Singles + EPs

EP Review: Living Legends

[EP: The Gathering]
[Label: Legendary Music]

Southern Californian hip-hop collective Living Legends have been spitting rhymes since the early 1990s. They are a well-respected set of independent creators and this EP demonstrates how comfortable they are with their material. Throughout their established careers—gathering 250,000 record sales between them—you would expect the artists to pick up and develop their lyrical patterns and beats and push them forward to create the sound of now. This EP makes no exception to that. All eight MCs of the collective feature on each song and none of them manage to get in each others way. The lyrics flows just as well as the instrumental tracks have been created to complement them.

‘She Wants Me’, a song about dating, has a laid back vibe to it. A hoover synth line starts the lyrical stampede, to which there are so many influences in the lyrical delivery, from Snoop Dogg to De La Soul, and even the Jungle Brothers. Both ‘Pants On Fire’ and ‘War & Peace’ are heavily politicised songs; one being an attack on the neo-cons in the US and the other being an anti-war protest song. Living Legends have always had social consciousness to their tracks, and these two suggest that they want to continue with their urban commentary. ‘Pants On Fire’ is an 8-bit bleep-fest with a siren sound straight out of the 70s, whereas ‘War & Peace’ is much more subdued. The guitar sample switches from forward to reverse gracefully. It is a track simply made and excellently executed. On the other hand, ‘Luva Chamber’ fills the speakers with beats and bass to which ‘Samba’ just about finishes them off with some bouncing sub bass.

The Gathering EP is a taster to their forthcoming LP due later in the year. Each track has its unique points, and because it’s only a taster, it really does make you want to listen to the full album when it is released.

For Fans Of: Atmosphere, People Under The Stairs, The Grouch

Band Link:
Living Legends

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