Rating:
  Review Date: April 21, 2008
  Website: Living Legends Website
  Label: Legendary Music

Living Legends “The Gathering” Album Review
In the first track of “The Gathering,” the Living Legends claim to be “eight of the dopest grown men with microphones you ever heard in your life” – and I gotta agree with that. If I had to make a list of my top 20 emcees, each person in the Living Legends crew would be on the list somewhere. Ever since their last album, “Classic” dropped – which was undoubtedly a classic – I’ve been waiting to hear these eight cats together on an album again.

It’s hard to keep up with the Living Legends these days. All eight are constantly on the grind, doing shows and releasing solo albums – so much that it’s often difficult to keep up with them all. Luckily, they decided to bless us with this new EP. Although “The Gathering” is a short seven tracks that leaves you yearning for more, each track has helped to fix my Living Legends craving – at least for now.

But what was really spectacular about this album was that each song on the album featured all eight emcees, which proved that the group maintains it continuity and ability to record tracks together without stepping on each others toes or sounding forced. Every verse is dope and quotable, and all eight emcees continue to push the boundaries in terms of unique flows and interesting lyrical content.

The album’s opening track, The Gathering, is probably the banger of the album, and gives a great example of the Legends’ abilities to drop dope rhymes. Check out one of my favorite verses, mainly due to its use of similes:

I work like a Mexican, run like an African/
Back to make a mess again; when it comes to rap, I win/
Searchin’ like some rescue men for my fellow Americans/
You down – Benjamin, Jackson, the rest of them/
Fight like an Irishman, Iraqian, Afghanistanian/
Clear warn me – call all your men/
Polite as an Englishman, distinguished gentleman/
Fireman – hot headed rappers I extinguish them/
Hungry as Somalians I want the whole tamale and/
The enchilada I’m a hotta rhyma/
Gotta lotta charm about me/
You don’t want no drama partner/
Best to pause like a comma/
You dig like Obama, be on ya/
Way out like UFOs, I hang out like clothes/
Cool as an Eskim, barefoot in the snow/
I’m a mooley caliente, that means a nigga hot/
They say ‘Ohh wee how he emcee supreme’ when I rock/

She Wants Me is another head nodder, but this one contains only three verses shared between all eight emcees. This track will amaze you at how easily the Legends’ can rhyme back and forth, effectively creating great dialogue within their verses.

Pants On Fire is probably the best combined lyrical performance of the album, which shows the Legends with a more politically-conscious approach, while War and Peace is an anti-war anthem dedicated to peace and love. The following verse from Pants On Fire questions the lessons children are taught in school:

I seen ‘em all face the white right between some teeth/
With forks in their tongues, snakes in the grass/
In powerful positions like they’re teaching in your class/
See, that’s what they told me/
Lies my teachers told me/
Lies – back then, I really wasn’t knowin’/
That Columbus murdered millions/
And the presidents were dealing in slaves/
They trade wars/
And make graves for freedom to take yours/
And one truth will bring more/
More lies/

The Legends smooth it out with Luva Changer, follow up with some straight battle-ish rhyme shit on Samba, and finish strong with the jazzy love song After Hours. Seven dope tracks, all containing a dope verse from each Living Legends emcee, create an enjoyable EP that is definitely worth picking up.

If you’re a long time fan of the Living Legends, “The Gathering” will give you just enough to quench your thirst for one of the greatest groups in hip-hop history. If you’ve never followed the Legends before, “The Gathering” will give you a great introduction to all eight emcees, and will likely turn you into a fan. Either way, this album was worth the wait – and I look forward to the next Living Legends album already. Peace.

Album Track Listing:

1. The Gathering
2. She Wants Me
3. Pants On Fire
4. War and Peace
5. Luva Changer
6. Samba
7. Hours (Extended Euro Mix)