One of the most creative artists that I have had the chance to sit down with just so happens to be one of the most lyrically gifted as well. Evidence, a member of the group Dilated Peoples, joined Upcoming Hip Hop live from the media room at Soundset Music Festival 2018 in St Paul, MN. Admittedly a little coy at first during the interview as I wasn't well versed with his work but had heard his skit about doing interviews with people who aren't well versed with his work (Dilated Peoples – Mr. Evidence Interlude).

UHH: So first off if you want to tell the readers who you are and your affiliation?

Evidence: Evidence, Rhymesayers Entertainment, Dilated Peoples, LA, Venice Beach.

UHH: Awesome, so I wanted to dive right into this new video you released. Speaking of LA, Bad Publicity was just released and its highlights LA, but there is a line from the track that I think is not just important to this song but to your place in music currently. “I shed so much skin the old Michael is done. [Evidence: And everything I stood for is waging its war.] I know Weather or Not is the last of this trilogy and was wondering if this line had anything to do with the end of this chapter of muisc?

Evidence: I think so. I think there is a lot of growth going on [and] in that video also there was no people in it except for me and Krondon, which was really hard to do. So it was showcasing LA but it was me in a bubble and even the chorus says “I been livin' in a bubble, don't make me bust yours.” I think there is a definite [growth]. I would say things have come to a head point so to ignore it is fucked at this point. I've reached a point where I don't want to do any more of the weather stuff. I've gotten good at that. I want to challenge myself and what does that mean? Well, I want to make a movie. I have done four albums, well three and an EP, all based on this. I have lived a whole life as Dilated [Peoples] and a whole life as a solo. As I get older I start feeling more human in certain ways and less like a character. So the 'old Michael is done' is maybe that I have felt guarded and the new thing is just more of an honest me. With that comes a fear because you are more vulnerable but also a bigger reward when people can feel what you are saying.

The last part of this really struck a chord with me as it comes at a time where I am opening up that true self and not partially hiding behind a persona of who I think I am or what I think I should be. Evidence has lived life and lived life over in recent times and being a part of this journey was something that connected deeper with me than I thought it would. We would go on to discuss the intricacies of music and its odd complexity in that it's not meant for other senses except hearing, yet visuals are a major part of it. And that conversation of visualization in music led us to some common ground, photography.

UHH: Coming off that gallery with Stephen Vanasco at the Functionary on Friday, I wanted to know how much do you see hip-hop influence your photography or does it at all and vice versa?

Evidence: Yeah, [I think] the aesthetics are still the same because I am a graffiti artist. You know, my mother was a photographer so I just grew up my whole life like 'do you like this one or do you like this one', A or B, [I was like] 'B mom, shut the fuck up' [laughter], but that got me good at having an eye through her. It was just a big accident, I got big on Instagram for photos before there was anybody there. Literally, Instagram wasn't anything rap related it was just a photography App. So I am going make Evidence my name, that's fine, but I am not gonna showcase my rap. I want to gain respect as a photographer and then it becomes the app become giant and the worlds crossed where it became this weird thing were like half my follower, maybe more than half, let's just say a lot of people didn't know I rapped. It was cool though because that means I got respect for something else and that's just testament to being an artist. It starts with an idea and then seeing it through. For music it might be writing a line, getting to the booth. For a photo that could be 'What's my shutter speed? Whats my aperture?' and you have to make these decisions on the fly. The is a creative [aspect] to everything and I'm into that, I'm into creative.

This doesn't just stop at photography, and it isn't unique to Evidence. Not to say his style or photography isn't unique, but being multi-faceted as a musician and in other artistry mediums. This is something that Evidence embraces now and loves that the hip-hop community has expanded to allow for multi-talented artists to thrive saying he came from a time where “if you decided to do something else but rap you were a dead motherfucker.” This is a different time where artists differences are embraced and often times glorified for being able to express themselves on multiple mediums. From A$AP Rocky with fashion or Aesop Rock with skateboarding or in this case Evidence with photography. While discussing how things use to be, we dove into a line from that time.

UHH: Finish this line: “Step to Evidence...”

Evidence: Step to Evidence... umm.. I'll fuck you up.

UHH: If I give you the hint of Big Pun

Evidence: Oh! “Evian backwards” yeaaaa, yes sir.

UHH: Can you tell me a little about that line?

Evidence: Yeah it was just a line that I probably did on something, I don't know but probably on something back in the day. You know, you go to the Wake Up Show and you could kick lines and people wouldn't instantly blast you in the comments like 'that's from that' like you could get those things off way iller back then. So I did a rhyme with Redfoo, Cuban Link and Big Pun, rest in peace, were all there. I gotta talk to Sway and see if the video exists. So yeah, Big Pun was just genuinely interested in my rhyme and he was like a hip-hop dude which is obvious by the way he rapped, but he showed me love there and it was tight. I said that line and the chairs were high, like stand-ups, and he kicked the chair after [I said it] [….] and for those not listening Evian is Naive backward.

Going from one legend to another, from one medium to another, from one genre to another it was time to dive into our fan question and this one felt perfect for this interview as it was a question that brought about so many different aspects of what we had been talking about. Bringing it from Big Pun, a legend in hip-hop to Chester Bennington and knowing how Evidence was that link is not an easy task but here we are.

UHH: The last year or so has been very difficult on music losing many artists, but one, in particular, stands out to me, Chester Bennington. You did a project with Linkin Park correct?

Evidence: [I did] a song on their Reanimation project. I did H1 Vltg3 with Pharaohe Monche. The cool thing about that song is it was a remix project where they brought in a lot of hip-hop producers to remix their songs, but H1 Vltg3 was never released. It was a song that existed but one they had only ever performed. H1 Vltg3, to Linkin Park fans, was the only new song.

UHH: And that question is actually a fan question, I love to bring the fan perspective especially when I am not super familiar with an artist because they can come up with questions that I may not think of from an investigative side. So that one came from 60East, a rapper out of the LA area.

Evidence: That's dope. Shout out to him.

Talking with an underground artist who had also worked along with larger record labels before coming back to his Independent roots allows for an interesting perspective on transitioning markets, business and labelmates. What also made this interesting for Evidence is his transition from being in a group to being a solo act.

Evidence: I started Independent. So its not like I just rapped and got signed to a major. I understood the grind, pressing our vinyls, selling out shows, labels coming led to that. I was happy to get off when we did, we weren't meant for that. We had minor success, maybe major success depending who you ask, but we didn't fit the format.

UHH: And sometimes it doesn't, but I was wondering how that move from being with Dilated to signing to another independent to becoming a solo act and do you think you will make that transition back to Dilated soon?

Ev: No. The one we did with Rhymesayers was dope. I put out Step Brothers with Dilated Peoples and the one with Alchemist [in 2014] and that was dope to me. And we toured that for a couple years and it was really dope but you have to be living man. We have to keep living this shit, [and] Rakka [Iriscience and DJ] Babu aren't at my house anymore. We aren't just hooking up for no reasons so I am not gonna just get a budget and meet the guys twice a week from 9-5 because 'nah' it doesn't work that way. You can't get greatness that way. I wouldn't rule it out. Maybe we go on tour in Europe and we stay in a hotel and in our offtime, we make this record. [The problem is] I can romanticize all I want but until the time is right, fuck no.

UHH: And it makes sense. In music and hip-hop especially the lyrics come from living and so if you aren't living you will just make the same album over and over.

Evidence: Same album, or if you're touring all year long you just write about touring. It's about what your living and to just conjure up something that we haven't been living, even though we know each other so well and they know what I'm saying, it's still that you have to be living it.

UHH: I just wanted to thank you again for sitting and give you this chance to shout out your socials.

Evidence: It's Evidence on everything, it wasn't easy to do. Instagram, Evidence. Twitter, Evidence. Facebook, I don't know. I don't run it.

The interview ended but what happened next was nothing short of incredible. Michael called me over to finish up our talk about photography by showing me a lens his mother had used when she was a professional photographer. He then let me used that lens to shoot around the building and then shoot his set. Although I have only been doing photography for a few years, it was easy to tell how impressive this lens was and below are a few of the shots from Soundset 2018. Evidence latest album 'Weather or Not' available at Fifthelementonline.com. While I went into this interview not knowing quite what to expect, I left with an even better understanding of why his fans truly adore him.

Follow Evidence
Rhymesayers.com/artists/evidence
Facebook.com/misterevidence
Twitter.com/evidence
Instagram.com/evidence