the album. The MCs were really boring. A two-headed monster of boring MCs, featuring mostly Eminem rival Evidence, and only some of the less boring (but still uninteresting) Iriscience proved to hold the album back. The first single, with B-Real from Cypress Hill, was good, but the album had little to no replay value, which is not a good thing for today’s fickle hip-hop lovers. The first single from Expansion Team, “Worst Comes to Worst”, featuring Guru from Gangstarr is good. But would the rest of the album be like the Platform, or would it not be as humdrum as the previous effort?


The first thing that I noticed, and anyone else should as well, is that the album only costs $6.99 new! It may seem stupid, but if you think more in-depth about it, this makes sense. I personally know three people who own the album simply because they liked the first single and the CD is only $6.99. I bought the CD because I liked the Platform (it was boring, but good), so that’s a 3:1 ratio. That may be a little high, but assume that for every person who bought the record because they liked Dilated Peoples, there’s another who bought it because of “Worst Comes to Worst” and the price. That’s double the sales, which means that the profit is a little smaller than if each album was 13.99 and only one copy was sold, but that’s not a bad deal. Smart move, in my opinion. Dilated Peoples 1, the World 0.


After buying the album because of the great, great price, I instantly flipped to “Worst Comes to Worst”, “featuring” Guru. The song is a dope song, even though Guru only makes a 15 second appearance. Evidence isn’t very exciting, again, but he’s armed with better lyrics than in his last effort. Iriscience, however, appears to make the biggest jump I’ve seen from an MC in a long time. His lyrics and flow are much improved from “The Platform”, and he seems like he’s ready for his own solo album. Iriscience especially shines on the collaboration with the Alkaholiks, “Heavy Rotation”. His verse, better than anything I’ve heard out of him before, is funny but with great flow. “Yo, it’s hard to pass the bar, ask your lawyer/Likwid, pour it on y’all from California/Programmers, spray this on your play list/If rap was hard liquor I’d be “Leaving Las Vegas”.


The beats on “Expansion Team” are better than on “The Platform”, too. Alchemist was good then, and he’s good now, but he and Babu are armed with help this time. DJ Premier stops by on “Clockwork”, which sounds like a generic Premo beat at the beginning, but then ends up with some ill switches in the beat that make the song pretty damn good. Da Beatminerz, my favorite producers (See my review of their album) bless the Peoples on “Trade Money”, a funny but damn fine lyrical exercise for even Evidence! Juju from the Beatnuts brings a subpar track to “Self Defense”, but it’s not that bad. It just shows how the Beatnuts have gotten steadily worse, over and over. ?uestlove from the Roots produces “War”, and it’s excellent, and even Evidence produces a few good tracks on the album. The beats don’t outshine the lyrics, but they are a strong background to some pretty decent lyrics.


This album is not boring. Its replay value is way higher than the Platform and both of the MCs have improved a lot. Evidence still isn’t very exciting, but that’s not the point, he doesn’t have to be. Iriscience has replaced him as the premier MC in the group, and Evidence works much better as a backup to Iriscience. The only major complaint I can have with the album comes from their topics. Even though the topics vary, Iriscience relies a little too much on how “hip-hop” he is, and Evidence rarely talks about anything else. As Gavin, another music reviewer for Stylus, stated, the Dilated Peoples are a little too “scenester” for their own good, and at times I just say “Damn! I know you’re hip-hop, talk about something else!” This isn’t that bad, but it’s especially noticeable on “Worst Comes to Worst” and “Hard Hitters” featuring Black Thought from the Roots. Both shout too much “We represent what rap music should be! Love us!”


Overall, this is a very, very solid effort, bordering on great, but just content with being good. I firmly believe that in two albums or so, Dilated Peoples are going to drop a classic album. Their beats improved, their lyrics improved – all they have to do is keep improving, and they are capable of that. Mark my words, I think the Peoples will drop a classic sooner or later. Hopefully sooner.