Mr. Lif

Latest Articles

By | January 01, 0001

Akrobatik: down but not out

The beat goes on
It's hard to evaluate life-threatening illnesses if you skipped med school to kick rhymes.
By CHRIS FARAONE | June 08, 2011

The Fameless crew spice up the underground
Halfway through my interview with the Allston-based alt-hop collective Fameless Fam about their upcoming showcase at Wonder Bar this Tuesday, Will from the posse's glitch-minded duo Time Crisis mentions that he went to high school in Pittsburgh with rising rap sensation Wiz Khalifa.
By CHRIS FARAONE | July 02, 2010

Boston Hip-Hop Unity Fest 2010

For Unity Fest, the show must go on (for real this time)
An optimist would say that, despite some serious disappointments, last year’s Third Annual Boston Hip-Hop Unity Fest demonstrated just how peaceful the Bean rap scene really is.
By CHRIS FARAONE | May 12, 2010

Shaking through

Off the Couch
High-powered indie-punk at AS220
By PROVIDENCE PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | February 24, 2010

Focus group: Labeless Illtelligence

CasUno and ESH the Monolith streamline the cipher
It's NBA All-Star Saturday and Labeless Illtelligence representatives Chris Andrews and Tyler Edwards, better known as CasUno and ESH the Monolith, settle in for one last marathon studio session at Edwards's East Providence apartment (dubbed FrESH Ear Studios).
By CHRIS CONTI | February 17, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

Earth tones

The 2009 Boston Green Fest cleans up nice
Last year, I went to a landfill. It was awful. Our trash-filled van was briskly waved past a row of methane vents (each perma-farting blue flames into the sky) and toward a road that coiled up around the main hill — which wasn't so much a hill as it was 4.25 million tons of fucking disgusting .
By MICHAEL BRODEUR | August 18, 2009

Things fall apart

Hip-hop finds room to move at South-By.
As hipster, electronic, indie-rock, and rap cultures converge, MCs are taking cues from their other-genre contemporaries who rely on everything from stage props and antics to self-mutilation in the quest to entertain.
By CHRIS FARAONE | March 25, 2009

Get sprung

A bumpin' crop of spring hip-hop
Between the packages that turn up on my Jamaica Plain doorstep and the envelopes that stuff my Phoenix mailbox, I have enough music to start a mixtape spot in Downtown Crossing.
By CHRIS FARAONE | March 18, 2009

What rhymes with Barack?

Mr. Lif takes on the headlines
The story of underground hip-hop these days often seems like the inverse of Barack Obama’s story.
By FRANKLIN SOULTS | October 29, 2008

Food for thought

Romen Rok stays hungry
The Edgewood section of Cranston may not be known as a hip-hop hotbed, but that neighborhood raised a razor-sharp emcee named Romen Rok.
By CHRIS CONTI | September 10, 2008

That’ll learn ya

Kabir schools other MCs, little kids
In eighth grade, I decided that school and hip-hop should exist separately.
By CHRIS FARAONE | August 26, 2008

Reks in effect

Lawtown MC bounces back
Since jumping skills-first onto Boston’s rap scene seven years ago, Lawrence-born MC Reks has earned a variety of reputations.
By CHRIS FARAONE | July 28, 2008

Fakts One

Long Range | Greenstreets
Fakts never built a repertoire deep enough to secure his own specific sound, but on Long Range he proves he can dip into a variety of styles and cater tracks around any MC’s individual tastes.
By CHRIS FARAONE | July 22, 2008

Going on sale: April 25, 2008

Breaking news from the concert ticket trade
Feist, Rooney, the Black Angels, and more.
By GOING ON SALE | April 24, 2008

Akrobatik

Absolute Value | Fat Beats
One of the hallmarks of Akrobatik’s style has always been his sincerity.
By ANDREW GRAHAM | February 26, 2008

Going on sale: February 8, 2008

Breaking news from the concert ticket trade
Mike Doughty, the Aggrolites, Colin Meloy, and more.
By GOING ON SALE | February 05, 2008

Portland scene report: January 4, 2008

Sibilance starts now
Woitasek has pulled in a number of impressive acts this year and it will be a shame to see that end.
By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | January 02, 2008

The live rap album

There are a few, and Mr. Lif has one of the best
December is the time of year when the new album well dries up and gives way to a deluge of novelty releases.
By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | December 05, 2007

Day by Day by Day

A column ends
Two years ago, the Phoenix asked me to write a weekly column about Boston’s growing electronic music and DJ scene.
By DAVID DAY | September 18, 2007

Going on sale: August 17, 2007

Breaking news from the concert ticket trade
The Good Life, Mr. Lif, Steven Wright, and more.
By GOING ON SALE | August 14, 2007

U.N.I.T.Y.

Rap legend Edo G. heads a huge bill; Faint DJs
This Wednesday, May 30, a hip-hop bill comes to the Paradise Lounge that boggles the mind.
By DAVID DAY | May 22, 2007

Surviving and thriving

Mr. Lif’s brush with disaster + Keith Kenniff’s classical fix
“Approximately 40 miles outside San Diego the tour bus with Mr. Lif, the Coup, DJ Big Wiz, Metro, and other friends of theirs flipped over and burst into flames,” wrote Def Jux capitán El-P via e-mail. Our heart skipped a beat. Mr. Lif, "The Fries (Abdul Malik remix)" (mp3)
By DAVID DAY | December 12, 2006