(AllHipHop News) Rapper Mr. Lif is returning to the Hip-Hop circuit, after a life changing bus accident made him retire from the music industry.
Prior to the crash, Mr. Lif was on a roll as an artist on the prominent Definitive Jux label, where he worked closely with Run The Jewels member El-P.
The rapper was headlining the “Mr. Lif Plays With The Coup Tour” in December of 2006 when the accident occurred just outside of San Diego.
“There were injuries suffered to different degrees ranging from minor to serious but everyone is essentially OK and getting treated in various hospitals. The bus and everything in the bus was destroyed in the fire.” – El-P to AllHipHop.com in December of 2006.
The new record Don’t Look Down is Mr. Lif’s first release since 2009’s indie album I Heard It Today.
“The bus driver fell asleep at the wheel and dropped us 38 feet into a boulder-laden ravine. The bus jerked; we went off the road,” Mr. Lif revealed in a telling interview on NPR. “Right upon impact, all the lights went out, and then it was just — it was the tumble of my life. Utter chaos, you know, until the bus finally came to a stop.”
The misfortune left Mr. Lif psychologically scarred and motivated him to seek a deeper meaning in life. The rapper, born, Jeffrey Haynes, put down the mic, gave his politically charged rhyming a rest and cut off his trademark dreadlocks.
“You know, there was a period of time where I wasn’t really 100 percent sure that I had made it,” Mr. Lif said. “That was the toughest part, was to psychologically battle back from, just trying to really accept what had happened. I ended up walking away from the music industry after that, and it was really because I had just felt lost in a lot of ways after the tour bus wreck.
According to Mr. Lif, he needed a “complete reset” so he started an NFL podcast, which was therapeutic for the emcee, as he prepared to ease back into a Hip-Hop career after the bus wreck.
“I’ve suffered a lot of scars to get where I am. But, you know, you make mistakes, you apologize, you try to move on,” Mr. Lif said.
Check out the full interview on NPR.org by clicking here. Mr. Lif’s new album Don’t Look Down is in stores now.