I Phantom

producers: el-p, fakts one, insight, edan.

guests: insight, aesop rock, el-p, jean grae, akrobatik.
year of release: 2002
website: mrlif.com
 
Man, I'm in an UPPER CASE mood today.
Sometimes life can seem very uncertain. Strike that. LIFE IS UNCERTAIN. Especially right now. What can we be sure of in these media-saturated times, bombarded with frequently contradictory information and OUTRIGHT PROPAGANDA, targeted by big business and herded into consumer groups while our governments wage pre-emptive war above and beyond the wishes of the people who voted them into power? How do we get to REALITY? Who stole the map (or kicked it into the creek)? Do we acquiesce, take the 'birth, education, 9-5, marriage, parenthood, death' route that seems so enduringly popular? Do we adopt the mantle of the seeker, and try to dig for something REAL beneath the crust of social conditioning and economic productivity? Or do we accept that life is an insane JOKE, laugh at its absurdity and crack open another beer? Fucked if I know. I've inhabited every one of those states of mind at some point and NONE of them seem to satisfy completely. I'm certain there are other options - be my guest, write them down and send them in c/o urbansmarts and I'll include them in my next review. Yeah right.

tracklisting
1. Bad Card
2. A Glimpse At The Struggle
3. Return Of The B-boy
4. Live From The Plantation
5. New Man Theme
6. Handouts
7. Status (feat. Insight)
8. Success (feat. Aesop Rock)
9. Daddy Dearest
10. The Now
11. Friends And Neighbors
12. Iron Helix (feat. Insight)
13. Earthcrusher
14. Post Mortem (feat. El-P, Jean Grae & Akrobatik)
I do know that Boston's Mr. Lif is a seeker, and his long-awaited debut album bears this out. "I Phantom" is a one hell of a trip. A loosely semi-autobiographical/conceptual affair, it follows the struggle of a working class everyman to transcend his humble beginnings and fulfil his potential as a human being, without the aid of wealthy parents, inheritances or trust funds. In this sense it refers to works outside hip hop, albums like Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon", The Pretty Things' "SF Sorrow" and other proggy delights. This isn't the only parallel with '70s progressive rock; El-P, who produces six of the cuts on offer here, is reputedly a big fan of King Crimson and Vangelis, leading some critics to dub his densely textured, multi-tempo style 'prog-hop', while Lif expressed to me his appreciation of Frank Zappa earlier this year. But hey, don't worry! This most assuredly a HIP HOP album, albeit one with some clever stylistic and textural variation within the standard format - but then, who expects yer average meat 'n' potatoes hip hop from a Def Jux release?
I'm reluctant to give a track-by-track rundown of the album. It would be petty to dissect this beast like a common lab rat and I'd hate to spoil the story. But I can tell you that these 14 songs constitute a Neil Armstrong-sized leap from the concentrated blasts of the "Emergency Rations" EP. There are no Mr. Lif productions here, which may come as a disappointment to some, but El, Fakts One, Insight and Edan all provide opportunities for Lif to str-e-e-e-tch out and test himself. As is standard with Def Jux, the guest spots are carefully picked and kept to a minimum, with just Insight on "Status" and "Iron Helix", Aesop on "Success" and El, Jean Grae and Akrobatik trading lines on the raw-nerved closer "Post Mortem". The diversity of production styles is mirrored in the diversity of Lif's delivery; for example the El-produced two-part funkmire of "Return of The B-Boy" features the rapper's fastest flow to date, with each syllable perfectly placed, each word punching home with clarity. Edan's "Live From The Plantation" is matched with a sardonic delivery and lyric that will have heads nodding along to an all-too-familiar tale of SHIT FUCKING JOBS. We've all been there, right? You want to do something worthwhile and creative but you also need to pay the rent and STAY-A-FUCKING-LIVE (even Travolta and the Bee Gees can relate to that). This often involves self-abasement, humiliation and frustration, as Lif describes so eloquently in this track. Another DOPE highlight is "New Man Theme", for which Fakts One provides an unstoppable, moonwalking, Studio 54-style D-I-S-C-O beat - more of a glitterball than a highlight in fact. Should give Alex something to ponce about to (for those of you outside the UK who may not have witnessed the glory of 'Big Brother 3' - you missed NOTHING but the meaning of that comment). While exploring a variety of different musical environments, Lif has clearly gone to some trouble to make his debut a coherent, cohesive STATEMENT, with equal attention paid to the both the big picture and the finer detail. As a result "I Phantom" sounds like a labour of love rather than just a solid, workmanlike slab of hip hop, but it also finds Lif following a great tradition of conscious, compulsive innovators which also includes KRS, PE and Gang Starr.
So, woo-hoo, surprise, another BANGING Def Jux release. Is it me, or is it getting kind of boring now? This constant stream of dopeness? When are they going to fall off? When can we start one 'o' them BACKLASH things us hacks are supposedly so fond of? Fuckin' killjoys. In the meantime, eat coffee, take ProPlus, put matchsticks under your eyelids, do ANYTHING but sleep on this.
review: joe stannard (kilamuk@yahoo.com)
» back to top
: .   © 2000 - 2012.08 by urban smarts | contact