Менің көлеңкем (Menің көлеңкем)

Album by Mr. Lif

I Phantom is the debut studio album by American rapper Mr. Lif. It was produced mostly by alternative hip hop artist El P, among others, at Boston Butta Beats in Boston and the New York City based Steel Acres, The Danger Room, and Def Jux Studios. Mr. Lif composed I Phantom as a concept album about the working life of an African American who is pressured into pursuing the dubious rewards of the American dream. |quoted = true
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I Phantom is a concept album described as "an exploration of the dynamics of everyday life, and the pursuit of our dreams, in a rapidly decaying society." The narrative begins with death ("A Glimpse at the Struggle") and resurrection ("Return of the B Boy") and ends with nuclear holocaust ("Earthcrusher", "Post Mortem"). The liner notes provide instructions on how the story should be followed. Mr. Lif recorded the album at Boston Butta Beats in Boston and the New York City studios Steel Acres, The Danger Room, and Def Jux Studios, While his debut EP was an intensely political diatribe on U. S. foreign policy and the Bush administration, I Phantom focuses more on working class black America.

I Phantom was released by Definitive Jux on September 16, 2002, in the United Kingdom and on September 17 in the United States, where Mr. Lif had begun a national tour on September 14 to promote the record. I Phantom received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 81, based on 12 reviews. while Blender deemed the record's funk influenced beats "innovative" and Lif's rhymes "engaging [He] brilliantly avoids the pitfalls of vacuous bling drones and 'real hip hop' whiners alike." Village Voice critic Robert Christgau said I Phantom showed an ambitious concept, specific insight into life working and raising a family, and a critique comparable to Boots Riley. He said the "musically pleasurable" album "fleshes out its cohesive narrative and cogent ideas with beats that respect the spare antipop ethos without abjuring such wayward rhythm elements as femme chorus, bass drum whoop jam, and $20 synth loop". Kludge ranked it at number seven on the magazine's list of the year's 100 best records.