Grouch & Eligh - Say G&E!

Grouch & Eligh
Say G&E
LEGENDARY MUSIC

Grouch and Eligh have been around for a while now and have had a number of releases under a number of different aliases. Put the two together and Say G&E! is the third collaboration for the duo. A well structured and produced album straight outta the greater California bay area, with a slew of guest artists to ensure that it covers the wide variety of hip hop that is at present, exponentially evolving.

Events start seductive, bass lines bouncing like Friday night bootie and after a brief intro you just gotta Say G&E. The duo flow easily back and forth, letting you know exactly what’s up. The first few tracks bang hard; veteran wordsmithing that shines over crispy beats. Eligh packs signature quick-spitting similar to Andre 3000, while Grouch mellows out with his distinct harsh voice and looser free flowing rhymes.

Blu and Flying Lotus feature early in the mix with the track Old Souls, a deep, confronting soulful track with the signature IDM sound of the Lotus. However the very next track BOOM, flips the electronic sound and lays down so many thick slices of R'n'B cheese that it actually makes you queasy in the stomach, quite disappointing considering the lyrical capabilities of the guest MC Slug. It is a cool concept and potentially the song would boom out of some nice woofers, however it feels completely out of sync with the rest of the record.

By “I Know You Wanna Feel” sonic relief is in sight, but the feeling is prematurely stolen by a corny auto-tune moment. At this stage the metaphorical fork in the road is reached – the album is either doomed or rhythm is in bountiful supply just around the corner.

Luckily the magic recipe is rediscovered and the album quickly redeemed, when Gift of Gab and Pigeon John feature on All in. This is an upbeat pop track with a melody that resembles an acoustic hip hop version of something by Smash Mouth, there’s also a film clip to back it.

Other feature artists include Mystic, Rick Rock, DJ Fresh, Mistah F.A.B, Paris Hayes, and Mark Bell, with the highlight of the latter half of the album being the track Worried about the World with Sage Fancis and Mike Marshall.

Grouch and Eligh are elite Living Legends in their own right with definitive voices and tight rhyme schemes. The topics covered are an eclectic mix, both serious and just taking the piss, and while the beats are very aurally soothing and quite capable of inducing chronic head nodding, they are still slightly short of hip grinding. That being said this album is definitely worth a listen, the production quality alone warrants it.

Tracklist:Grouch & Eligh -  Say G&E!
1. Intro feat. Mystic
2. Say G&E
3. Push On (Push Up)
4. Old Souls feat. Blu, produced by Flying Lotus
5. BOOM feat. Slug, produced by Amp Live
5. Denial produced by Rick Rock
6. I Know You Wanna Feel
7. Teach Me The Way
8. All In feat. Gift Of Gab and Pigeon John
9. Do It Again feat. DJ Fresh
10. Rivers Run Dry
11. No Flowers feat. Paris Hayes
12. Comin' Up feat. Mistah F.A.B.
13. Worried About The World feat. Mike Marshall and Sage Francis
14. Sign Of The Times feat. Mark Bell

Brother Beans and Philosopheyes