Mr. Lif

Biography

Jeffrey Haynes, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. This Berkley, California-based rapper draws influence from hip-hop illuminati such as Gang Starr rapper Guru, KRS-One, Rakim and, most pointedly, Public Enemy’s Chuck D. and sets peers such as Aesop Rock, Cannibal Ox and El-P as his benchmarks, to create hip-hop that is funky and political. Haynes is part of the Rebel Alliance, alongside Boston acts as 7L & Esoteric, Akrobatik, Virtuoso, and Insight and contributed his debut tracks to Rebel Alliance released by Brick Records in 1997. A subsequent EP, Farmhand, was released via the Beastie Boys’ Grand Royal label. Mr. Lif impacted most powerfully, however, with the Emergency Rations mini-album, one of the first prominent records to question the US government’s response to September 11’s terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The rapper admits his acutely polemical recording had a ‘conspiracy theory vibe’....

Read the Full Biography of Mr. Lif