Dilated Peoples: The Platform 45

Twenty years ago (man, has it been that long?), I was sitting on side stage at The Vans Warped Tour in Asbury Park, NJ taking photographs. I had already shot some up-and-coming rapper called Eminem and the original Black Eyed Peas before their pop chart-topping female addition, as well as Ozomatli and Jurassic 5. It was a chance opportunity, and like any hip-hop fan of the time was excited to see these new artists perform. However, there was one group that blew me away: Dilated Peoples. I had been rocking with them for a bit, was an aspiring turntablist, and jumped at the chance to sit on a rack to watch them perform. The Los Angeles-based group was composed of some of the best around: legendary Beat Junkies member, DJ Babu, staple underground and prolific emcee, Evidence, and fellow LA-based rapper, Rakaa. They rapped about different subjects like positivity, a subject that stood out among the gang bang, West Coast slangers at the time (all good in their own right as well). That was a day I won’t forget, and at some point, I’ll get the negatives out and put them on these pages. But I digress.

Fast forward twenty-plus years later and King Underground have brought me (and a lot of others) back to that time and that very feeling. They are reissuing “The Platform” single on 45 from 2000. This track is a testament of what it takes to make this kind of music, cutting up Millie Jackson, and well, a young producer called The Alchemeist on the track too, make this a timeless classic. The flip, “Annihilation” sees The Alchemist keep it funky with another DP classic head nodder. We’re well-chuffed to see this record get the 45 treatment, it’s timeless and never gets stale. Dilated Peoples saw the opening two decades ago and realized: “It ain’t where you put your words, it’s where you don’t.”