Mr. Lif

Straddling the line between East Coast hip-hop’s golden era and post-Native Tongue experimental underground period, Boston MC Mr. Lif began his decade-plus output with a track on Brick Records’ 1997 REBEL ALLIANCE compilation. Before long, he was releasing singles with production from luminaries like El-P, and catching the attention of the Beastie Boys’ Grand Royal label, which released his “Farmhand” single. By the turn of the 2000s, El-P’s Definitive Jux imprint signed Mr. Lif for what would become a string of EPs and full-lengths throughout the decade, most notably the acclaimed I PHANTOM. During that span of time, he also performed live with legends and contemporaries ranging from KRS-One to the Roots.