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Atmosphere (music group)

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Atmosphere
Origin	Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Genre(s)	Underground Hip Hop Rap
Years active	1993 – Present
Label(s)	Rhymesayers Entertainment/ Warner Music Group (2007-present) Epitaph Fat Beats
Website	Rhymesayers Entertainment
Members
Slug Ant
Former members
Spawn-Stress

Atmosphere (formerly Urban Atmosphere) is an American underground hip hop group that was formed in 1994, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

1 Members
2 Touring
3 Lyrical content
4 Collaborations
5 Discography
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

Slug was a member of a loose group known as The Rhymesayers Collective prior to the formation of Atmosphere. Its other members were Stress (Siddiq Ali) and Spawn (Derek Turner). Slug DJed behind the scenes and let Stress and Spawn handle lyrics. Later calling themselves Urban Atmosphere and garnering some underground notoriety, the group eventually formed a strong relationship with Ant (Anthony Davis) and began collaborating on music. Along with MC Musab (then Beyond), rapper Mr. Gene Poole, and the Abstract Pack they formed the mid-Nineties crew Headshots, with Slug appearing on the underground tape series HeadShots (1-7) (see Discography below). Every HeadShots volume allowed a member of the clique to showcase their talent, and HeadShots Vol. Seven was Slug's tour de force.

Ant produced his first CD,Comparison, for Musab (formerly known as Beyond). He has contributed to every Atmosphere album and has also produced albums for several members of the Rhymesayers Entertainment label. The only Atmosphere album featuring guest producers, including Jel and Moodswing 9, was Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EPs. More recently, Ant released a two-part mixtape series titled Melodies and Memories featuring remixes of songs made in the late '70s and throughout the '80s.

Spawn (Derek Turner) left the group following the release of Overcast!. He is now known as Rek The Heavyweight.

Mr. Dibbs (never officially a part of Atmosphere) was the off-and-on touring DJ for Atmosphere. He is now the DJ for hip hop artist El-P.

As of 2005's 'Pour Me Another' tour, Atmosphere is accompanied by a live band, featuring Nate Collis on guitar, Brett Johnson on bass, Erick Anderson on keyboards, and Brian McLeod on drums. The live setup brings a jazzy, more improvisational feel to Atmosphere's sound. Along with the band, Ant is also touring for the first time in Atmosphere's history.

Atmosphere recently ended their 'Everybody Loves A Clown' tour, which promoted the newest in their series of short-release albums, 'Sad Clown, Bad Summer' and 'Sad Clown, Bad Fall'. They are expected to tour in support of their next LP titled "When Life Gives You Lemons..", due early 2008.

Slug raps in an intensely personal, often introspective style, acting as a kind of storyteller relating his own experiences to his audience. Many of Atmosphere's recordings are considered to be "conscious rap". Slug's songs often deal with his difficult and destructive relationships with women.

Slug also raps about "slice of life moments", where he documents a police man's struggles with power (Lucy Ford's "Between The Lines"), a worker in a convenience store tired of the 9-to-5, and sexual deviance and intrigue turned awry (Lucy Ford's "The Woman With The Tattooed Hands"). Slug has stated that he will never lie in his raps, but there is a difference between lying and telling a story. This refers to the song Nothing But Sunshine, a first person account of a young man whose parents died at an early age. At the time, fans believed this to be Slug's own life story.

The reference to the character of 'Lucy' is also common within a lot of Slug's work. This character has been interpreted in a number of ways, from 'Lucy' being a culmination of Slug's past girlfriends, to the name being a metaphor for hip hop (which is also stated by Slug in the Sage Francis song 'Doomage')

Slug has also released two albums with Murs from the West Coast hip hop group Living Legends. The idea for Felt: A Tribute to Christina Ricci, their first album as a duo, came about while on tour.^[1]The two decided to see if they could garner some extra media attention for Ricci by dedicating their album to her, although according to Slug, Ricci has never responded to this or contacted the band.^[2] This debut studio album was produced by The Grouch from Living Legends.

Their second collaboration, Felt Vol. 2: A Tribute to Lisa Bonet, produced by Ant, was released in 2005.

Slug has also been featured on albums by Brother Ali, Eyedea & Abilities, Evidence, Aesop Rock, Unknown Prophets, Oddjobs, Vakill, DoseOne, Jel, P.O.S., X-Ecutioners, Kanser, Blueprint, Heiruspecs, Jean Grae, Static & Nat Ill, Booka B, Minnesota indie rock band Lifter Puller, several Living Legends albums as well as Living Legends solo projects such as The CMA.