I Heard It Today

I Heard It Today is the third solo studio album by American hip hop artist Mr. Lif.[1] It was released by Bloodbot Tactical Enterprises on April 21, 2009.[2] Written at "the dawn of the Obama administration", the album is "dedicated to capturing the pulse of a tumultuous era in the United States."[3]

I Heard It Today
Studio album by Mr. Lif
Released	April 21, 2009
Genre	Hip hop
Length	39:25
Label	Bloodbot Tactical Enterprises
Producer	Batsauce, Edan, Cut Chemist, Ray Fernandes, Decaye, J-Zone, Therapy, Nik Jhatakia, Mr. Lif, Willie Evans Jr., Headnodic
Mr. Lif chronology
Mo' Mega (2006) I Heard It Today (2009) Don't Look Down (2016)

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	70/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	favorable[4]
The A.V. Club	B−[5]
BBC	favorable[6]
The Boston Globe	favorable[7]
Exclaim!	favorable[8]
The Guardian	[9]
Pitchfork	5.3/10[10]
PopMatters	[11]
Spin	favorable[12]
XLR8R	8.5/10[13]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 70, based on 11 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[2]

Max Herman of XLR8R gave the album an 8.5 out of 10, commenting that "taking a break from working with El-P actually benefits him, as the melodic beats crafted by producers like J-Zone, Edan, and Headnodic are the perfect pairing for Lif's selfless lyricism."[13] Andrew Martin of PopMatters gave the album 6 stars out of 10, calling it "one of Lif's most concise and well-rounded efforts."[11] David Aaron of BBC wrote, "it's comforting to know there are still hip hop acts out there trying to give a voice to the voiceless."[6]

Track listing

No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Welcome to the World"	Batsauce	2:45
2.	"What About Us?"	Batsauce	2:59
3.	"Breathe" (featuring Bahamadia)	Batsauce	2:44
4.	"Collapse the Walls"	Edan, Cut Chemist	3:06
5.	"Folklore" (featuring Dumbtron and Vinnie Paz)	Batsauce	3:23
6.	"Police Brutality (Scene)"	Ray Fernandes, Decaye	0:46
7.	"Gun Fight" (featuring Metro)	J-Zone	3:15
8.	"PNN 1"	Therapy, Nik Jhatakia	1:11
9.	"Hatred"	Mr. Lif	3:22
10.	"Homecoming (Scene)"	Mr. Lif	0:23
11.	"Head High"	Therapy	4:27
12.	"I Heard It Today"	Willie Evans Jr.	3:38
13.	"The Sun"	Headnodic	3:40
14.	"Dawn"	Willie Evans Jr.	3:46

Bandcamp edition bonus track[14]

No.	Title	Length
15.	"Obama"	4:00

iTunes edition bonus track[15]

No.	Title	Length
15.	"The Gauntlet"	3:42

References

1. LeRoy, Dan (June 3, 2009). "Today Is the Day: Mr. Lif bounces back strong after life-threatening injuries". The Riverfront Times. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
2. "I Heard It Today by Mr. Lif". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
3. "I Heard It Today". Mr. Lif. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
4. Rinaldi, Matt. "I Heard It Today - Mr. Lif". AllMusic. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
5. Martins, Chris (April 21, 2009). "Mr. Lif: I Heard It Today". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
6. Aaron, David (2009). "Mr. Lif - I Heard It Today - Review". BBC. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
7. Capobianco, Ken (April 20, 2009). "Mr. Lif, 'I Heard It Today'". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
8. Jones, Kevin (July 23, 2009). "Mr. Lif - I Heard It Today". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
9. Yates, Steve (April 19, 2009). "Urban review: Mr Lif, I Heard It Today". The Guardian. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
10. Greene, Jayson (April 16, 2009). "Mr. Lif: I Heard It Today". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
11. Martin, Andrew (May 3, 2009). "Mr. Lif: I Heard It Today". PopMatters. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
12. Peisner, David (March 19, 2009). "Mr. Lif, 'I Heard It Today' (Bloodbot Tactical)". Spin. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
13. Herman, Max (April 15, 2009). "Mr. Lif - I Heard It Today". XLR8R. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
14. "I Heard It Today | Mr. Lif". Bandcamp. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
15. "I Heard it Today by Mr. Lif". iTunes. Apple Inc. Retrieved November 9, 2018.

External links

• I Heard It Today at Discogs (list of releases)