Hip-Hop Island

Hip-Hop fusion at its finest, The Grouch and Eligh, both of Living Legends, crossbreed genres while meshing together their signature lyrical fluidity on their latest album, Say G&E! (Legendary Music).

From a banging beat you can't shake from your head to a bluesy country track you'll vibe to, The Grouch and Eligh will have you hanging on their every word.

The duo kicks off spoken word style and quickly speed up the pace on the album's anthem “Say G&E.” The Grouch and Eligh are no strangers to pushing the limit and they do exactly that on “Push On (Push Up).” The Grouch's verbiage lures the ear while Eligh's verbal quickness makes the head spin. “Me and my boys had a ploy to make some noise / Underground, invisible, but not unheard our words destroy.”

Inevitably, the duo does get political on “Worried About The World.” Eligh's Rap style is very similar to Andre3000, but his lyricism is beyond intelligent. “Captain America dug a burial plot / And you gonna end up in that motherf***er ready or not / If you're standing in between his riches get out the way.”

With a maturity rarely seen in Hip-Hop, the duo delves into the topic of drugs and abuse on “Denial.” “You found a path off the track and you followed that / And now you lack what you had; I can't swallow that / You were my friend to the end and now you're hollowed out.”

Not always so serious, The Grouch and Eligh let loose on the Amp Live produced track “!BOOM!” Just as easy as it is to have fun, Grouch and Eligh smoothly transition from synthesized beats to crooning on smooth R&B tracks like “Do It Again” and “No Flowers” to rapping over classical Hip-Hop production on “Rivers Run Dry” and “Comin' Up.” There's not a genre of music that this duo is afraid to touch – “All In” is a successful blend of Hip-Hop's wordplay and a country twang.

Say G&E! is a fresh sound to today's Hip-Hop as The Grouch and Eligh cross lines and dabble in experimentation, all the while with tight lyrics that complete the album's innovative focus.

Grouch & Eli
"Say G&E"



Originally published @ http://allhiphop.com/stories/reviewsmusic/archive/2009/05/05/21516191.aspx