Unlearning Vol. 2

For his fifth solo album, *Unlearning Vol. 2*, Evidence enlists a handful of underground-friendly West Coast MCs, including Larry June (“Future Memories”), Odd Future alum Domo Genesis (“Favorite Injury”), and late-aughts blog-rap darling Blu (“Stay Alive”). Famed producer and sometime Step Brothers counterpart The Alchemist is here on “Rain Every Season.” The guests share a kinship with Ev in creative theory, if not in actual practice. “I’m just a minimalist who’s still massive,” he raps on “Top Seeded,” casually distilling their respective impacts. Evidence may have the resume of a hip-hop legend, but he wouldn’t likely have you call him one. After his work with acts like Dilated Peoples and The Alchemist, production for Beastie Boys, LINKIN PARK, and Kanye West (to name but a few), and four well-received solo albums, he continues to create and release music on his own terms. *Unlearning Vol. 2*, then, manages to boost both his pedigree and mystique. “Graffiti writer, never dreamed of being famous,” he reflects on “Different Phases.” “The goal was that they never knew the face, not being nameless.”