While rehearsing for this year’s Paid Dues Festival, the Living Legends got together and filmed a video for the their latest single which they offered up for free earlier this year entitled, Trojan Horse. The Eligh produced song, which features the USC Trojan fight song has the video shot partially on the USC campus and other various places around Los Angeles. Please click the image below to watch the video and feel free to share. Video was directed, filmed, and edited by Matt Hobbs for Vital Films.

The entire lineup is listed above, with notable acts including Wu-Tang Clan, Dipset, Kendrick Lamar, DJ Quick, Psycho Realm, Dilated Peoples, Living Legends, Hieroglyphics, People Under The Stairs, Three 6 Mafia, RA The Rugged Man, and more.

These days, most underground artists do not tour nationwide, let alone, worldwide. With the changing musical landscape, fickle fan bases, and the rising costs of touring, most East Coast clubs seldom see their brethren from the West roll through their towns. Zion I and the members of the Living Legends defy modern touring conventions. Both groups continue to put out music below the mainstream’s radar that allows them to constantly tour. Therapy At 3 by Eligh & Amp Live is another album that may lead members of each of these crews to gas up the vans and hit the road.

Eligh, best known as the Living Legend member with a rapid-fire flow and a member of the popular duo he forms with Legend emcee Grouch (G & E), pairs up with producer extraordinaire Amp Live of Zion I fame. This album kind of came out of nowhere with little build, but it is definitely worth a listen for people who are unfamiliar with both artists, and will not disappoint longtime fans. The team-up seemed inevitable since Grouch has appeared on Zion I’s albums since 2000 and they have released two albums together as a unit. Eligh was definitely waiting in the cut to spit over some Amp Live beats.

“Beautiful Addiction” (feat. Grieves & Blake Hazard) definitely is the most accessible song on this album with straightforward verses, a poppy beat, and female-sung chorus. For as much as songs like this could easily miss the mark, this one hits it right on. “Ego Killer” (feat. Inspired Flight) also uses the female-sung hook to open up accessibility.
Another standout track, “Metronome” sounds like a vintage Zion I beat, one that would have fit perfectly on Mind Over Matter. The beat switches up, but the metronome continues throughout. This displays the type of production a fan of Amp Live has come to expect over the years of Zion I-related releases.

“Tattoo Song” rides a bouncy beat, and deals with Eligh’s reason for all of his tattoos, which is based on his idea to “Transfer my inner pain to my outer frame.” An official video for this song is available online and a viewing is definitely recommended.

The thing that stands out most about this album is its cohesiveness. Between the intro and outro, each song features lush musical backdrops, beats that often switch on a dime and Eligh’s top-notch emceeing. Most of the songs bleed into outerludes that go all over the place and prepare the listener for a completely different listening experience to come on the next cut.

While not every song on this album is easily accessible to a fan of modern pop rappers, due to some of the abstract qualities of the lyricism and beats, there are plenty of gems to checkout. After you have taken the album in, be prepared to have your neck snap next time these members of The Living Legends and Zion I hit your town.

New from the Living Legends camp is “The Follow Through” vid, taken from Afro Classics’ EP, The Classic EP. Directed by Mohammed Gorjestani.

Brand new free EP release from Sunspot Jonz and Lucky.I.Am, collectively known as Mystik Journeymen. Billed as a gift for Valentine’s Day, the price is right… download it for free below. Guest shots include the mighty Murs, The Grouch, Scarub, and Kirby Dominant. The Legends live on….

TRACKLIST:
1. Return 2 The Love
2. People Ov The Sun (feat. The Grouch)
3. There Will Be Blood (feat. Murs & Scarub)
4. Angels & Demons Symphony
5. Spaceman Libation
6. Anthill (feat. Kirby Dominant)

Mystik Journeymen “Return To The Love” EP

    The CD’s opener, “Moving At The Speed Of Life” by Asop, features fellow underground icon, Slug of Atmosphere. The production is a bit repetitive, but it allows room for Slug and Asop to deliver raps in atypical cadence. Although not a great song, it does have its merits, which is mostly grounded in smart lyrics and technically sound rapping. Luckyiam PSC, who has been the most consistent member of Living Legends in recent years- besides Murs – has two songs on this project that are very enjoyable. “Another Day” and “Rap, Rap, Rap” are cliche song titles, but the melodic production compounded with PSC’s laidback, unpretentious raps make these tracks very enjoyable. 

    On the subject of unpretentiousness, Grouch’s lament on the project “Artsy” is anything but. Grouch states, ” You ain’t artsier than me, because you a sixteenth Mexican, you ain’t ethnican.” What? The silly lyrics attack pretentious people by using stereotypes, but ironically, it’s Grouch that comes off smug, making the track off-putting. Besides the shallow lyrics, the song fails aesthetically as well. Other tracks which are also unmoving are 3MGs “2010″, which overly uses a very recognizable sample, and both Bicasso tracks which are dull and uninspired. Add to this Scarub’s “Close To You”, which is not only all over the place, but filled with cliched raps from the usually original emcee. Luckily, Murs’ “Love You Like This” is mellow and witty, much like his recent work on Murray’s Revenge, and G & E comes correct with stellar production and lyrics on  “Remember Who You Are.” Moreover, Sunspot Jonz “Purple Kush” is the surprise of the album, finding Jonz delivering smooth raps over a catchy beat. Although considered the crew’s weakest link, Sunspot’s time on this release is perhaps the best.

    Overall, this release is a testament of Living Legends’ talent and possible direction. Although some of the members can still rock the mic, combining smart content with clean delivery, others have taken sharp turns in their music, lacking the appeal of their previous work. But as a packaged product, Legendary Music Vol.1 is definitely worth your time, and at the very least, a few listens.

       The feel-good vibes of Classic (and Maui) continue on tracks like “Good Fun,” where the uptempo and upbeat hand-claps provide the perfect setting for the boys to harp on rapping for fun and making beautiful music. Even when the guys put the happy-go-lucky material to the side though, tracks like the vintage “Never Fallin’,” about withstanding adversity and pulling yourself up by the bootstraps, and “Fears and Pain (Neverendingstreets),” with its’ addictive Eligh-produced baby vocals on the hook, both show that the Legends may be rapping in Maui but still know a thing or two about problems.

     “Even though it didn’t last, a day don’t go past, that I don’t think about getting back with your ass,” Murs raps on “Even Though (I Still Love You),” the love song with-a-twist about a boy and losing his love, another creative attempt by the Legends at creating something from a new point-of-view. But even when they stick with the norm, like bringing up the past to girls on “Busted,” a very Dr. Dre-esque production effort from The Grouch, the Legends do so with a style that still tends to be hard to fit within the contexts of one box.

      The trouble of keeping track of 8 rapping counterparts and the sometimes exhaustively lengthy tracks aside, Classic is a worthy extension of the Living Legends California crew that has gradually expanded and extended from the early ’90s to this point. It may not be the classic record that rappers and producers search for so effortlessly these days, but Classic more than helps to capture the beauty and pristine nature seen throughout the Maui landscape. Call it Maui for the ears. Classic is beautiful.

     For the most part these guys have enough common interests to make intriguing hip-hop as a crew. But almost every track features a different combo of Legends. And no track sums up the LL crew’s steez better than the Grouch’s solo cut “No Strings”. In it, he proclaims that what you see is what you get–with no strings attached. The Legends don’t have anything to hide. Just listen to “Addicted” where the crew takes turns confessing their common addiction to Internet porn and jerking off over a straight-up laid-back beat. Some of the description (e.g. “I play the skin flute like I’m in the symphony”) is almost too vivid but it doesn’t get much more honest than this. How’s that for a posse cut?
 
     Fans of the Legends’ dirty funk will find no short of it on this album (“Fill My Drink Up”,  “It Might Be You”, etc.). But it’s some of the more mellow cuts that stand as the strongest on Creative Differences. In addition to “Addicted,” the pondering “Trust Me?” and the D.I.Y. anthem “Hold Your Own” (not another ode to masturbation) features the LL crew at the top of their game. The closing cut, “Aspirations”, featuring Eligh, Scarub, and Murs, is arguably the lyrical highlight of the album. Just check out a few bars from Eligh: “Melancholy: my attitude/ that don’t mean that I’m mad at you/ I’m focused on getting God’s gratitude–for using the gift properly.” 

     While all of the Legends share a common love for rocking the mic, there isn’t always a common vibe from song to song. Some Legends want to rock the party and others want you to look into their soul. The grimy “Fill My Drink Up” and the optimistic “Hold Your Own,” for example, are likely to attract two different types of listeners. But with honesty comes conflict–hence the album’s title: Creative Differences.

The G&E (Grouch & Eligh (G&E))  production is at times remarkable and definitely worth mentioning but not the most matchless beats they’ve ever made (a la Fuck The Dumb & Sidewayzdayz) yet their presence behind the boards controls the album’s ultimate direction and thankfully does so with good ears. There’s a taste of the old with strokes of the new throughout the 16-song slate and while Legends fans already have a handful of comparable LL-compilation-like albums, Almost Famous proves a valiant spawning of collective collaborations, with each rapper offering a new door of wildly different stylings to explore in great depth.

Bumps abound in ” What Would I Be ” alongside a well-crafted message of money’s unprejudiced grasp on us all (especially hip-hoppers). Messages are slipped in throughout as to possibly balance the fraught of impending fame – best documented on what could the LP’s strongest song, ” That Looks Good” (with a simply beautiful Eligh beat) where in all the fellas divulge on personal tales of passion, hatred and infidelity. Inversed, intense energy explodes from crew effort, “Rabbit Hole” (another Eligh winner) much like that of the Grouch/Arata  back-n-forth “Osaka Tales”; vivid in classical Grouchism but more importantly a great contribution from honorary, yet constantly MIA, Japanese member Arata.

To run down: Scarub  sees a proper go at it. ASOP and MURS are all too scant throughout. Mystik Journeymen, PSC (Luckiam) and BFAP (Sunspot Jonz) anchor in presence and have a duo effort that makes good on “Anything You Want”. Bicasso steps further way from the turntables and closer to the mic, as he proves worthy of praise as more than just the DJ, (with MassmenÂ’s DJ Drez doing more cuts this time around). Meanwhile Grouch & Eligh prove wholly capable of maintaining the album’s production from start to finish as well as playing their own part with the lyrics.

Could it be a self-fulfilling prophesy? Living Legends – almost famous? They’re getting there and seemingly by their own terms as always. They might not be totally unsigned and hella broke anymore, but with more money come many more problems, as I’m sure we’ll be given all the legendary details on in albums to come.