Along with their fellow Living Legends crew members, Eligh and the Grouch have played pivotal roles in the development and dissemination of an underground West Coast sound that emphasized the “hip” in hip-hop. They ground the more goofy gangstas into a fine powder and huffed and puffed them away with a fun-loving style that combined Cali’s funkadelic production with lyrical odes to independence, both as soloists and a duo. (See the Grouchs 08 Show You the World for a recent solo example.) Their third disc, Say G&E!, released April 24, continues this proud tradition. The spaced-out title track recalls Outkasts ATLiens punctuated with low-rider cool, as does the even more interstellar Comin Up, though it has a far more serious tone befitting such an important outfit.
Sun., May 3, 8 p.m., 2009
