Weather or Not

Evidence has returned to deliver his third solo album, Weather or Not, the final chapter in The Weatherman series before beginning the next saga. “As a writer and a rapper, I’ve been using the weather as a metaphor my whole career,” Evidence explains. “On the Dilated Peoples song “Guaranteed”, I had a line that said, ‘Some think I’m clever, others think I’m the one who makes too many references to weather… or not.’ Every time I would perform that song live, the crowd would always say the ‘or not’, so I knew I was on to something, and it would eventually be an album title.” For Weather or Not, Evidence tapped a stellar cast of producers to share duties with, including Alchemist, DJ Premier, Nottz, DJ Babu, Twiz The Beat Pro, Sam I Yam and Budgie. The album also features an all-star lineup of guests and friends, including Slug (Atmosphere), Rakaa (Dilated Peoples), Alchemist, Styles P, Rapsody, Jonwayne, Defari, Krondon, Khrysis, Mach Hommy and Catero. “I made this album with loyalists in mind,” Evidence says. “There’s nothing that’s unintentional. There are no wasted words.” While the album predominantly highlights his talent as a rapper, Evidence is also a well known producer, photographer and videographer. But, for all of his non-stop, high-level productivity, Evidence is most notably modest, a quality fully captured on Weather Or Not. “Now that the album is finished, I can see clearly that every single song serves its own purpose. To me, it’s like a playlist, or a greatest hits collection…except that none of these songs existed before I made them.”

The Dilated Peoples MC’s third solo album shows his continued faith in the eternal truths of boom-bap rap music.

Before the word "populist" lost all meaning, Evidence was exactly that: a tribune of the plebeians. He never claimed that title outright, pr...