Mr. Lif Albums (4)
'I Heard It Today'
Release Date 1/20/2009
Tracks 14
Label All Hip Hop
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Like 2002's I Phantom, Mo' Mega has a concept behind it, but unlike I Phantom, there's no board-game-style liner notes to follow along as Mr. Lif excavates the musings of his mind on culture and politics. What Mo' Mega does have is Lif's brief statement that the album concerns the intersection of lower-class culture with an increasingly modernizing world, and how the latter is adversely affecting the former. Lif scores hits on dozens of targets, both specific (the President, the FCC, the United Nations, McDonald's) and non-specific (the Feds in general, the global community as a whole, materialism, TV, and, it seems, anyone in a position of authority). Laden with caustic commentary, his tracks are lyrically obtuse but rhythmically effective, and with the weight of eight hard-hitting El-P productions behind him, listeners won't mind taking a couple of spins to digest everything he says. And Lif's own productions, for a pair of comedy tracks ("Murs Iz My Manager," "Washitup!") that appear halfway through the program, are just the icebreakers needed to leaven the funky gloom and doom earlier in the record. At the close of Mo' Mega, Lif looks inward. First he questions his father's abandonment of him ("It's pain like this that makes a grown man crawl"), then he wraps up the record, ironically, with a tribute to his child that was written on the road ("I'm on the highway in Montana and it's 7:42/And Daddy wrote a rhyme just for you"). With political tracks and comedy and confessionals, Lif easily covers more ground than virtually any other rapper on record, and he makes his tracks entertaining, but he occasionally falls prey to a common trap -- educating the listeners but not enlightening them. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Mr. Lif, the hardworking Bostonian MC, drops a debut LP that playfully discloses in lyrical fashion his inner battle of whether or not to return to his nine-to-five job, but the long-overdue record practically guarantees he'll no longer need the day job. One of the working-class heroes signed to hip-hop indie Definitive Jux, Liffy enjoyed a busy 2002, releasing the Emergency Rations EP and appearing on several releases from the Jux camp. I Phantom is slightly less politically aggressive than the EP in overall aesthetic, with blue-collar rhymes over hype, funky tracks with great production by Fakts One, DJ Hype, Edan, and Lif himself. The guest appearances on the mic by Akrobatik, a fellow fledgling Bostonion, Edan, Aesop Rock, El-P, and Jean Grae make all the tracks quality and seal the deal on Lif's breakthrough set. ~ Nic Kincaid, All Music Guide
'Live at the Middle East'
Release Date 1/22/2002
Tracks 16
Label Ozone
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Live at the Middle East is possibly the most unusual hip-hop album ever released. The idea of an artist essentially subjecting a paying audience to previously unreleased material (some of which is being improvised live onstage) is considered esoteric, the province of jazz and jam bands. By hip-hop standards, it's unheard of. Mr. Lif, however, is not your typical hip-hop artist, which renders Live at the Middle East a fascinating experiment. Not only is Lif a skilled MC and articulate lyricist, he has a quirky, original sense of humor, so in addition to one entire track dedicated to how Lif beat his DJ at Nintendo, there's also a spontaneous three-song cycle dramatizing an MC who starts off as an underground rapper, scores a major-label deal, and realizes he can never write a meaningful rhyme again. In addition to unveiling some material he recorded but did not release (such as the witty work-sucks diatribe "Live From the Plantation"), Lif invites his DJ Akbar and fellow rapper Akrobatic in an extended freestyle session, including a clever rhyme improvised when the record skips. Whether rapping about nuclear war in "Earthcrusher" or reminiscing about his past hairstyles in "Dreafro," Lif is simply one of the smartest, most original rappers around, and the range of his humor and skills makes Live at the Middle East a superb release to please any fan of smart, well-crafted hip-hop. ~ Victor W. Valdivia, All Music Guide
