Last Friday (June 25), Evidence released his latest solo album, Unlearning, Vol. 1. The Rhymesayers Entertainment release featuring Conway The Machine, Alchemist, Boldy James, and others has already been met with applause, including Ambrosia For Heads‘ 10 Best Albums of 2021 (so far) list.

Notably, Unlearning breaks from Ev’s Weatherman series, dating back to his first solo album, almost 15 years ago. However, especially following 2018’s Weather Or Not, the new LP does not deviate from vulnerability, brilliant bars, and hazy sample-based production.

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The slow-flow MC spoke to AFH‘s What’s The Headline podcast (embedded below as video and audio). In a discussion at nearly 45 minutes, he broke down why the title fits a creative mindset. He spoke about some of the lyrics on the album and cast a brighter light on some of the allusions from his personal life.

At the 23:37-mark in the chat, Evidence addresses his position in Hip-Hop. A recording veteran since the mid-1990s, Evidence raps “still an up-and-comer, playin’ to the rhythm of ‘The Funky Drummer,’” on album opener “Better You.” As an artist who has been an early-adopting collaborator to Mach-Hommy, Conway, Action Bronson, Westside Gunn, and many others, he is asked about when he began seeing himself as more rookie than O.G.

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“I did [before], but my artistry didn’t align with it,” Evidence responds. “Starting [with] going solo, 100%. I changed everything, man. Some of it may not even have been fair to Rakaa [Iriscience] because, in a group, I didn’t want to do this sh*t, but now that I’m solo, ‘Oh, you doin’ that sh*t?’ [Laughs] But really, it was because I was like, yo, if I’m gonna start over, then I need to do all the sh*t that beginners do when they start. That’s [in] my mind. I think I’m coming to my third one right now—my third life. I think this is the third turn.”

After pausing in thought for a moment, Evidence continued, “I’m fortunate enough to be around Alchemist a lot and a lot of people who are proving to me that it’s possible. So that’s super encouraging. I am agreeing [with you]: some of these artists are making really good music in their upper-thirties and early-forties now. And we never really saw that [previously] because Rap was young, and it was driven by major [labels]. So once your time went away on a major, that was kind of it. Right now, that’s not the case. Or maybe we’re all living in a niche world right here, and we’re all dialed-in, and there’s other people who have no idea what Mach-Hommy is, right? You like Mach-Hommy; that sh*t is very important. [Laughs] Maybe it is about focusing on what you got and really building that out. And with that said, you’ve got to be willing to do a lot of sh*t you wouldn’t be willing to do. So Dilated [Peoples], we graduated to tour busing; now I’m doing Evidence sh*t, and I’m sitting in the back of a van with somebody, and I’m being humbled. [Laughs] And that’s really still some first-world bullsh*t, like no real problem here. But for an artist who has like achieved some sh*t—Or, better yet: I was doing House Of Blues [with Dilated Peoples], and now I’m solo, and I’m doing the Viper Room, which is 150 people. I think to really start all that sh*t you can’t short-change the steps, and I do think it’s something I’ve been willing to do in these times of bringing something new to myself for my career.”

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Since Ev’s solo debut in 2007, Dilated Peoples has remained active at times. The trio with Evidence, Rakaa, and DJ Babu released Directors of Photography in 2014 on Rhymesayers. Babu provides cuts on Unlearning, Vol. 1. Both Babu and Rakaa have also embarked on solo careers over the last 15-plus-years.

Elsewhere in the interview, Evidence celebrates an early 20th-anniversary of Expansion Team. He recalls when the crew set up shop in New York City’s D&D Studios to work with DJ Premier and engineer Eddie Sancho as well as Da Beatminerz and Kieran Walsh at the Midtown enclave. “It’s probably the best moment,” he says at 38:00, “Because the sound is what we were chasing.”

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Unlearning, Vol. 1 is also available on vinyl and CD from RSE.

Ambrosia For Heads readers can catch regular discussions about the culture on our What’s The Headline podcast. Additionally, What’s The Headline has recent interviews with Skyzoo, Pharoahe Monch, Prince Paul & Don Newkirk, Statik Selektah, Lyric Jones, The LOX, MC Eiht, Mobb Deep’s Havoc, Duckwrth, photographer T. Eric Monroe, and Lord Finesse. All episodes of the show are available wherever you stream your pods.

#BonusBeat: Ambrosia For Heads’ official playlist, featuring selections from Evidence’s Unlearning, Vol. 1, as well as new music from Tyler, The Creator, Skyzoo, Isaiah Rashad, Lloyd Banks, Eminem, Jack Harlow, Cordae, J. Cole, Sa-Roc, Khrysis, and others: