The Perceptionists

Comprising rappers <a href="spotify:artist:2emuC245M2qQ9MPJgivLbm">Akrobatik</a> (born <a href="spotify:artist:2emuC245M2qQ9MPJgivLbm">Jared Bridgeman</a>) and <a href="spotify:artist:6qbtuhThjXYnpldXCczlDd">Mr. Lif</a> (<a href="spotify:artist:6qbtuhThjXYnpldXCczlDd">Jeffrey Haynes</a>) and initially including DJ <a href="spotify:artist:46mlzQlHRizn7XiNLqnCxq">Fakts One</a> (<a href="spotify:artist:46mlzQlHRizn7XiNLqnCxq">Jason Goler</a>), the Perceptionists are to the Boston, Massachusetts hip-hop scene as the Justice League of America are to superheroes: the best of the best marshaling their powers for the collective good. The fiercely political <a href="spotify:artist:6qbtuhThjXYnpldXCczlDd">Mr. Lif</a>, whose 2002 album, Emergency Rations, was one of the first hip-hop records to overtly question the abuse of civil liberties in post-9/11 America, meshes well with <a href="spotify:artist:2emuC245M2qQ9MPJgivLbm">Akrobatik</a>'s equally intelligent, socially conscious vibe (as seen on his 2003 solo debut, Balance), and <a href="spotify:artist:46mlzQlHRizn7XiNLqnCxq">Fakts One</a>'s imaginative beats add sonic depth to the whole. Friends since their early days on the local scene, the trio first started working together on <a href="spotify:artist:46mlzQlHRizn7XiNLqnCxq">Fakts One</a>'s college radio show in the late '90s, formally adopting the name the Perceptionists in 2000. A 2004 mixtape called The Razor was the trio's underground bow, before their official debut, Black Dialogue, was released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Definitive+Jux%22">Definitive Jux</a> in early 2005. Featuring the singles "Memorial Day" and "What Have We Got to Lose?" (which imaginatively sampled <a href="spotify:artist:432R46LaYsJZV2Gmc4jUV5">Joy Division</a>'s "She's Lost Control"), Black Dialogue also featured guest spots by <a href="spotify:artist:6xyaria4AcxjRuJZLkWvMW">Guru</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7jocoSCuCtpCxCI6IbP8ye">Digital Underground</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:7mFqeqDcctDWHGKY2AIAMl">Shock-G</a>. After the album's release, the group members went their separate ways. In 2017, <a href="spotify:artist:2emuC245M2qQ9MPJgivLbm">Akrobatik</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6qbtuhThjXYnpldXCczlDd">Mr. Lif</a> put aside their differences and revived the Perceptionists. Their reunion album, Resolution, was released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mello+Music+Group%22">Mello Music Group</a>. ~ Stewart Mason, Rovi