A rapper unbothered and untethered by conventional understandings of passion.
As a genre dominated by sex, drugs and guns, the rapper Evidence’s new album, Unlearning Vol. 2, provides us with a front row seat into his life and conscious with all its complexity. He starts off the album with the bitter “Plans change” stating right in the beginning thats he’s a fan of dark and depressing music. Laying out the road map of the album to come, we see a common theme that will be repeated about battles and perseverance as well as his ability, or in some cases lack there of, to make an impact. We cruise into the next track, “Different Phases,” which leans more into this battle the rapper has with an authenticity of both his own and that of those around him. He’s quick to say he doesn’t f**k with a lot, stating his disdain for people and most of what they do. He makes a big emphasis on that state of his life and dreams, saying that he will always end up wherever he is supposed to be.
We are next greeted with the futuristic track of “Future Memories” which is a rich juxtaposition. The rapper tells listeners that he does it for the culture and that he’s looking at the bigger pictured while he’s still zoomed in. Not forgetting where he came from but still addressing himself on the micro level is an interesting concept to be explored. It’s not long before we move to “Outta bounds,” which is a strong song about the conditions under which one grows. He reveals that when his back is against the wall he is just back to living with this pressure that he faces which is normal for him and even desirable for his way of life. He combines this confession with his overall depression theme but adds more elements to widen the perspectives. He claims they judge him for coloring outside the lines, something that traditionally is looked down upon, but from the way he sees it, that is what makes him special. It serves as a metaphor for going after what he desires as he wants things that the common man does not. He proceeds to say that everyone is trying to make it, but nobody is trying hard enough which is powerful in a society that wants the start but never builds a rocket ship to the point of being able to laugh at people like Evidence. They untimely fail to change their perspective on life and on people.
The next track, “Seeing Double,” elaborates on that previous idea in the past song with how he doesn’t trust or have or have favor with people. As listeners, we continue to see the complexities of this album within its central voice and mind. Evidence talks about how one needs to trust in love, but he doesn’t have a trusting love or perhaps is not capable of creating one. He says that people just find a pattern and then repeat it. In the quick track “Nothing To See Here,” his message is clear, he’s not your typical rapper and he’s not picking sides or worried about the bull or “glitches” as he likes to say. Leaning more into his voice, we get that strong authenticity of him being unapologetically himself even if that means being alone. “Define success” speaks for its self, it’s all about not feeling like them and making sure you always feel like you. He continues with this sad dark theme, calling himself a black sheep and saying how he’s letting go of sanity and family. In staying with what we started with this strange distorted voice, we walk into a message not about real death but the death of one’s self and the point to stay alive in yourself. He says the only way to make a classic is to not try, meaning not making a song just for the goal of it to be commercially successful. He wants us to know he’s operating on a different plane..his own.
Our next three tracks “Nothings perfect,” Favorite Injury” and “Top seeded” all speak to his central focus of hard work and authenticity within his self and his work. In “Greatest Motivation” he asserts that he himself is his greatest motivation for who could compare. He then doubles down in “Rain every season,” stating how he is confident rather than egotistical. While still walking onto the field he’s been stretching, he’s been readying and he’s been waiting within himself. In “Laughing Last” we really see the artist’s passion for music, saying that it feeds him not just economically but mentally and physically. Music is all that matters to him, it’s what drives and fuels him, it’s what keeps him alive. In our finale, “Dutch Angle,” he ask us to lean in and really listen. He lets down the walls and tells us he’s just doing his best with the work he still doing in himself. He takes off the rapper hat and lets us see that he’s still human. Evidence has crafted a truly beautiful peace of work and if it could be summed up in just one word it would have to be: Authentic.
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