Hip-hop outfit and Rhymesayers label heads Atmosphere represent the Twin Cities with introspective rhymes, creative storytelling, and classic production (often incorporating live instrumentation), building a devoted grassroots following with prolific output, collaborations, and consistent touring First appearing as a trio during the mid-'90s, Atmosphere settled into the core duo of rapper Slug and producer Ant, and first made a major impact on the hip-hop underground with 2001's Lucy Ford, a collection of three early EPs Slug's lyrical focus shifted from personal struggles to character-based narratives with releases like fifth full-length When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold, which landed at number five on the Billboard 200 when it arrived in 2008 With releases like 2011's The Family Sign and 2018's Mi Vida Local, Atmosphere's songs reflected on middle age and fatherhood, while 2020's The Day Before Halloween was an electro-tinged detour into dystopian paranoia 2021's Word? was a more lighthearted return to a vintage boom-bap sound As co-founders of Rhymesayers, they are also affiliated with a roster of like-minded hip-hop acts and curators of the annual Minneapolis music festival SoundsetAs a teenager, Slug (Sean Daley) became entranced with hip-hop, graffiti, and breakdancing, forming the Rhymesayers label and collective (originally known as Headshots) with two high-school friends, Siddiq Ali (Stress) and Derek Turner (Spawn) After some early gigs as Urban Atmosphere -- where Slug DJed behind Spawn's rhyming -- the pair hooked up with producer Ant (Anthony Davis), as well as like-minded locals such as MC Musab, Mr Gene Poole, and the Abstract Pack, forming an underground hip-hop clique dedicated to freestyling and clever lyricism In 1997, Atmosphere released their debut album, Overcast!, which received college radio airplay and earned an underground hip-hop following thanks to Slug's deeply personal, poetic musings, as well as Ant's bare-bones -- but inventive -- production
Reggae Rise Up Vegas 2024, Las Vegas, October 4-6
Lake Tahoe Reggae, Lake Tahoe, California, August 03-04, 2024
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