Words by Nathan Quevedo

Two more members of the Living Legends will perform in Merced next month — and these two have been rapping together since the early ’90s.

After a sold-out The Grouch show at The Partisan in January, Eligh and Scarub, who grew up together in L.A. and started collaborating long before most hip-hop performers, will perform together at the same venue.

Despite being one of the most renowned underground hip-hop groups in the world, the Living Legends are more than just band members on the same stage — they have connections that go back to middle school.

“I met Scarub in seventh grade, I’ve known him since I was 13 years old and he was the first guy I started rapping with,” said Eligh from his Los Angeles home in between constructing a new bed frame from IKEA.
“I remember the first time we performed together was at a talent show at our school,” he said. “People were trippin’ — they had never heard us rap.”

The Living Legends started with Sunspot Jonz and Luckyiam, who formed the Mystik Journeymen in the early ’90s. Word spread quickly about their Underground Survivors shows — houseparty-style shows at their loft in East Oakland. The Grouch hooked up with the Journeymen in 1995, just before embarking on their first European tour.

During the same time in Los Angeles, 3 Melancholy Gypsys (Murs, Scarub and Eligh) were part of Log Cabin crew. Log Cabin eventually broke up, and when the former Gypsys travelled to the Bay Area, the Living Legends formed.

Fast-forward 15 years and all of the members are busy with their own projects, some are collaborations with other members.

And Eligh’s busy on his newest project.

“I’m working on my 9th solo album. I haven’t put out a real solo album in five years,” he said. “I’ve been working really hard on it.”

The album is tentatively scheduled for a late summer release and is titled “The Grey Crow.”
“I definitely play a lot of different roles, ” he said, from doing his own cover art, making beats, rapping and producing — though one stands out as his favorite.

“Producing is my number one passion in life,” he proudly declared.
Perhaps this love of producing has honed his hearing, because his favorite venues are those that have the best sound.
“One (venue) that I love is in Colorado — The Fox Theater. Super good sound, professional people,” he said.

In California, he enjoys the typical venues: The Fillmore, The Knitting Factory, House of Blues and the El Rey. But it’s the venue’s audio quality that matters the most.

“My main concern is the sound; if the sound is good I’m happy,” Eligh said.

His live-show schedule varies and that can make it hard to plan ahead or just make ends meet.

“I probably have around two-to-three shows per month. But it varies man, I can go a few months without any shows then it’s five or six shows in a few weeks,” he said.

Eligh does admit some of the money he lives off of is “digital income,” but sees what a double-edged sword the music industry is now that it’s mostly moved online.

“On one end, it brings everybody closer together — it’s a way to sell albums worldwide,” he said. “The free downloading and sharing kinda kills me, but I can’t be mad at someone wanting my music so bad they download it for free.”

He receives royalty checks from work he’s been a part of, and he says that when there are new albums released, the paychecks are pretty steady.

Recently, Eligh and Scarub went to Modesto to play a show at Heroe’s Sports Lounge.

Eligh said the crowd was a lot bigger than he expected, though they never actually performed because the police shut the show down (allegedly, the venue didn’t have the right permit — hello?? You have two members of the Living Legends playing and you don’t have the right permit??)
But he said despite the lack of an actual show, the crowd was amazing.

“They’re just starving for shit.

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