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The Grouch

I remember this being one of the first underground albums that I listened to that took me away from the world and placed me temporarily into a much better reality.  One thing I love about hip hop and music in general is that it is a perfect escapism tool.  For better or worse sometimes we just need to get away from life and pretend that a more pleasant parallel universe exists.  This album much like others from the Living Legends crew serves as a lesson in westcoast hip hop 101.  Eligh and The Grouch represent qualities that I think almost any hip hop fan can respect whether you are someone who values insightful and thoughtful lyrics or if you have a beats, beats, beats mentality.  They prove that you don’t have to be dumb to have a song that bumps and you don’t have to be a nerd to be smart.  Sometimes nice guys do in fact finish first.

Production: Eligh, The Grouch

Features:  Abstract Rude, Aesop Rock, Luckyiam, Pep Love, Sunspot Jonz, Toons

Label: Legendary Music

The Grouch & Eligh – ‘Mind Over Matter ft. Luckyiam’

The Grouch & Eligh – ‘Moments Like This ft. Sunspot Jonz’

First and foremost Eligh is a poet.  Instead of using a blank sheet of paper to display his art he chooses bass filled beats as the backdrop of his masterpieces.  Like a fine wine this album seems to get better with age.  With each successive listen I find myself more and more satisfied and intrigued.  It’s enjoyable watching Eligh’s style, personality and wisdom evolve over time.  I think one thing that has improved on this album is the clarity of Eligh’s flow.  It is no secret that Eligh can rap fast but sometimes rappers like this can alienate their audience by rapping too fast and leaving their listeners a little lost.  This album has found the happy medium of those ever impressive quick rap skills with the balance of clarity.  Rapping quickly is a skill that is left for only a select few but the amount of fast-rapping emcees that actually articulate well enough to make their lyrics accessible is far fewer still.  Aside from flow, Eligh gives us behind the scenes access to his struggles with drug use, low self-esteem and confusion over his place in this world.  Yet even through tough subject matter the underlying tone of this album is very positive and hopeful indeed.  You can’t help but feel complete compassion for Eligh after listening to this album and a sense of wanting to be part of his movement for a better world.

Production: Eligh

Features: Aesop Rock, Basik, Brother Ali, Inspired Flight, K-Flay, Lisa Ahlstrom, Luckyiam, Marty James, Paris Hayes, Paul Datah, Pigeon John, Rifleman, Scarub, The Grouch, Zumbi

Label: Legendary Music

Eligh - ‘Love Ov My Life ft. Luckyiam’

Eligh – ‘Find Yourself’

Cali isn’t the only state that is reppin good westcoast hip hop these days.  Portland is making itself known in great part from the work of the Sandpeople collective.  Debaser is a shoot-off of two members of the Sandpeople, Sapient & Ethic.  Sapient’s beats support the idea that sometimes simple is better.  He doesn’t go overboard adding 100′s of crazy sound effects to his beats and yet you will hear one of his tracks and it will make you want to listen to it over and over again.  Ethic & Sapient maintain a good sense of humor throughout this album while they clown on wannabe wack rappers, promiscuous women & human neurosis.

Production:  Sapient

Features:  Cage, Eyedea, The Grouch

Label:  Sandpeople Music

Website:   http://sandpeoplemusic.com/

Debaser – ‘ Don’t Sleep ft. The Grouch’

Wow this album has grown on me so damn much.  There is just so much lyrical substance on this album its ridiculous.  The Grouch & Eligh are such good souls and really are for a big improvement of humanity in general.  I love how they are not afraid to call people out for the bullshit they are contributing to the world and they certainly aren’t afraid of taking a different path in life.  But the best thing about it is that you don’t get the sense that they are preaching at you, you just feel like you are sitting there listening to one of your homies kick some real deep shit.  This is an album that may just make you a better person by listening to it and on top of that it can provide some strong support for getting through some hard times.

Production:  Amp Live, DJ Fresh, Eligh, Flying Lotus, Rick Rock

Features:  Blu, DJ Fresh, Gift of Gab, Mark Bell, Mike Marshall, Mistah Fab, Mystic, Paris Hayes, Pigeon John, Sage Francis, Slug

Label:  Legendary Music

Website:  http://www.myspace.com/thegrouchandeligh

The Grouch & Eligh – ‘ Worried About the World ft. Mike Marshall & Sage Francis)

The Grouch & Eligh – ‘ Old Souls ft. Blu’

Zion I is my kind of hip hop because they are all about positivity, spirituality, progression and respect 100% of the time.  They don’t make a few obligatory “positive” tracks per album & then proceed to contradict themselves with the remaining tracks like so many other hip hoppers do.  Amp Live provides the beats for Zumbi’s smooth and uplifting flow and they truly have a dope dynamic.  This album was one of the first to introduce me to the other side of hip hop that didn’t include guns, drugs and ho’s and it was definitely something that I could relate to more.  This is Zion I’s first album and I can honestly say that I have enjoyed this and every release since.  Zion I has been, is now, and will forever be one of my all time favorites.

Production:  418 Hz Productions, Amp Live

Features:  Eclipse 427, Khalid Aalid, Knowmatic, Mrs. Gaines, Planet Asia, Rasco, The Grouch, VinRoc

Label:  Ground Control Records

Full Preview:  Mind Over Matter

Website:  http://www.zionicrew.com

Zion I – ‘Silly Puddy ft. The Grouch’

 

Sandpeople are a ten member hip hop collective out of Portland.  They came out a couple of years ago and are slowly creating a name for themselves.  I personally love Sapients beats, mad skills on the production tip.  That is what attracted me to them in the first place but it turns out they have quite a presence on the emcee level as well.  They have a knack for creating layers and layers of hip hop goodness.  Put these people on your radar if you have yet to do so.

Production: Sapient, Simple

Features: Sean Price, The Grouch

Label: Sandpeople Music

Preview: Honest Racket

Website:  http://sandpeoplemusic.com/

Sandpeople – ‘Lose It’

 

I can truly and honestly say I have never heard another album like this ever before.  And I don’t think one exists.  Eligh, the super hip hop producer/emcee teamed up with his mom (awwww) who is a folk singer to create this anomaly of an album.  One thing is certain, any person who is going to appreciate this album needs to be very open-minded and inspired by different genres.  I personally think they created some amazingly intriguing songs on here.  Some of the songs sound more hip hop, some sound more folk, some are a distinct cohesion of the two but the whole album has a very elevating feel.

Production: Eligh

Features: Jiro Jamaguchi, Mark Bell, Mark Josephson, Paul Dateh, Pigeon John, Robert Miranda, Shanti Foster, Slug, The Grouch

Label: Legendary Music

Preview: On Sacred Ground

Eligh & Jo Wilkinson – ‘By and By (feat. The Grouch)’ <—-more hip hop

Eligh & Jo Wilkinson – ‘Sara’ <——-more folk

It’s my birthday!! Yayyyy the big 2-4!  So as a b-day present to myself I’m gonna post a few vids of my favorite songs.  So sit back and enjoy on this lazy Sunday night. ;-)

Atmosphere – ‘Between the Lines’

The Grouch- ‘Breath’

One Be Lo – ‘enecS ehT nO kcaB’

Zion I – ‘Silly Puddy’

Akrobatik – ‘Remind My Soul’

awwwwwwwwwwww I could go on for dayssssssssss…but I’ll stop there for now.  Much <3 everyone!

This album is on that next level, spiritually conscious type shit.  The Grouch is one of those emcees/producers that if you like him you love him and if you don’t like him you will never understand his appeal.  His flow is slower and his beliefs are more positive than most and for those who thrive on negativity, well you are not gonna be feeling him.  For those of us who are sick of living a life of suffering and pessimism, well then you found your rap counterpart.

Full Preview: Crusader for Justice

The Grouch – ‘More Than Meets The Eye’

The Grouch – ‘Paint A Perfect Picture’

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