Eligh

An outside-the-box MC and producer, Eligh was an important contributor to the development of California’s hip-hop underground in the mid- to late ’90s along with his crew, the Living Legends. Over a decade, they released more than a dozen efforts, from first set UHB I (1996) to Legendary Music, Vol. 2 (2008). Eligh also launched an adjacent solo career, starting with his debut, As They Pass, and extending into the 2010s with Last House on the Block (2018). Born Eligh Nachowitz in Los Angeles, he was inspired to pursue hip-hop music by the ’80s cult classic Beat Street and the LL Cool J cut “I’m Bad.” In high school, he co-founded a hip-hop duo with MC Scarub called the Boogalu Badboys, but when they crossed paths with another eager rapper, Murs, the three became 3 Melancholy Gypsys (or 3MG). However, Eligh was eventually evicted from his aunt and uncle’s home, forcing him to move from L.A. up north to the Bay Area. There, he met aspiring underground rapper the Grouch, which ultimately led to 3MG’s incorporation into the Living Legends. Combining his dogged work ethic with the Legends’ D.I.Y. approach, Eligh issued almost a dozen LPs within the span of ten years, not to mention providing beats for those outside the Legends camp (sometimes under the producer alias Gandalf), including Company Flow, Pigeon John, and WWE wrestler John Cena. The mid- to late ’90s saw the release of self-pressed albums like As They Pass (1996) and Gas Dream (1999); however, in the 2000s Eligh concocted darker and more cryptic albums such as Poltergeist (2003) and Enigma (2005). In addition to offering more 3MG material, Eligh was involved in a number of LL offshoots as well, including the Righteous Brothers Project and G&E, aka the Grouch & Eligh. In 2009 he released On Sacred Ground, a collaborative album with his mother, Jo Wilkinson, then in 2011 he teamed with Amp Live for Therapy at 3. The MC’s 2015 release 80 HRTZ landed on Empire Distribution and was supported by a tour of the U.S. and Europe. In 2018, he returned with his 19th solo effort, Last House on the Block, which featured appearances by Evidence, the Grouch, Zion I, Eamon, and others. ~ Cyril Cordor