Mr. Lif is also a member of the hip hop group The Perceptionists with long-time friends and collaborators Akrobatik and DJ Fakts One.

Haynes adopted the stage name "Mr. Lif" after ingesting psilocybin mushrooms at an outdoor Phish concert during his freshman year at Colgate University in 1994.

Working closely with producer and Definitive Jux label head El-P, Lif released a series of critically acclaimed singles and EPs, starting with Enters the Colossus in 2000.

The Emergency Rations EP bookended collaborations with Edan and Akrobatik in an MC abduction scenario, while the I Phantom full-length formed a saga that led him from birth to apocalypse.

He revisited his Akrobatik collaboration in 2005, when the pair joined producer DJ Fakts One to form The Perceptionists, who released Black Dialogue, also on Definitive Jux.

Mr Lif embraced I Heard It Today using the album as a tool to address various political issues affecting people all over the world.

[7] In September 2014, the pair embarked on a national 5-week Permaculture Action tour with fellow musicians Ayla Nereo and Liminus.