Mr. Lif & Akrobatik (The Perceptionists) Reunite For ‘Resolution’
Mass Appeal Premiere
(Dirty) Drumz Please!
Released on Mello Music Group, Resolution is one of those timeless records. The first full-length from Mr. Lif & Akrobatik (The Perceptionists) in a dozen years (Black Dialogue was released on El-P’s Def Jux imprint) reflects the struggles and near-death sagas that struck Mr. Lif and Akrobatik. During that span, Lif miraculously survived his tour bus plummeting over a cliff and bursting into flames. 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 the first single from the project, “Hose Down,” the pair’s biting commentary discussed the continued lack of accountability for police injustice in the wake of the Philandro Castille verdict and posed the question “Is it worse now?" Comparing today's traffic stops and police shootings to the civil rights violence when dogs and hoses met protest, the Boston group contemplates how bad things still remain.
Today, The Perceptionists release the second single, “Dirty Drumz,” from Resolution, which was exclusively premiered by Mass Appeal. Produced by Mr. Lif, “Dirty Drumz” is a raw, rugged, gain-pumping, boom-bap masterpiece. “All the world wants is some dirty ass drums/ we stand where we stand and we don’t plan to run” Lif exclaims.
Mr. Lif & Akrobatik’s (The Perceptionists) Resolution will be released on 7-28-17 by Mello Music Group.
Bandcamp: here
Checkout The Mass Appeal Premiere: here
Pre-Order Mr. Lif & Akrobatik’s (The Perceptionists) Resolution album at iTunes: here