Barnes&Noble.com: How does Dilated Peoples stand apart from other hip-hop outfits?

DJ Babu: I think we're very traditional hip-hop, but at the same time we're trying to be cutting edge via traditional channels. You know what I mean -- we're two MCs and a DJ. And our music is [taken from] the styles of groups that we grew up on. We are trying to build on groups like EPMD and Run-D.M.C. and De La Soul and that whole era -- we all come from that. We're trying to sell records, but we have a lot of integrity in our music, and we're trying to do it in a way that a lot of the elders that we respect in the game would have done it.

B&N.com: Do you mean structurally? Like the way the EPMD would structure their verses or the way they delivered their rhymes --is that something you guys have embraced?

B: Yes, [we've embraced that] definitely -- but I think just more in general, more aesthetically than anything [else]. Just the way we carry ourselves onstage to how we're a self-produced group when it comes to being in the studio. And pretty much our whole outlook and our view on things -- we're a very skill-oriented group. I think our image at this point definitely takes a backseat to what we can do on microphones and turntables and on stage.

B&N.com: Where do you think Dilated Peoples fits into the current hip-hop culture, as far as content or style?

B: I'm not a hater. I try to have an open mind, but everything is really diluted these days. It's like you have these five producers to pick from, these five video directors to choose from, you have this singer, this guest rapper on your album and you're bona fide hip-hop, you know? You're certified. With us, we're a real grassroots group. We started by independently making 12-inch records, and then we would perform those songs and sell those 12 inches to make enough money to get us back in the studio and make another 12-inch, and so on and so forth. That was our whole thing. Because we're grassroots, I think that the differences are really obvious -- like we obviously don't try to talk about all the stuff that the famous groups are talking about. I can't front, I love a lot of the music that's out there. But I also have a problem with a lot of the stuff that's out there. Like I said, we're truly trying to make good, solid, heartfelt music, and at the same time maintain our integrity, because I think it's too easy to make hit records these days. Whether we get categorized as this or that, we're just trying to make good music across the board. Whether we go wood or platinum -- that's the biggest thing with us.

B&N.com: What's your definition of good music?

B: To me, good music is definitely something that comes from staying motivated, from saying to yourself that I want to make something that pleases me before anybody else. I just think a lot of music out there is contrived, it's made strategically, it's made with mass marketing in mind, it's made to plug into this big music industry machine&and to me good music is made by people who make it just purely for themselves (or people like themselves) and who set their own rules and boundaries of what they can do with the music. Whether these people sell a lot or they don't sell, that really doesn't matter. You know, a lot of the music I love could be quadruple platinum or at the same time, I could love something just as much that no one else has heard about. So I think that you can listen to artists and tell who's speaking what they live. You talk the talk, you walk the walk -- that's what it basically comes down to.

B&N.com: Isn't there a line in one of the songs like that -- about practicing what you preach?

B: I know it's a rule that our group has learned. You gotta be what you're about. If you rap about being a killer or a thug and all of that, then be about that and no one can say shit. If you rap about being the most skilled MC who can battle everybody in the world then you do that. So I think that that [attitude] very much reflects in our music. Me, Ev, and Rakaa -- we really keep ourselves in check when it comes to that. We're real grounded cats who walk around town like everybody else -- we go record shopping, we go hang out with our friends, we go to clubs, we hang out with our families, do whatever, you know what I mean. So you know we're not about to put up a façade when it comes to our music.

B&N.com: Talk about some of the themes addressed on the album.

B: Okay, well, "Worst Come to Worst," is a dedication to all our family and all our friends -- a song saying everything we do really wouldn't be worth it if it weren't for our people supporting us. "Trade Money" -- I really like that one because money is a real common topic in hip-hop music, but lately we've felt that all the money songs that come out these days are real negative. This song was talking about money, but we tried to put in a more positive light and put a twist on the whole subject of wealth and money. On the song, we talk loosely about how we travel all over the world and they pay us in all these weird funny different kinds of money, but what it really comes down to all over the world is that everybody's working hard, chasing a buck, whether it's green, blue, or yellow, in yen or pounds. The song also talks about how you shouldn't worship money but use it as a means, use it as a tool to make other things happen positively. "Proper Propaganda" is a heavily themed song where, I think -- you know these are my boys' lyrics, so I'm trying my best to interpret them -- but I think on "Proper Propaganda," Rakaa was talking about how in a lot of ways rappers are journalists, in that we chronicle things from our point of view.

B&N.com: How did you get involved with Dilated Peoples?

B: Ev and Rakaa were adamant about having a DJ in the group. And if they were gonna have a DJ, they didn't just want someone up there faking it. That really shows their love for the DJ and how much a DJ means to them as part of their music and part their culture.

B&N.com: You worked with producer DJ Premier on Expansion Team. Tell me about that experience.

B: Making the first album was really independent. I would say we finished 90 percent of it, and then Capitol picked us up and put the album out. But this time, we were officially on the label, and it was nice to have those kinds of resources. We didn't actually make connections with everybody we collaborated with, but being that we started this project fully funded and ready to go, it definitely made it easier for us to step to people and say, "Okay, let's go to NY and record with X, Y, and Z." This one was a full-fledged major-label record, so being able to work with all these cats, especially Primo [DJ Premier] was just ridiculous. He made about three or four beats on the spot before we all agreed on one. We saw the whole process from the get-go. I brought a bag of records, Primo brought a bag of records, and Ev and Rakaa brought pads and pens. And that was it. He's not the regular hip-hop producer who just sits there and says, "Here's a beat, rap on it." He's really hands-on. He sat there and coached Ev and Rakaa through all the rhymes, and got really intimate with everybody on an individual basis and then together as a group. We did the cuts together and he yea'ed and nay'ed every single scratch I did. It's refreshing to meet someone that you've looked up to for so long and find out that he's just a hardcore hip-hop cat like you are. That was one of my top five hip-hop experiences.

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