A nice video review of Mr. Lif's "Live From The Plantation" in Hip-Hop Connection: "It's about how nine-to-five office hell can be soul-sucking and drive you to extreme acts of violence!" - a truth as universal and sure as life and death itself. From his rude awakening - still clothed and locked in an embrace with an MPC after, we assume, a long night of beat making... Lif is locked in a twilight world, slipping between workday drudgery and the kind of violent daydreams that even peace-loving wage-slaves like Lif dream... "While the song's message was a strong one, I also felt that certain parts of the song lent themselves to a more cartoonish, comedic approach," says the video director Ian Levasseur. And that comedy is best expressed in the video's itchy, scratchy, extreme violence."
"I think that my favorite part of the video is where Lif chokes out his nemesis in the bathroom," Levasseur continues. "It still makes me laugh now. But MTV flexed their political power by vetoing our original edit. We were forced to cut out a number of scenes that they considered questionable: the guy with the noose, Lif making a gun gesture and also a number of other scenes ... MTV is the anti-christ to independent hip-hop" ... Like Lif's lyrics - which often take the position of affable and concerned everyman - it manages to make a point - that we sell ourselves to work, that it crushes your soul - while avoiding any trace of preachiness. And like Lif, it does this through a knowing use of humor. The result is a classic laugh-out-loud portrayal of soul-suckingness that no doubt chimes with 20-something b-boy wage slaves everywhere..." - Hip-Hop Connection, 2005. Peace to Mr. Lif!
