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Atmosphere is an American hip hop group from Minneapolis, Minnesota, consisting of rapper Slug (Sean Daley) and DJ/producer Ant (Anthony Davis). Since its formation in 1989, the group has released six studio albums and ten extended plays.
The group is composed of the rapper Slug (Sean Daley) and the DJ/producer Ant (Anthony Davis). With the exception of a few tracks on the album Lucy Ford, Ant has produced every Atmosphere record. A former member and co-founder Spawn (Derek Turner, now going by the name "Rek The Heavyweight") left the group after the release of the group's first album Overcast!. Mr. Dibbs, a DJ associated with the group, toured with Atmosphere before their You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having tour, at which point Ant began touring.
Before Overcast!
Sean Daley and Derek Turner met in high school. The two took the names Slug and D-Spawn, respectively, as rapper names. They initially performed under the name "Mental Subjects", before changing the name to "A Rhythmic Culture", and finally settling on "Urban Atmosphere". Originally, Spawn performed as the rapper, with Slug acting as DJ. Eventually Spawn convinced Slug to start rapping as well. Through the rapper Musab (then known as Beyond), Slug was introduced to the producer Ant after they went to his house to record a track. Slug saw an opportunity to work with Ant and convinced Spawn to record further with him. They soon started recording songs with Ant, learning how to structure songs properly and practicing vocal delivery. Eventually the group dropped the "Urban" from their name.
Atmosphere, as a group, joined with other rappers Musab, Phull Surkle, Black Hole,and The Abstract Pack to form a collective known as Headshots. This group later evolved into the record label Rhymesayers. Over time, a series of cassettes was released under the Headshots name which earned some local acclaim. By 1996, Slug, Stress and Musab were making national appearances such as on NPR's All Things Considered. The start of Rhymesayers as a record label came when Siddiq, fed up with their treatment at a number of local studios, decided to buy his own.
Overcast! (1997)
Spawn left the group 3 years after their first album, Overcast!, was released. The release of Overcast! allowed a wider audience to be introduced to Atmosphere, largely thanks to the airplay that the single "Scapegoat" received on college radio stations. Meanwhile, Slug improved his live performance skills at Minneapolis clubs such as First Avenue and 7th Street Entry. In 1998, two albums recorded by underground rap supergroups involved Atmosphere. The Dynospectrum involved Atmosphere as well as Beyond (Musab), Swift (of Phull Surkle) and I Self Divine. Deep Puddle Dynamics released by the Oakland, California, based underground rap label Anticon, included Slug, Sole, Alias and Doseone rapping over beats by Jel.
Ford and Lucy Ford (2000-2001)
Now touring nationally on a more regular basis (the twenty-one date Ford One Tour brought them to the East Coast for the first time), Slug was able to leave his job at a record store, as well as a second job working overnight shifts at a department store. In 2000, the Rhymesayers-owned record store, The Fifth Element, was opened in Minneapolis. In 2001, the two EPs, Ford and Lucy, were combined and released as an LP titled Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EPs. Originally intended as a tour-only release, it sold so well that it was later released as an official LP, making it the only Atmosphere album with producers other than Ant. In 2001, Atmosphere made three separate tours across North America and Europe. With Lucy Ford, Atmosphere also finally achieved national distribution through the independent distributor Fat Beats.
God Loves Ugly (2002)
Atmosphere planned to release their second studio album God Loves Ugly on June 11, 2002, but experienced delays in editing. The record had more straightforward, almost battle-centric, lyrics from Slug. It was distributed nationally, again through Fat Beats, and sold over 130,000 copies. The album generated two singles: "Modern Man's Hustle" and "GodLovesUgly". Atmosphere toured extensively in support of this record, going as far as Europe and Japan, playing sixty shows in seventy-one days. After the tour, Daley spent his holidays in the Australian outback. The success of the album and subsequent tours came to the attention of the major labels Interscope, Sony and Warner Brothers. However, for the time, Atmosphere decided to stay independent.
Seven's Travels (2003)
Atmosphere's third full-length studio album, Seven's Travels, was released on September 23, 2003, through Rhymesayers and the punk label Epitaph. It contained two singles, "Trying To Find A Balance" and "National Disgrace", both of which had music videos that received airplay on MTV2 and other stations, attracting more attention and success for Atmosphere than previous releases. The album included a guest appearance from label mate Brother Ali and was entirely produced by Ant. Several songs on Seven's Travels contain lyrics pertaining to relationship problems, alcohol and depression. The single, "Trying To Find A Balance", was used on the video game T.H.U.G. 2 (Tony Hawk's Underground 2).
The album cover for Seven's Travels was interpreted by some as an homage to The Beatles' White Album. However, that was not the case; the original planned cover depicted a nude woman lying in snow. However, during a tour to support the release of the album, a young girl was raped at a show in Albuquerque. Because of this the album cover was changed shortly before its release.
You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having (2005)
Released in 2005, Atmosphere's fourth album You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having was a departure from the sound of the previous two albums. Though production was once again entirely by Ant, the sound and lyrical content of the album had a more "raw" style than Godlovesugly and Seven's Travels. Reviews were generally positive, with Stylust saying "The result may be, in a manner of speaking, the most consistent Atmosphere album to date." The opening track "The Arrival" appeared on EA Sports' Fight Night Round 3.
The Seasons EPs and Strictly Leakage (2007-2008)
To hold fans over while Slug and Ant put the finishing touches on their upcoming LP When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold, Atmosphere released four EPs as continuations of the "Sad Clown Bad Dub" series. These were Sad Clown Bad Summer 9, Sad Clown Bad Fall 10, Sad Clown Bad Winter 11 and Sad Clown Bad Spring 12. The EPs were popular in the Minneapolis area due to many references to local places, such as songs named after streets in the area ("66th street", "Lyndale Avenue"). The song "Sunshine", from the Bad Summer EP, was released as a single. Despite not having a music video or any promotion, the song later became popular among the band's core fan base, eventually becoming a staple in live shows.
After the EPs, the group also released the free album Strictly Leakage in late 2007.
When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold (2008)
Leak at Will (2009)
Between the release of When Life Gives You Lemons and To All My Friends, Atmosphere released another free EP in 2009 called Leak At Will, with seven original tracks. Similar to Strictly Leakage, the EP was intended to tide over fans until the release of their next album.
To All My Friends, Blood Makes The Blade Holy: The Atmosphere EP's (2010)
A combination of EPs, the album To All My Friends, Blood Makes The Blade Holy: The Atmosphere EP's was released in September 2010. The album reached #2 on iTunes top 10 album downloads during the week of September 11, 2010. The album was very favourably reviewed, with some reviews comparing it to the Lucy Ford LP.
The Family Sign (2011)
After 2010’s double EP, Atmosphere returned with their first full-length album in three years. The Family Sign was released in 2011, and is Atmosphere's sixth studio album. Continuing the trend of preceding albums, The Family Sign has more instrumentation and is the first album to have actual band musicians. Keyboard player Erick Anderson and guitarist Nate Collis, part of the touring band for Atmosphere (who perform live renditions of songs that are normally sampler/drum machine produced), were brought in to help record the album, leading to a much different sound than previous albums. One of the songs, "Just For Show", was put on the sound track of MLB 2K12.
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