Legendary Boston emcees Mr. Lif and Akrobatik have announced a new Perceptionists album Resolution. Looks like they're blending conscious hip hop's historical literacy with a mainstream rap sound with the lead single Hose Down (f/Syne).
HERE'S THE VIDEO TOO!
the sales pitch:
The first full-length from Mr. Lif & Akrobatik (The Perceptionists) in a dozen years reflects the struggles and near-death sagas that struck them. During that span, Lif miraculously survived his tour bus plummeting over a 38 foot cliff. Akrobatik weathered a sudden aortic rupture and emergency open-heart surgery. The impact of those experiences forced the former Def Jux duo to contemplate fate, luck, and their own place within a world spinning out of control.
But their ability to survive has allowed them to thrive. They’ve harnessed a radiant hard-won optimism that refuses to flinch from the evils of existence. From the album’s first track, “Early Mourning,” Akrobatik asserts that courage comes from within, but reflects on the millions of young black men sent to premature graves. He considers whether gang affiliation is inherent in their souls, or more likely, whether things would be different if these neighborhoods were well lit and effectively policed.
If turmoil and inequity currently wrack the globe at record levels, Lif’s verses seem more prophetic than ever. His verses offer searing indictments of corporate and political corruption: corporations oppressing local farms, governmental duplicity in dealing with big pharmaceutical companies, and the crooked brutality of cops who get away with shooting unarmed black men.
On “Hose Down,” the pair brilliantly intersperse news reports from the MLK-led Birmingham protests of 1963 with the internecine problems of the present—where a traffic stop can still lead to a funeral. It’s as poignant of a polemic as you’ll find, but blended with a danceable Caribbean lilt.
With the Perceptionists, the personal is political and vice-versa. Akrobatik rhymes about his “desire to breathe in the sun before my skin dries out” but still refuses to be “the coward in a pretend hide out.” On “Lemme Find Out,” they kick ingeniously sinister dystopian horror raps about our grotesque addiction to technology. There are love songs over beats that sound like they could’ve been on Madvillainy, stories of cypher demolitions of would-be challengers, and dirty ass rhymes over dirty ass drums—as The Perceptionists sagely insist, that’s all the world really wants.
It’s music from deep in the trenches, songs that confront the blitzkrieg of bad news but offer light at the end of the bombardment. If you listen closely, you can intuit a profound story of friendship and camaraderie between Lif and Akrobatik—lifelong friends trading bars with the chemistry of Tip and Phife, Andre and Big Boi, Erick and Parrish. They’re mortal men who made mistakes, gained experience, and obtained wisdom. This is Resolution.credits
releases July 28, 2017
1. Early Mourning
(Signal Chain: Shure SM7b > BAE 1073d > Klark Teknik 1176) Produced by Willie Evans Jr., for Nerdy South (ASCAP) Written by J. Haynes for Virtua Stab Publishing (SESAC) & J. Bridgeman for Welcome to the Akrodome Music (BMI) / Recorded & mixed by Mr. Lif @ Terra Tone Audio / Mastered by Mark Donahue @ Soundmirror
Shout out to Gianmaria Conti for tips on side-chaining
2. Hose Down feat Syne
(Signal Chain: Wunder CM7 GTS > BAE 1073d > Golden Age Projects Comp 54)
Produced by Synesthetic Nation / Written by E. Ronquillo for Synesthetic Nation Music (BMI) / J. Haynes for Virtua Stab Publishing (SESAC), & J. Bridgeman for Welcome to the Akrodome Music (BMI) / Recorded & mixed by Mr. Lif @ Terra Tone Audio / Mastered by Mark Donahue @ Soundmirror
3. Out of Control
(Signal Chain: Shure SM7b > BAE 1073d > Klark Teknik 1176)
Produced by Chop (Leam Thomas) / written by J. Haynes for Virtua Stab Publishing (SESAC) & J. Bridgeman for Welcome to the Akrodome Music (BMI) / Recorded & mixed by Mr. Lif @ Terra Tone Audio / Mastered by Mark Donahue @ Soundmirror
4. Lemme Find Out
(Signal Chain: Shure SM7b > UA Unison plugin 610b preamp) / Produced by ZMY DaBeat / written by J. Haynes for Virtua Stab Publishing (SESAC) & J. Bridgeman for Welcome to the Akrodome Music (BMI) / Recorded & mixed by Mr. Lif @ Terra Tone Audio / Mastered by Mark Donahue @ Soundmirror
5. When Push Comes to Shove feat. Dutch Rebelle
Produced by Paten Locke for Asha's Groove (ascap) / written by J. Haynes for Virtua Stab Publishing (SESAC), J. Bridgeman for Welcome to the Akrodome Music (BMI), & V. Bernadeau (ASCAP) / Recorded by Tarik McFarland / Mixed by Mr. Lif @ Terra Tone Audio & Tarik McFarland (Producerboyz Ent.) / Mastered by Mark Donahue @ Soundmirror
6. Let's Battle
(Signal Chain: Miktek CV4 > BAE 1073d > Golden Age Projects Comp 54)
Produced by pAS dOO (Pat Mesiti-Miller BMI) / written by J. Haynes for Virtua Stab Publishing (SESAC) & J. Bridgeman for Welcome to the Akrodome Music (BMI) / cuts by Mr. Sonny James for Illvibe Media / recorded by Mr. Lif @ Terra Tone Audio / Mixed by pAS dOO at The Dooplex / Mastered by Mark Donahue @ Soundmirror
7. Free At Last feat Syne
(Signal Chain: Shure SM7b > BAE 1073d > Tube Tech Cl1b)
Produced by Synesthetic Nation / written by J. Haynes for Virtua Stab Publishing (SESAC), & J. Bridgeman for Welcome to the Akrodome Music (BMI) / & E. Ronquillo for Synesthetic Nation Music (BMI) / Recorded & mixed by Mr. Lif @ Terra Tone Audio / Mastered by Mark Donahue @ Soundmirror
8. Dirty Drumz
(Signal Chain: Akrobatik - AKG c414 w c12 brass capsule Klaus Heyne mod > TAB Funkenwerk v72 > LA3A / Lif - Oliver Archut's Lucas C-4 prototype (1 of only 3 made for testing purposes) > Avalon M5 > 1176 (black face) / Produced by Mr. Lif / written by J. Haynes for Virtua Stab Publishing (SESAC) & J. Bridgeman for Welcome to the Akrodome Music (BMI) / Recorded & partially mixed by Daniel Cantor @ Notable Studios / final mix by Mr. Lif @ Terra Tone Audio / Mastered by Mark Donahue @ Soundmirror
9. Grab Hold
(Signal Chain: Shure SM7b > UA Unison 610b preamp plugin) Produced by Paten Locke for Asha's Groove (ascap) / written by J. Haynes for Virtua Stab Publishing (SESAC) & J. Bridgeman for Welcome to the Akrodome Music (BMI) / Recorded & mixed by Mr. Lif @ Terra Tone Audio / Mastered by Mark Donahue @ Soundmirror
10. A Different Light
(Signal Chain: Shure SM7b > UA Unison plugin 610b preamp)
Produced by Theory Hazit for Theory Hazit Music (ASCAP) / written by J. Haynes for Virtua Stab Publishing (SESAC) & J. Bridgeman for Welcome to the Akrodome Music (BMI) / Recorded & mixed by Mr. Lif @ Terra Tone Audio / Mastered by Mark Donahue @ Soundmirror
11. Resolution
(Signal Chain: Shure SM7b > BAE 1073d > Klark Teknik 1176) / Produced by 8-BZA for Vatican Life Music Group (BMI) / written by J. Haynes for Virtua Stab Publishing (SESAC) & J. Bridgeman for Welcome to the Akrodome Music (BMI) / Recorded & mixed by Mr. Lif @ Terra Tone Audio / Mastered by Mark Donahue @ Soundmirror
Cover photo by Dom Savaini
Graphic Design Jean Goode
Akrobatik would like to thank December 28 for producing the two best friends I have had in this lifetime, Jeff and Tati.
Mr. Lif would like to thank Mom, Dad, Akrobatik (my brother), Mello Music Group, Bob Nash, Arcitype, Mark Donahue, Jenny, Stacey, Susan & Anne Marie Harnett, my whole Thievery Corporation family, & everybody else who was supportive during the creation of this album.
RESOLUTION drops July 28th
Peace,
-samax
Samax Amen is a professional Content Developer, Illustrator and Cartoonist. He is the artist of many great comics you never heard of like Herman Heed, Champion of Children, The Brother and The World As You Know It. He even writes and draws his own comics, like Dare: The Adventures of Darius Davidson, Spontaneous, and Manchild when he gets around to it. Because making comics is hard and stuff, he started GhettoManga as a blog in 2006 and as a print magazine in 2008. GhettoManga.com
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