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Emergency Rations

by Mr. Lif

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Jans
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Jans The single best track EL-P ever produced that was bafflingly left off the I, Phantom LP despite being the titular track. The lyrics offering a thorough deconstruction of the oppression the working class face in the ruins of late capitalist America.
mcaamadden
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mcaamadden First heard Mr. Lif when I was about 7 playing ESPN NFL Football 2K5 and I entered The Crib. Pull Out Your Cut along with Aceyalone's Ace Cowboy. Makes me feel good to be able to finally purchase this content and actually listen to it nearly 16 years later and actually listen to everything he needs to speak about, especially in these currently awful times. Favorite track: Pull Out Your Cut.
๐• ๐•š ๐•ฃ ๐•˜ ๐•  โ™• ๐• ๐•’ ๐•Ÿ ๐•• ๐•’ ๐•
๐•  ๐•š  ๐•ฃ  ๐•˜  ๐•    โ™•    ๐•  ๐•’  ๐•Ÿ  ๐••  ๐•’  ๐• thumbnail
๐• ๐•š ๐•ฃ ๐•˜ ๐•  โ™• ๐• ๐•’ ๐•Ÿ ๐•• ๐•’ ๐• Tony Hawk Underground & Lif with El-P. This should have been heard louder than Run The Jewels, but people are so sleepy. I hope the cats at activision pull their heads outta their asses and remaster THUG 1 & 2 with the full original soundtracks next. Shout out to Mr. Lif, if you havenโ€™t seen the revenge of the robots dvd with RJD2, Lif, & El-P here you go:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKICziRMMYQ Favorite track: Phantom feat El-P.
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Jugular Vein 03:19
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Verse 1 Usually, I'm at the bottom of the sea dormant / But every now and then, I'm called upon to torment / So I emerge / Feel the rays of the sun, surge with power / The prepare to tear and devour / And after that's understood / I let my sounds Blair like Underwood / after this, lightning and thunder could.../ crash in the sky and project down to the terrain / The heat makes blood bubble in your veins / Volts of energy channel through your feet / in the form of a beat / Rally back your troops / Retreat / Abort mission cause you know you can't compete / You're weak / Fuck a backup plan / Delete /Cause after the mega charge / I grow mega large / Increase in size, so no one survives / You can't believe what you see before your eyes / Yes, the God Lif has returned to terrorize / Armed forces came out ready to brawl / but at 100 stories tall / brothaz look small / This is the part where I stomp all comp / Rip through the city / Crush and romp / They buss ammo at my frame, but it deflects / My eye beam connects / burns shit up and wrecks / Lyrical text slash necks / blood spatters all over my specs / Body parts are found in tape decks / So visual, you can't watch the scene / If you press stop, the gears lock and pop your spleen / Then I start to finish em / Metaphor / Simile / Mr. Lif has broken out the heavy artillery Verse 2 Release the Kraken and summon the Gods / I defeated Zeus and Thor / Now I want more / I call on the rains, so now let it pour / to soften up the ground so I can bury the gore / Book me for a show son, send me on tour / but brothaz are fair game up in the airplane / I'll battle everybody aisles A-Z on the free / but none of them were fuckin' with me / Watch as I maneuver this... / hype rhyme past the stewardess without her even noticing / Yes, I found an opening / You lost cause you weren't focusing / Now your dome's hot and smoldering / Open up the hatch so I can drop out the cargo / Cause I'm known to blaze stars just like the Argo / These rhymes are going far beyond your belief / I'm like the Golden Child, each and every day, I eat a leaf / Give me a wreath / I'll have a feast / Gain knowledge of self / then I plan to conquer the beast / and I'll build back your mental piece by piece / giving brand new life to the mentally deceased / But after this / The situation gets truly hazardous / torturous / disastrous / Imagine this / Experiencing hell right after bliss / In this experiment, I'm the catalyst / Welcome to the realms where money is God / and they tamper with your brain til you're a spiritual fraud / As you focus on these words and enter the mind state / I slow down your pulse then increase the rhyme rate / Fall into deep psychosis / What's the prognosis? Osmosis / Underwater diffusion / Welcome to the realms of liquid illusion / where stationary things appear to be moving / Look at your speedometer, how fast are you cruising? / Thoughts race, images flash, you're gonna crash! / But maintain your focus and move with agility / Cause Mr. Lif has broken out the heavy artillery -Mr.Lif 2002
4.
Verse 1 Now let's talk about self expression / True expression / Open your minds without question / No doubt / Tell me what you're thinking about / Let's try to set aside pride and clout / Can you believe I feel the same exact way you do? / You truly do believe these modern ways have fooled you / Systems exist so we'd never meet each other / Pretty soon from now, they'll outlaw the word "brother" / And that's true / If they see you walking with a crew / If you don't know, that means more than two / I'll tell you what they'll do / They'll pull over / Hunch you over / Kick your ass / Night stick to your shoulder / I know it's unjust / As if it wasn't enough / If you try to fight back, they're locking your ass up / And Chuck (D) already told you that a cell is hell / But I'm waiting for the phone, so I'll sit for a spell / Call the guard / Tell him I'm a piece of God / with no beliefs in his streets or his boulevards / I eat rage, so my mental is hard / and the heat from the anger just melted the bars / They reach for their guns, so I put em to sleep / Break the chains, and put the shoes back on my feet / He's on the loose with no discernible scars or marks / Just the mind of Mandela, and the heart of Rosa Parks / So I dip / Time to see the governor and mayor / Tell em life ain't fair / See if they care / Well, they do / but only if they're on the air / so they appear..to have a heart and mega flair / But they haven't done shit for us and that's a fact / Their only function is to keep the funny money where it's at / And it causes, pain, stress / Ask me if we need a different way of life.... Verse 2 Headline: Bush steals the presidency / He needs the backing of the meek / What could the remedy be? / The country's headed for recession reminiscent of the great depression / Are lives worth a world of power? / Easy question / Planes hit the towers and the pentagon / killing those the government wasn't depending on / It's easy to control the scared / so they keep us in fear / with their favorite Middle Eastern demon named Bin Laden this year / Bush disguises bloodlust as Patriotism / convincing the living to love Operation: "Let's Get Em!" / But when he realize we don't support their attacks / They needed something to distract / Hmmm....Anthrax / This further demonizes Afghani's / So American's cheer while we kill their innocent families / And what better place to start a war / to build a pipeline to get the oil that they had wanted before / America supported the Taliban / To get Russia out of Afghanistan / That's how they got the arms and... / They're in a war against The Northern Alliance / and we can't build a pipeline in hostile environments / Here's what your history books won't show / You're a dead man for fucking with American dough ($) / They're killing several birds with one stone / while you're at home with anti terrorism up in your dome / But my eyes are wide open and my TV is off / Great cause I save on my electricity costs / And you can wave that piece of shit flag if you dare / But they killed us because we've been killing em for years -Mr. Lif 2002
5.
Verse 1 Lif / a new state of mind, new state of being / Constantly striving to understand what you're seeing / Finding the courage to stop fleeing / problems that lie within / So this is where we begin / Self esteem... / Something that's diminishing / Look upon the faces of the youth, I see them withering / Societal pressures can be imprisoning / Look at the effects that they have on us all / It's rather riveting / How many women you know with eating disorders? / How much make-up on the faces of our pre-pubescent daughters? / Dudes are acting macho and they don't know why / A famous never written law is that boys should never cry / Keep all those emotions bottled up / Now wassup? / You can't communicate once you became an adult / Situations got raw cause you had lockjaw / Your kids ended up learning bout life from a pop star / But I feel that rap is more real / Matter of fact, this music's gotten me through many an ordeal / I was laying on a stretcher kicking rhymes by Eazy-E / after falling of my bike while holding food from Mickey D's / So I chilled... / Had to calm my mental state / Happy with the knowledge that the music helped me meditate / and while I'm healing , waiting for this world to erupt / You can catch me sitting next to my crate, pulling out cuts Verse 2 I'll flip / You know I'll flip the script / I said I'll flip / You know I'll flip the script / The Guru / He's been my idol for years / Flippin' shit with Premier / Making the B-Boys cheer / And the GZA... / "Investigative Reports" / He, Ghost and Raekwon, they didn't take no shorts / Plus the "R"... / Cause that's the way that it has to be / These brothers redefined lyrical mastery / And I could go on, cold pulling cuts for days / but I've got something to say about you rappers today / Your rhymes drop in weak spurts / so you bite til' your teeth hurt / but I'm your dentist / so meet my apprentice / Chucky / and Charlie Bronson from "Death Wish" / I couldn't hoard all of these medical skills and be selfish / It's hard to say rhymes with no incisors or canines / I kill all the weak lines your minuscule brain finds / Cause I'm the type of kid that's on the positive tip / but that's because I suppress my urges to slaughter you quick / But this time I just can't fight the feelin' / That's why I'm smiling as your small intestines dangle from the ceiling / You're over / As KRS had said on a track.... "It means return of the real hard beats and real rap" -Mr. Lif 2002
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Verse One I've been waiting / laying / for a long time / X amount of thoughts carried out in my mind / I turn on the TV and see crime / Script written diligently, then aired on time / Push the power button / Now to devour somethin' / Opened up my fridge, and found nothin' / Dip to my room with an aura of gloom / Wishing I could write another tune / But my hands are paralyzed / plus my eyes... / wanna shed tears / but it's not possible there's... / the burden of things I couldn't bear / feelings weren't dealt with properly / remorse follows me / with his good friend the threat of poverty / Here's where I am.. / versus where I think I ought to be / There's a certain chance, I'm a victim of circumstance / I take a look at myself, and at first glance... / I see who I recently thought to be me / based on identities, public and private / behold the radio pirate / Your brother / the felon / Chillin' with a gun to your melon / A pimp with his pockets swellin' / A jester / A slave with wounds that fester / The wannabe pre med 3D dread / An academic reject / hoping to detect / why we wreck what God gave / Human laws are layed / We go to war, come back, then come up with more / I'm kind, friendly / Your worst enemy / Charming / crass / and potentially... dangerous / Have you ever heard of such? / I'm invisible and impossible to touch Verse Two I still say fresh, dope, and things of that sort / I don't shoot up, smoke crack or take shorts / Your thoughts are always welcome / I seldom, won't endure another's perspective / Corrective lenses...are something that I wear / So I can see the globe real clear / Look there's famine over there / Plus your family's in fear of disease and the stress that lingers in the air / These are the words of a man in purgatory / Words of a simpleton / Living in oblivion / Is this the model for life you were envisionin'? / Free as can be in a world of imprisonment / I dare you to check new territory / American dream? / Time for another story / One where I don't choke to keep afloat / I'm sick of living off false visions of hope / with a knife to my own throat / Stick of dynamite inside my over coat / because I know the ropes / Reality in this world is bought and sold / A very limited scope of life is showed / and I'm just one in the mold / Fully controlled / Left to erode in my humble abode / You won't hear me because I've got no loot / You don't hear me because you won't compute / I'm docile / Psycho / Have you heard of such? / I'm invisible & impossible to touch -Mr. Lif 2002

about

I just want you to know that your contributions are sincerely appreciated. Your donations help me pay for studio time in which I recruit talented engineers to craft each song into a unique sonic experience. Your support also allows me acquire the necessary audio equipment to take each song to the potential I envision when the genuine inspiration first enters my mind.

The bond between an artist and his or her supporters is unique and really is indigenous to each band or soloist. Over the years, I have found there to be no greater satisfaction than taking the time to speak with y'all after my shows. The contrast of going from the isolation of months in the studio to finally hitting the stage and seeing the response that those intimate moments of creativity evoke from those who listen is tough to capture with words. It is truly a priceless experience. It's those moments that I have spent talking with y'all, signing autographs, having intellectual debates, and laughing that fuel me the most.

Now, as a vet who's been in this business for quite some time, I find that there is no greater driving force behind my creativity than my desire to give you all something that will in it's most simple form help to get you through your day. In it's most realized & ambitious form, I hope that my songs contain elements that will become a part of you and last a lifetime and beyond.

It is my honor to have a chance to craft the soundtrack to your lives. If I can supply the sound scape for even one moment that you'll always remember, I feel my purpose has been served. I am humbled to have been blessed with what creativity I have, and it is my pledge to you that I will continue to dive deep within myself to present our experiences of life in this world in ways that you find inspiring, captivating, intriguing, and fulfilling.

Thank You!

-Mr. Lif 2014

credits

released July 31, 2014

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Mr. Lif Boston, Massachusetts

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