An outside-of-the-box MC and producer,
Eligh was an important contributor to the development of Cali's hip-hop underground in the mid- to late '90s as he helped construct the sound of his crew,
the Living Legends, with his productions. His inspiration for making hip-hop music came in the mid-'80s from the cult classic Beat Street and the
LL Cool J cut "I'm Bad." In high school, the Los Angeles-born rapper/producer 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). Other than 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. ~ Cyril Cordor, All Music Guide