For most people, rain is just a normal weather event. For Evidence, however, it is part of his identity. The rapper and producer, who was once part of Dilated Peoples and is widely regarded as a producer’s producer, has spent decades creating a body of work that combines precision, introspection, and humility. Although Unlearning Vol. 2 – the follow-up to the series that began in 2021 – distances itself from the Weatherman trilogy, precipitation remains the leitmotif of his work.
Even the singles released as videos, some of which were produced independently, feature fogged-up windows and subdued lighting. Rather than having a fixed concept, the focus is on learning to let go. Songs are titled »Plans Change« and »Different Phases«. »Enough of makin beats, I’m back to spittin« he says – and then, acting as a street chronicler, he navigates a haze of insight and memory over boom-bap productions by The Alchemist, Conductor Williams, and Sebb Bash.
Evidence’s music is characterised by a gentle vibe, incorporating soft 70s R&B and yacht rock samples. Against this backdrop, he reflects on themes such as friendship, loss and fatherhood. »Everything I talk is not fiction / I make photographs, rule of thirds and crop pictures,« he says on »Seeing Double«. These lines encapsulate the essence of Unlearning Vol. 2: music that understands letting go as a form of clarity and perhaps finds the most honest form of self-assertion in its tranquillity.
