With five Dilated Peoples records and three solo albums under his belt, LA underground rap mainstay Evidence hit the reset button in 2021 with Unlearning Vol. 1. Describing Vol. 1 as “a reintroduction to [his] whole career”, Evidence succeeded in creating a project with looser parameters and a more spontaneous feel: as opposed to his previous “Weather”-themed albums, there was less conceptual focus and a greater interest in fun and creativity. Unlearning, as it were.
Now comes Unlearning Vol. 2. As on Vol. 1, most of these tracks were not produced by Evidence. Though he is a great beatmaker, the emphasis again comes on Ev as a rapper. A veteran, Evidence’s style most clearly resembles the late great Guru, whose self-described “monotone style” minted countless Gang Starr tracks (as well as one of Ev’s own – Dilated Peoples’ “Worst Comes to Worst”). Like Guru, Evidence has an affectless voice and mellow flow, with a focus on sharp lyrics and wordplay rather than flashiness or melody.
Safe to say, Ev’s style is for the heads. If a middle-aged guy rapping about making dinner and taking his son to the park does not appeal to you, I can heartily recommend seeking out the new Niontay album instead. But those with an interest in head-nodding, well-enunciated raps will find plenty to enjoy in Evidence’s second volume of Unlearning. “Seeing Double” is a great lyrical exercise, with both double-entendre and earnestness: “My arm hurt, too many curves, I stopped pitchin’ / This is the time I started smoking weed and got distant / Everything I talk is not fiction / I make photographs, rule of thirds and crop pictures.” On “Stay Alive” he raps, “Best way to stay alive is don’t die / Best way to make a classic record is don’t try.” It’s simple, but pure advice. It also speaks to Ev’s mission to “stop overthinkin’ and get back in my bag” as he outlines on “Nothing to See Here”.
Like last time, a few select guests are here to break up the repetitive voice of Evidence, though they fail to hit as hard as Boldy James, Conway, Navy Blue and Fly Anakin did on the first volume. I also want to point out that Larry June falls into a tiring anti-semitic stereotype on “Future Memories”: “got M’s in the bank, but spend it like I’m Jewish”. This should be a bygone trope in hip-hop, but it isn’t.
There are some incredible beats here, like C-Lance’s vocoder sampling “Top Seeded”, and Alchemist’s lush “Laughing Last”. Evidence has been on an impressive production run so far this decade, making beats for entire albums by Domo Genesis and Blu, respectively. I am interested in seeing what he could do as a majority producer on his own project, or another full-length collab with a like-minded artist.
Though little separates this album from Vol. 1, letting go of any preconceived strategy and stepping into a (surely weed-assisted) zen-like flow state seems to work for Evidence. As he raps on closer “Dutch Angle”, “Don’t pen it like I plan it, it just happens / Cause when we rappin’, higher powers that we tappin’”.
