Grouch and Eligh - By and By ft. Jo Wilkinson (Mother of Eligh)

For those of you who don't know much about me I grew up with two psychologists as parents. Both of them are bay area born and bred while being steeped in a heavy brew of 60's and 70's San Francisco culture. My father grew up in an impoverished part of Richmond and has lived enough life to be considered one of the most wise men I've had the pleasure of knowing. This isn't me being biased in way shape or form, in fact multiple people tend to agree with me when it comes to the encompassing knowledge base my father has. At any rate he and I once sat down and he told me an awesome anecdote that I utilize to this day. He said something along the lines of this:

Son there are two types of people in this world; Rolling Stones fans and Beetles fans. Both groups are two of the most prolific game changers that influenced the music we listen to today. What you need to realize is that the Stones are a bit dark. And the Beetles, ahh the Beetles, they are light. They sing about love, passion, and change. Now I enjoy both these groups very much, but when it comes down to it at the end of the day, I'm a Beetles fan.

After hearing this I thought for bit about what he said. To package people in one these categories may sound like nonsense, but in reality it's pretty damn perceptive. For the most part I listen to hip-hop artists that would fall into my dads classification as Beetles fans. On that spectrum Grouch and Eligh are as altruistic as they come. Their music has an uncanny ability to accentuate the importance of living a just life. The following song personifies everything I love about thought provoking, bettering oneself, hip-hop.

Lyrics: Eligh - By and By ft. Grouch and Jo Wilkinson (Mother of Eligh)

Jo:
Skip and run, jump and fly
We can get there if we try
By and by, by and by...

Eligh:
I just might just take off and go;
stay free of the shackles that weigh down my soul
pull in the chips then stack them up high,
so the castle walls rugged when Im ready to roll
rolling thunder hear my cry when Im on the road;
cuz I got a personality to keep me
in the fold, in the cut, in the back..
used to be I had to roll a blunt from a sack,
just to interact with the sun in the west..
just a lost young man with a gun to the chest till the fun went south,
and my heart went north..
wingspan grew as a young man knew,
realized that its all in the back of
his eyes..the Universe is bigger than youve ever dreamed,
as your swimming in the evergreens,
and the dimmers on the rise to the brightest that youve ever seen,
as you formulate a better dream..
some people scheme to the guillotine..but I cant cut off my God
cuz hes in a man, hes everywhere..
a divine hand, gratitude in my attitude when I take off and fly,
cuz I made up my mind,
Im not mad at you, if you cant keep up with the speed of a hawk
with his eye on the prey as I fly in and slay all the liars astray
in the fires of today we can get away..
take my first step off the ledge, then use my flow to alternate,
my wingspan flaps inside my head
to take my fans to altered states
take you to that place of peace
where you wont be scared to face that beast;
win that battle for your soul,
Im here in the armor made of platinum and gold dont run.

Grouch:
when lifes too fast, I gotta move slow,
until I grow my wings and then thats when Im a fly,
Ive seen the other side, I got people waiting on me,
feeling my story so Im sticking with Eligh
dropping more leaves, trees grown wise..
I didnt wanna lie..never said this shit was easy know that babys gonna cry..
and then shes gonna smile big for me cuz Im perfecting my path,
after I come up with my answers, then Im checking my math
I know to crawl before you ball, believe just half of what you saw,
perceive the glass is almost full, but you can fill another glass..
still another calf laughs, hes just a part of the herd,
but we aint gotta butt heads, I get much farther with words
Im just an artist tryin to run and jump, a dreamer who can skip and fly,
I seen you losing grip and I came zippin by,
dippin, hittin switches something vicious, then I double back..
aint no trouble, thats just in my nature, lets get there, we'll take you..

Eligh

Jo:
By and by, by and by........
Get up, get up, get up, get up....