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L.A. trio Dilated Peoples are an expert balancing act. Rakaa and Evidence spit rhymes that get political and social without skimping on punch lines, while DJ Babu cuts up beats generous enough for radio but sharp enough for hip-hop connoisseurs. The Alchemist-produced, up-rocking "Back Again" finds Rakaa busting on Bush and Blair ("Some are scared/Some just wish they cared"), and "Satellite Radio" has Evidence proclaiming, "This here's the major leagues/ Where more chicks call you papi than Dave Ortiz" over a pinpoint piano vamp. Less a great album than a group of scattershot bangers, 20/20 could've dispensed with its dopey skits about a certain Dr. Greenthumb and utilized more intervals like "The One and Only," a showcase for Babu's scratch mastery.

PETER RELIC

(Posted: Mar, 6 2006)