Atmosphere!

Have you heard of Atmosphere? Probably one of the most commercially successful and long-lived independent hip-hop artists, atmosphere has such a unique sound and lyrics that are sincere and thought provoking to say the least.

Stubbs 8/5/09

Gotta say, I've never listened to atmosphere's catalogue of albums to the fullest. Between Slug & Ant (MC/producer) they have made 6 albums, 11 Sad Clown Tour albums, and other side projects including Felt amounting in over a million units sold. They have sold out venues from their hometown of Minneapolis to huge festivals in Japan. Like i said, their sound is unique. With Ant's melodic beats and Slugs downright honest rapping - it brings hip-hop back to a more textured, old school feel.

My favorite album, one that they really hit a whole new level with is "When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold". This album is entirely based around fictional narratives who deal with societal issues - a major theme being parenting.

The song that started the whole album was "In Her Music Box" - a story of a young girl who sits in the backseat listening to gangster rap with her wannabe pimp father. The song isn't about neglect really but how impressionable young children are. This album really celebrates and encourages Slug's growth as a writer.

"This time around I really did force myself to try and write these stories as if I was writing a book or short stories and just trying to figure out how to put them into music," says Slug.

With all these stories, I was surprised at how good Slug was at telling them. He really played towards the audience and during the whole concert I was enthralled with him. Passionate about each character he was introducing to us through his lyrics, excited to tell their story - which could have been our story, your story. His enthusiasm was contagious. I turned to my friends to gush about how great he was - how each song struck a new note, a new rhythm, a new feeling.

He even free styled - I was then convinced that there aren't many rappers that can still flow with such conviction and courage. Not only was it really good, it lasted for about 2 minutes. He could have recorded it right then and made a whole new album.

Still smiling, I encourage you to hear Slug stories with beats from Ant leading them somewhere unexpected but still wonderful.

peace,

tess.allen