After teasing the project (and reunion) in June, The Perceptionists — Mr. Lif and Akrobatik — have returned with their first album in 12 years. Titled Resolution, the album is packed with 11 new tracks with features from Syne and Dutch ReBelle. At one point, it didn’t seem like the seasoned duo would ever release a follow-up to 2005’s Black Dialogue, which makes Resolution even more impactful.
“Words escape me as to how meaningful it truly is to have made another album with my brother Akrobatik and to now have it available to the world,” Mr. Lif explains to HipHopDX. “All I can say is … If you’ve got love for your family, love for your friends, love of life, and love of Hip Hop, give our album a listen, and allow it to provide at least a piece of the soundtrack for your personal journeys.”
Check out the album stream, cover art and tracklist below.
- Early Mourning
- Hose Down f. Syne
- Out Of Control
- Lemme Find Out
- When Push Come To Shove f. Dutch ReBelle
- Let’s Battle
- Free At Last f. Syne
- Dirty Drumz
- Grab Hold
- A Different Light
- Resolution
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(The original version of this article was published on June 13, 2017 and can be found below.)
After dropping not-so-subtle hints earlier this month, Mr. Lif and Akrobatik have officially announced their reunion as The Perceptionists, which culminates with a new album — Resolution.
The Boston Hip Hop stalwarts were formally signed to El-P’s now-defunct Definitive Jux imprint in the early 2000s and released two projects during that time — The Razor mixtape in 2004 and the Black Dialogue LPin 2005. After a near-fatal tour bus crash and Akrobatik’s life-saving aortic dissection surgery, the two eventually went off on their own, but apparently they felt their work wasn’t done.
“When Phife Dawg passed away in 2016, it was very eye opening for me,” Mr. Lif tells HipHopDX. “Q Tip and Phife lost a lot of years because they were at odds and couldn’t reconcile their differences. I looked at my situation with Akrobatik and decided enough is enough. No more lengthy disagreements. Just studio time, touring and rhymes. The wait is over and it feels great to be back doing this again with the only brother I’ve got.”
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“Resolution documents our growth and evolution as men, as friends and as artists,” Akrobatik adds. “We are hyped to be able to once again share our collaborative efforts with the world.”
Now signed to Mello Music Group, The Perceptionists have delivered the first taste of the forthcoming project in the form of “Hose” featuring Syne, which bursts with an explosive beat mixed with an air of nostalgia. Throughout the song, Lif and Akrobatik sprinkle snippets of news reports from the Martin Luther King-led Birmingham protests of 1963 amid verses about problems of the present.
Resolution is expected to arrive on July 28. In the meantime, check out the new track above.
