Evidence, as one third of the classic group, Dilated Peoples was a successful artist. They had a major deal, their albums sold well, and their following was vast. Any artist would have been satisfied and rode the wave of success, Evidence wasn’t. He wanted to be known as more than the dude from Dilated who jumped into the crowd at shows.

He wanted to be his own artist. He wanted to be Evidence. Off Capitol Records and with his newly found freedom, Evidence hit the ground running and released his first solo LP, the cult classic Weatherman LP.

The album was a success and gained Evidence an audience all his own. Now with the Layover mixtape and EP getting ready to drop,  Sixshot’s Jon Michael sat down with Evidence to discuss his second solo effort Cats And Dogs, when we’ll see another project from Dilated Peoples, and his new record label Taylor Made.

Sixshot.Com: Last time we spoke you were still pushing The Weatherman LP and had no plans of stopping. How have the results been?

Evidence: I’m still pushin’ bro, still pushin’, still goin’. It was something new man. It was my first project as a solo ar tist and it was uncharted waters, you know? Personally, everyday that I wake up I feel like I did a great job of establishing myself as a solo artist. The hardest thing to do is leave a group and establish yourself. It’s so fucking difficult. Jay, I don’t know if you remember this but I told you last year that in a year or two my main goal was to have promoters calling me and being able to put Evidence on the flyers, not Evidence of The Dilated Peoples. Just like how you don’t see Ghostface Killah of Wu-Tang anymore. You just see Ghost. I think I pretty much accomplished that. I think people are getting used to seeing Evidence and not that guy from Dilated Peoples.

Sixshot.Com: Personally, I feel like you accomplished that bro.

Evidence: Thanks man, that’s incredible.

Sixshot.Com: So tell us about this new project, The Layover EP.

Evidence: An EP has to be six songs and it can’t be more than ten. Those are just the laws of an EP. Two EP’s that stick out in my mind that were just incredible were Ice Cube’s Death Certificate and Pete Rock and CL Smooth’s All Souled Out.  They just felt like powerful pieces of work to me. It didn’t feel like it was less because it was a certain number of songs. It felt like I was going to buy every fucking album they put out and that’s exactly what I want to do with The Layover EP. The Weatherman came out March 25, 2007. Here we are in October of 2008. I can’t afford to be gone for two years. I just can’t do it. So I’m putting out The Layover EP and the purpose of it is just to hold the fans over.

When I made this I didn’t just do it for a quick check. I put my best foot forward and I’m really proud of this. I feel like it’s my best work to date. Is it a rounded experience like the Weatherman LP? Possibly and possibly not but that’s not the purpose of it. Cats And Dogs is coming too and that’s my second album. That’s when I’m really gonna go back in. This right here is just the bang out. My favorite thing about this is that I took three songs off Cats and Dogs and I put them on here. I had three verses and choruses. I took two of my verses off, kept one, and put some of my favorite rappers on them.

There’s a lot of featured on this because when I do my second album I really don’t want to weight it down with guest appearances. It’s not a compilation but it’s like my brain and my Rolodex and just connecting the dots. (Laughing) An example of one of the songs I’m talking about is “For Whom The Bell Tolls”. It’s like one of my favorite songs that I’ve ever done so I took two verses off and I put Blu on who’s like my favorite rapper right now. I put Phonte from Little Brother on there and Will.i.Am who is a good friend of mine just blessed me with a great chorus and now it’s just like I have this monster song.

I’m pulling out favor cards that I’ve never used before and people are coming through for me in a major way. I also have another song called “To Be Determines” and it’s just about my determination and what I do to get where I need to go. This is my biggest song and it’s produced by Alchemist. I put Elzhi from Slum Village on there. This is a new project and you’re going to hear me with a lot of new voices.

Sixshot.Com: It sounds like you had a good time making this.

Evidence: I did it all in a month and a half. (Laughs) I did it really fast because my manager was telling me that it was a great way to connect with the audience and all that so I just started going to the studio every day. I was doing a lot of freestyles that I was putting on the blogs and on the Myspace page and it started taking on this new life. It was originally going to be a mixtape so now I have The Layover mixtape coming out with DJ Skee who’s just incredible. It’s a lot of freestyling and it has about 20 tracks on it. Then the Layover EP comes out November 25th. I’m also shooting videos so it’s going to be a two disc EP for $7.99. And I eat that cost at the end of the day. That’s me having to work twice as hard to recoup that money.

Sixshot.Com: I also heard you’ve formed a group with Alchemist. Tell us about that.

Evidence: The Stepbrothers. Alchemist is pretty much my best friend in life. He knows me well and he knows how I move. I hold that dude in very high regard. I could just look at him as my friend but I do look at him as the Alchemist and I see all that he’s accomplished. How Stepbrother came about was actually from the movie. There was a scene in there that was hysterical and we kind of just ran with it. We saw the movie brother with the two guys in front of Sears looking kind of like a home photo deal so we created the album cover exactly like the movie poster.

We got the wigs on and the argyle. I’m Will Ferrell. He’s the other guy. We’re gonna release that on the net with that picture pretty soon to establish Stepbrothers. Stepbrother will also be opening up for Redman and Method Man October through November. We also covered the Cypress Hill joint on Mick Boogie’s Hip-Hop Honors mixtape, which is king of our first joint. There’s a joint on my EP also called “So Fresh” and that’s like the real, real first song from Stepbrothers. He’s a great dude man. He’s got a great vibe and he works harder than anybody I know.

Sixshot.Com: You guys do seem to have an excellent chemistry in the studio. Has it always been that way or sort of developed over the years?

Evidence: Well at first Alchemist was a good beat maker but we didn’t really respect him as a producer. I’m not gonna lie to you and say otherwise. He really wasn’t a producer. He was just like a crafty little beat maker. He wasn’t that guy yet. He eventually found himself as a producer when he got with Mobb Deep. He came back to Cali after that and he was like “Mobb Deep is respecting my opinion and you guys aren’t going to? What the fuck is that”? He really stepped to us like a man. Ever since that day we never doubted him for a fucking second. It’s pretty interesting. He kind of just stepped up and let us know where his place was.

Sixshot.Com: Also, everybody wants to know, what’s the status of Dilated Peoples?

Evidence: That’s a great question and I would love to give you a definitive answer but I don’t have it. The unity of our group is very strong right now. Rakaa’s first solo is coming out real soon, which I’m excited about. I have tracks on it. We’re moving forward in our solo careers but we’re doing a show tonight in Santa Barbara. When we got off Capitol we basically said we were gonna do our solo record so it’s pretty much what you’re seeing. I’ve been off Capitol since 2006 and it’s 2008. I’m on my second release.

Babu and Rakaa are coming out with their firsts. We have an incredible DVD coming out called The Release Party that I’m so proud of. When the right offer comes for Dilated, which is very close to happening, then it’ll happen. We’ve actually had two major deals fall through in the 25th hour because of negotiations. There will be a Dilated album but I’m not just gonna sit around and feed you guys release dates.

Sixshot.Com: Are you still enjoying life as an independent artist?

Evidence: I’m fuckin’ loving it man. I’m so lovin’ it right now and I can’t even explain how I’m lovin’ it because I’m not trying to rub it in people’s faces but I want them to know where I stand in life. I’ve done well financially. I’ve been pretty smart and I don’t have to work a 9 to 5. I’m not in a situation where if I don’t go to work tomorrow then my mortgage isn’t going to get paid. I’m okay right now. I’m okay with music as my full time job. To have that is such a blessing and to not have any fuckin’ A&R’s breathing down my neck. I’m in control of everything right now. I’m in control of my relationships with my fans on Myspace. There’s nobody in between us. I have it really good right now. I don’t have to deal with a lot of corporate shit. There are people who I would like to work with but I’m not actively pursuing a record deal or anything.

Sixshot.Com: Can you tell us about the record label you’re starting?

Evidence: Yeah Taylor Made Records. That was my mother’s name, God rest her soul, and I’ve been on a real roller coaster with that shit. She was a major support system for me and I’m just getting to the point where I can even talk about it. It’s just you learn to deal with the pain. She was a photographer and she was very prominent and well respected. She would sign all of her portraits with Taylor so her signature actually had a lot of meaning. I’m looking at some people right now that I’d like to sign. I really should keep this out of the public but fuck it because I just want what’s best for the artist, this kid Fashawn out of Fresno. He’s just fuckin’ incredible and in a perfect world I could have him coming out on Taylor Made in the near future. If he gets signed somewhere else it’s all good because you heard him on my EP first. I’m fucking with this kid in a major way.

Sixshot.Com: All right EV; give us the rundown of everything you have coming out.

Evidence: The Layover EP is November 25th. Cats And Dogs in 2009, that’s my official second album. I’m three songs deep and these three songs are like fuckin’ sonic masterpieces so any song I do has to be as good or better than those three to make the album. I refuse to go below that bar.

Sixshot.Com: Anything you’d like to say to all those hardcore Evidence fans out there?

Evidence: I just wanna thank anybody who leaves comments or e-mails on Myspace. It’s not like I have to sit down and reply to a fan letter. I can just hit them back right there. A lot of people like Alchemist tell me that I shouldn’t be so accessible and I shouldn’t be so easy to reach all the time but fuck it you know? (Laughs) This is music, it’s a life, and it’s a vibe. Life is too short and there are people out there who are affected by me so I’m gonna talk to them. I really appreciate anybody who’s out there showin’ love.