December 25, 2007...3:53 pm
Don’t blame Atmosphere for the weather
As part of their feverish quest to become my favorite hip-hop group, Atmosphere has recently offered a free CD for the holidays called “Strictly Leakage.” The record is just the latest in a string of events that are leading me to the conclusion that Ant Davis and Slug are possessed to impress me with their knowledge of Richfield while making dope records, without actually officially releasing a full CD (three of their releases in the past year have been EPs and “Leakage” is an Internet-only deal).
Earlier this year on “Sad Clown Bad Summer No. 9,” Slug referenced Richfield in the first bar of “Number One.” Then he named a song after the street I live off of, “66th Street,” on No. 11.
While that stuff is great and heavily appreciated, the references wouldn’t matter if the tracks were weak like clock radio speakers © Gza. But they aren’t – Atmosphere continues putting together solid albums and the music stands up on its own, even if your ears don’t perk up when Slug raps about calling the Richfield Police after a robbery occurred during his usual shift at a local gas station.
Slug’s voice used to annoy me, his flow seemed intentionally slow at times and other verses it seemed he forced multi-syllabic words just to be the “lyrical, spiritual, miracle.” He addressed this in an interview a couple years ago and said he was focusing more on writing good music — and now I’m paraphrasing — than trying to make the next Hip-Hop Quotable in The Source. Well, it’s working.
Ant’s production has also evolved into a much more diverse sound. The early tracks, which were still tight, rarely deviated from the boom-bap of underground rap. Now he’s got upbeat soul samples and piano-based grooves mixed among the dank basement grooves that the backpackers fawn over.
Then again, maybe it’s just nice to see a hip-hop group talented musicians working hard on music, rather than a clothing line, record label or brand of alcohol. Here’s another link to “Strictly Leakage”: http://www.rhymesayers.com/atmosphere/
Enjoy.
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