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 Perceptionists Interview
interview 0282 added
12.02.05 words: K-Per technical:
QED
Take three of Boston’s finest hip hop artists,
including two renowned MCs and one established DJ / producer, shake in a can of Def Jux, pour and you get something like The Perceptionists. Having known each other for years and come together for the excellent ‘Fat Shit’ b-side back in 1998, it was only a matter of time before Mr. Lif, Akrobatik and Fakts One came together once more to work on something more than the odd track. Taking the best Bean town has to offer and melting it with appearances from the likes of El-P, Guru and Phonte, The Perceptionists are about to drop ‘Black Dialogue’, their first full-length collaborative effort in March this year. Ahead of this K-Per sat by his phone to speak with a barely awoken Lif and chirpy Akrobatik in turns about their perceptions of the future and what this new group is bringing to the table.
How did you guys come together as the Perceptionists?
 Mr. Lif: It kinda started with live shows really. We’re all friends, we’ve been friends for years and we had hooked up before for Akrobatic’s LP to do a song called ‘The Fat Shit’. It seemed people took to it and when we performed it on stage it went down well so we thought about taking a break from our solo work and come together to do a joint project. I had my solo LP out a few years back, Akro released his last year and Fakts had a solo LP that fell through because the label folded. So we thought it was the right time to come together and work on something as a team.
Akrobatik: It happened quite quickly for me. We’ve known each other for like nearly 10 years. Lif and I first hooked up in 95 at the Brick records studio. We hung out, chilled, even played football for opposing teams and played against each other without knowing it! And then one day Fakts played one of our demos on his radio show and when we did live stuff he’d always be there playing the beats in the back. We all had solo projects in the last few years and we just thought “we need to do this now”.
So I take it the Def Jux connection came through you (Lif), seeing as you released your LP on the label?
M: Yeah. Def Jux is a family thing; El-P knows us, knew about the project and felt that Def Jux would be a good home for it and so did we.
"...We thought it was the right time to come together and work on something as a team..."
You’re all from Boston, a town that in recent years has put its stamp on hip hop with guys like you, Edan and Insight. Do you find that being in Boston maybe helps with your creativity, gives you a different outlook then you might have being somewhere like New York for example?
 M: I like the fact that Boston is removed from a lot of the hype that’s about today. It’s not over-run, I don’t feel the need to follow any trends. I guess it feels the same as it did for De La living in Long Island and being away from the rest of New York, and not being in an area that’s already defined in the music and culture, you know? It feels like we can just do our own shit and get on with it.
A: I guess where you’re from has to do with your work, but to what extent I don’t know and couldn’t say. I don’t know anything else but Boston, I’ve lived there all my life and I can’t say it impacts on me or not because I haven’t lived anywhere else. Ask me again in five years and maybe I’ll be able to say. But whatever though I’m thankful for it.
So what would you say people can expect from ‘Black Dialogue’?
M: They can expect to hear growth, for me anyway you can expect to hear types of songs that you might not have heard before, you’ll hear me rhyme on similar topics as those I’ve touched on before, but also new ones and new styles that we’ve explored. The reason I wanted to do this was to find growth for me as an artist. I’ve done the solo thing and I think that if I walked on my own again I might sound too similar to my previous work, having two other people there with you, working on the same thing was great and gave me a whole new inspiration and look at what we do and what I do solo.
A: Expect the unexpected. One of the greatest things in my opinion about this project is that you hear us on different tips from what you might be used to. If you’re a fan already you’ll be intrigued by how we combine on the tracks. We wanted to do an unconventional album but still appeal to our fans as well and to people who like good hip hop.
"...It feels like we can just do our own shit [here in Boston] and get on with it..."
So what are the production credits like on the LP?
M: We’ve got 4, 5 producers on there. El-P gave us a few tracks, Fakts did a few as well, then we’ve got Camu Tao on one and 2 unknown guys called Willie Evans Jr and Cyrus the Great who have also done production for us. Willie is from Florida and Cyrus is a student in Massachusetts. The thing with this LP is that we just went to these guys and didn’t try to shape the music they were going to give us. We went to El and got something different from him and same with Fakts, he pulled out styles I didn’t even know he had! It was good to see everyone rise to the occasion really.
And how did you find working together as a trio then having all come from solo experiences?
M: It’s amazing how it worked out. The thing is Fakts is probably the most technical minded out of the three of us, so he sorts out all that stuff from getting Phonte’s chorus by Instant Messaging him the hook, to adding the choruses, his cuts, doing the mixdown, editing the tracks, placing the verses etc… Myself, I hear a beat and straight away I’ll start writing lyrics, and when Akrobatic hears a beat he’ll think of the choruses. So it’s beautiful because then we all come together. So sometimes we’d start with my lyrics, sometimes with Ak’s chorus and sometimes with Fakts production. We each set a different approach to the song and go with one. But whatever happens we always tried to obey the beat and go from there. We didn’t try to force our lyrics, or concept, to the tracks. Instead we kinda let the track dictate that to us. Also both Ak and me kinda approached the subjects we speak on differently to how we normally would, so we changed our rhymes and patterns from what people might be used to.
"...They can expect to hear growth, for me anyway you can expect to hear types of songs that you might not have heard before..."
A: We did it assembly line style. We worked together and I loved working with them. It was so enjoyable to do this, to have two MCs give different expressions on the same topics. We reach each other at the choruses and even if our verses are different they join at the chorus and I think that’s a great thing.
Now Lif, you’re known for being a politically conscious MC and I was wondering if this project also touches on more conscious subjects like politics and society or if you just went with what you felt like rhyming about?
 M: Well the first single we released, ‘Memorial Day’, is about the occupation of Iraq. I like to refer to that song and the others like that as overt political songs. We got another on there about the government in America and we talk about how people can find more effective ways to fight the system, or even work around it and have the system ignore us. Whichever way to do something that will change what’s going on right now. Try to wake people up in a way. But for me, this era is about not pigeonholing myself; there are songs on the LP about other subjects then politics. ‘Black Dialogue’ touches on the situation of black musicians in this country today working for the majors but who we feel in a way are betraying black music and its origins. ‘5 o’clock’ is about people having their 9 to 5 but living a different life outside of work. We also touch on the politics of relationships on the LP as well, which is good. I touched on it on my solo LP ‘I Phantom’, but these songs take it even further. There’s a full spectrum of topics on there, which I’m proud of. The key as well is that we wanted to give an energetic, intense record that could then translate into an energetic live show. We wrote all the songs with live shows in mind.
"...We wanted to do an unconventional album but still appeal to our fans as well and to people who like good hip hop..."
Well I was going to ask you about the live shows, and how you were approaching those being 2 MCs and one DJ.
 M: With us when we perform, we always try to make it better then the show before. We talk about the show after each performance, seeing what can be improved, what was good etc… Right now we’re coming with a simple Run DMC format, 2 MCs and 1 DJ. You gotta keep in mind that we’ve been performing together for 6 plus years, and I’ve known these cats for so long it feels like I know what they’re gonna do before they do it. So that gives me a nice comfort zone when on stage. We make the show dynamic and with high intensity but at the same time we feel comfortable doing it. Right now I think the music speaks for itself, it’s worth coming to see us because we want to be the best hip hop act you’ve seen.
A: That’s the one constant to our music; we make music to play on stage, music that sounds big on a big system. The touring is the biggest part of it for me, to be somewhere else with people sharing the music is what it’s all about.
And are you guys still considering going back to do solo projects or just taking this further for the time being?
M: I’m expecting it to be like a continuous cycle. I’m already working on another solo LP, but only because of the work I’m doing with the group now. I can change back to me as a solo artist and take on a new form, because I’ve done the group project. It’s like a need to change sounds every time, not become predictable and keeping the cycle going. Akrobatic is also working on a new solo thing and I think we need to keep it going like that, Fakts can drop a solo joint too, and then boom! We come back with a Perceptionists LP and go back to that cycle again. Wu Tang didn’t take days off and they just kept going. They dropped 36 chambers, and then solo LPs, then another joint… For me there can’t be any more hiatus, not like previously. My last LP was nearly 3 years ago now, and I’ve changed. I can’t keep still, I’ve got to keep it moving, there are three of us and we can keep putting shit out as long as we want. In the past I’d be writing songs on tour, but I’d always have to wait till I got back home before really sitting down in the studio, but now I’ve taken a little studio on
the road and every time we get a break I’m straight on it, making beats and progressing my stuff.
"...The key as well is that we wanted to give an energetic, intense record that could then translate into an energetic live show..."
A: It’s a matter of how we all want to do it. I’d do one more LP after this and then see what happens, I don’t want to plan ahead too much. We may change our mind, who knows. I still wanna do my solo stuff, but the one thing that’s clear is that the intensity of this project shows that it’s more then just a side thing, it’s something we all believe in and want to work for.
You got any last words?
M: I just want to encourage people to come see the shows and visit the site,
www.theperceptionists.com. It’s still under construction but we’re getting there. We got Guru, Humpty Hump and Phonte on the LP, and it was a pleasure working with those legends, so we’re proud of it and we hope everyone checks the LP out.
A: I hope everyone enjoys the album and come peep out the show, we’ll be in the UK around May!
The album ‘Black Dialogue’ is released in late March and The Perceptionists will be touring the UK around May. - Interview by K-Per
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