Police arrest notorious graffiti tag artist Cyrus “Buket” Yazdani on felony vandalism charges this week in Los Angeles but inaccurate photos of the man in custody continue to circulate, appearing at the top of the hour newscasts on CBS 9, ABC 7, KTLA 5, NBC 4 and Los Angeles Times cover story due to newspaper mistakenly identifying Yazdani with an image of respected MC and Producer Evidence of Dilated Peoples
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(Los Angeles, California – May 29, 2008) Los Angeles Detectives took Cyrus “Buket” Yazdani into custody this week on felony vandalism charges. The man who police describe as “one of Los Angeles’ most prolific taggers” was habitual for videotaping his handiwork and uploading footage to the web. The well known local tagger became recognized globally when videos of him spray painting on a Hollywood Fwy overpass, with cars zooming by 20 feet below began ciruclating over the internet.
Dilated People’s member Michael “Evidence” Perretta has been making noise on the underground hip-hop scene since the trio appeared in the late 1990’s. In reference to the photo of the MC plastered across the front page of the Los Angeles Times and displayed hourly on various television newscasts depicting him as the arrested tagger Evidence says, “I only met Buket once when I was asked to do a promo for an internet show, however I’m obviously not him and find it humorous how the media didn’t take the time to figure this out before running such an extensive story.”
Evidence explains how he was approached by Yazdani over a year ago and asked to say a few promotional words on film. Unbeknowest to the celeb endorser his words would be edited and used as an introductory segment running prior to footage of Yazdani making his tag mark on the 101 Hollywood Fwy. The segment entitled “War 4” circulated on Youtube.com and was watched by over 500,000 viewers. Video images of Evidence were accidently pulled by the Los Angeles Times when Yazdani was taken into custody, thus mistakenly identifying the MC for the notorious tagger. The rapper explains, “In my line of work anytime someone asks me for a recorded or live video promo I’m always glad to do it. I have co-signed thousands of Internet, Radio and TV shows as well as various other forms of media. This could have happened to any entertainer, not just me.”
Evidence has been a torchbearer and champion of underground hip-hop culture. He remains a positive identity within this often misrepresented and marginalized community. Raised in Venice Beach, California the former breakdancer has released four critically acclaimed and socially conscious albums alongside Dilated Peoples and last year had tremendous success with his solo debut The Weatherman. The songs tackled issues of politics and revolution as well as containing powerful tribute tracks to his mother. The celebrated MC has created his own unique blend of beats and rhymes making him a staple and respected figure on the current musical landscape. Evidence and Dilated Peoples have graced covers and appeared within the pages of Vibe, The Source, King, XXL, YRB, Vapors, Alternative Press, URB and XLR8R while his production work has included tracks for the Beastie Boys, Linkin Park, Swollen Members, Defari, Planet Asia and co- production on Kanye West’s Grammy award winning album College Dropout.
Evidence says he wants this huge mistake cleared up and retractions made by the media. Meanwhile he is busy preparing for upcoming nationwide show dates during the “Fresh Rhymes & Videotape Tour” featuring Dilated Peoples, The Alchemist, Aceyalone and 88 Keys. The tour runs from June 2nd – June 29th and will hit all major cities.
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