Living Legends
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The Living Legends
- Genres: Rap
Biography
The Living Legends, a loose collective of MCs and DJs from the Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Japan, and Europe, are unique for both their down-to-earth songs and approach to the music business. Following in the footsteps of California artists like Too Short who made a name selling tapes out of car trunks, the Legends also chose to stay independent from record labels. They took the street hustling mentality even further with world tours, an in-depth website, tireless self-promotion, and an organized business plan, which made their slogan "Control Destiny" ring very true. Living Legends served as an inspiration for other Bay Area heavyweight crews like Hieroglyphics and Hobo Junction, who along with hip-hoppers nationwide in the late '90s decided they could live off without major labels.Mystik Journeymen, a duo composed of BFAP (later rechristened Sunspot Jonz) and PSC (later Luckyiam), formed in 1992 and became legendary for their underground tapes and parties in East Oakland. The founding nucleus of the Living Legends, the two met the Grouch in 1995 and soon after embarked on the first of a long series of self-funded tours abroad, this time only to Europe. Upon their return, they met up with a trio called 3MG or Three Melancholy Gypsies (MURS, Eligh, and Scarub) who had broken off from their Los Angeles-based group Log Cabin and reunited in Oakland. The sextet officially formed Living Legends in 1996 (along with Aesop, Elusive, and Bizarro) and gained national renown with appearances on 1997's Beats and Lyrics compilation and 1998's Rules of the Game. As the Internet and their website www.LLcrew.com developed, the Legends were able to reach a huge new audience worldwide.
As their fame grew, the Legends tirelessly visited Europe, Asia, and Australia, a total of eight world tours in two years. Their membership also grew to international proportions after they linked up with Japan's Arata and DJ Quietstorm and Belgium's Krewcial. While home in California, they released a continuous stream of albums and tapes through their imprints Outhouse Records and Revenge Entertainment, produced their own magazine, Unsigned and Hella Broke, and put annual Broke Ass Summer Jams. In 1999, Living Legends moved their base of operations to Los Angeles and added Basik as another member. ~ Luke Forrest, Rovi
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Living Legends
This article is about the hip hop group. For other uses, see Living Legend.
| Living Legends | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Genres | Indie hip hop |
| Years active | 1996-present |
| Labels | Legendary Music |
| Associated acts | DJ Drez, DJ Quietstorm, Elusive |
| Website | legendarymusic.net |
| Members | |
| Aesop Fables Bicasso Eligh The Grouch Luckyiam Scarub Sunspot Jonz |
|
| Past members | |
| Arata Murs |
|
Living Legends is a rap group consisting of seven indie hip hop artists from California. Beginning in the early 1990s, the crew garnered a following by recording, promoting and performing their music independently. The crew is considered by LA Weekly to be "one of the biggest success stories of the indie-rap movement, having sold close to 300,000 units of their various solo and group efforts — all by them-damn-selves."[1]
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Contents
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History
Living Legends originally grew out of Mystik Journeymen, consisted of BFAP (now known as Sunspot Jonz) and PSC (now known as Luckyiam). Beginning in 1994, the Mystik Journeymen began cultivating a fan base by selling their own tapes on the streets and hosting "Underground Survivors" shows in East Oakland. In 1995, the duo met The Grouch. They soon embarked on the first of several of self-funded tours throughout Europe. In 1996, Mystik Journeymen and The Grouch joined with the trio, 3 Melancholy Gypsys of Los Angeles. They formed Living Legends in late 1990s. The crew has since grown to include Bicasso, Aesop and Arata.[2]
The group and its members have founded and operated several imprints, including Outhouse Records, Revenge Entertainment and Legendary Music, which is their current label. In 1999, Living Legends moved their base of operations to Los Angeles.
In 2012, Murs quit the group.[3]
Members
- Aesop Fables
- Bicasso
- Eligh
- The Grouch
- Luckyiam
- Scarub
- Sunspot Jonz
Groups
- Mystik Journeymen (Luckyiam, Sunspot Jonz)
- Afro Classics (Scarub, Very)
- 3 Melancholy Gypsys (Eligh, Scarub, Murs)
- Log Cabin (Eligh, Scarub, Murs, Radioinactive)
- The Righteous Brothers (Eligh, Scarub, Murs, Basik)
- CMA (The Grouch, Luckyiam)
- The Grouch & Eligh (The Grouch, Eligh)
Discography
Albums
- UHB I (1996)
- UHB II (1996)
- UHB III: Against All Odds (1997)
- UHB IV: Stop & Retaliate (1999)
- Foxhole EP (1999)
- The Underworld (2000)
- Angelz Wit Dirty Faces (2000)
- Almost Famous (2001)
- UHB V: Legacy 2099 (2002)
- Crappy Old Shit (2003)
- The Four Track Avengers (2004)
- Creative Differences (2004)
- Classic (2005)
- Legendary Music Volume 1 (2006)
- The Gathering (2008)
- Legendary Music Volume 2 (2008)
Singles
- "Gotta Question For Ya" (2001)
- "Damn It Feels Good" (2004)
- "Awakening" (2004)
- "Blast Your Radio" (2004)
- "Never Fallin'" (2005)
- "Down For Nothin'" (2005)
- "Brand New" (2005)
- "She Wants Me" (2008)
- "Trojan Horse" (2012)
DVDs
- Street Legendz (2004)
- Broke Ass Summer Jam (2007)
Video game appearances
- "War Games" from Almost Famous featured in Tony Hawk's Underground (2003)
- "Night Prowler" from Almost Famous featured in Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (2004)
- "Moving at the Speed of Life" from Legendary Music Volume 1 featured in Tony Hawk's Project 8 (2006)
Charts and Awards
- Creative Differences: #28 on Billboard Top Independent Albums (2004)
- Classic: #38 on Billboard Top Independent Albums (2005)
References
- ^ Flicker, Jonah (June 4, 2008). "The Who's Who of L.A.'s Living Legends Crew". LA Weekly. http://www.laweekly.com/2008-06-05/music/eight-men-out/.
- ^ Hughes, Josiah (March 8, 2005). "Album Review: Living Legends - Classic". Prefix Magazine. http://www.prefixmag.com/reviews/living-legends/classic/14192/.
- ^ "Interviews - 001 Luckyiam". Fingers on Blast. May 9, 2012. http://fingersonblast.squarespace.com/interviews/001-luckyiam.html.
External links
- Official website
- Living Legends at Allmusic
- Living Legends discography at Discogs
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AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists
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