Underground Gem of 2005!
3 Melancholy Gypsys aka 3MG
What to say about this album? The beats are original, the lyrics are original, and ha, their name is original. This album is superb in so many ways.
This quite possibly may be the best starting point in the enormous catalog of the Living Legends crew. Why, you ask? It's a straight banger. Full of memorable beats, ill flows, and unmatchable chemistry. You don't have to try too hard with this record. From front to back, this album is straight goose bump producing entertainment. There are zero guest rappers here, which keeps it focused. Murs, Scarub & Eligh have all been around since the mid-90s, and all have notably excellent solo careers. And these guys play off each other excellently. Murs has had the most popular career out of the three, bringing more of an average guy mentality to the mix, while Eligh & Scarub are a little more on the abstract tip. It makes for an exciting mix.
The alluring part about this formula is that all three emcees seem to be trying to out-rap each other. All three emcees are on point, delivering flows with speed, precision and hunger. It's a true display of skill. Honestly, I've never heard Eligh rap as fierce as he does on "Halo", and I've never heard Scarub drop heat like he does on "Nautilus", and Murs is back spitting lyrics faster than he has in years.
The subject matter on this album keeps everything new and refreshing. The song Landing is so interesting for the fact that they talk about UFOs and life on other planets, something that is RARELY heard on a rap album. Speaking of rare, they even dedicate the song Beautiful Mind to Johnny Cash! I feel alot of admiration about this cd. They really don't care what people think about them. They are just being their honest selves, which is keeping it realer than the studio gangsters and other fake shit out these dayz!!!
Top Trax: Signs, Beautiful Mind, Color Blue, Landing, 3 Rings, And If, Halo
If you are a fan of any of these guys, then you will love this album. Commercial and mainstream rap is really putting a bad name for hip hop these days. However, Hip Hop is nowhere near dead when an album like this comes out. You just have to dig deeper to find the good stuff. Do the research enjoy and dont sleep!!
Lyrics: 98%
Flow: 100%
Production: 90% (Props to Eligh for producing the whole album! He has made some real funky and mellow beats for the group which work perfectly)
X-Factor: 100%
Overall: 98%