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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 (Anthony Davis)
Ant produced his first CD, an album titled 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)
Spawn left the group following the release of Overcast!. He is now known as Set the Locksmith.
Mr. Dibbs
Mr. Dibbs (never officially a part of Atmosphere) was the off-and-on touring DJ for Atmosphere. Mr. Dibbs 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. Slug talks about the live band in terms of a 'challenge', wherein he has to 'do more vocally'.[citation needed] The live setup brings a jazzy, more improvisational feel to Atmosphere's sound. Along with the band, Mr. Dibbs is listed as touring DJ, but Ant is also touring for the first time in Atmosphere's history.
Lyrical content
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, whom he generally labels "Lucy".
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 said that he has never, and will never, lie in his songs, but that there is a difference between lying and telling a story[citation needed]. 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, many fans believed this to be Slug's own life story, and responded with uproar when they discovered it was not.[citation needed]
Collaborations
Slug has also released two albums with Murs from the westcoast Living Legends group. The idea for Felt: A Tribute to Christina Ricci, their first album as a duo, came about while on tour[citation needed]. 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 [1]. 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, 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.
History: Overcast! was Atmosphere's first LP. Before Overcast!, Atmosphere recorded on several of the rare HeadShot cassette tapes. At Overcast!'s release, Atmosphere's members were Slug, Spawn and Ant. It featured guest shots from Beyond. The Overcast! EP contained several tracks not featured on the CD. Most popular, "God's Bathroom Floor", available only on the EP and cassette release of Overcast!, was not included on the CD. A live version of the track can be found on Sad Clown Bad Dub and a studio version can be found on Sad Clown Bad Dub 7. At that time his new producer was razor blades.
History: GodLovesUgly, a return to Slug's typical themes of women and life, featured a mix of aggressive, angry songs ("Fuck You Lucy") and fresh, more structured songs, featuring prominent choruses and catchy hooks, such as in "Modern Man's Hustle", which was also releases as a single. This single increased Atmosphere's appeal into the 'mainstream' hip hop market, reaching #18 on Billboard's 'Hot Rap Single' chart. [2]
Album sales: 1,232,005
RIAA Certification: Platinum
Considered one of the few underground albums to reach platinum status
History: Seven's Travels was released on Epitaph Records, a major punk label. This is one of the band's more approachable albums, mixing mostly optimistic rhymes from Slug with more catchy hooks produced by Ant. Most of the songs on this album had been featured on mixtapes and as such this exists as a loose collection of songs about touring. "In My Continental", "Los Angeles", "Reflections", "Always Comming back home to You", and "Shhh..." are songs that appeared on various Sad Clown Bad Dub releases. Slug has referred to this album as his "De La Soul record" because of its narrative songs and its relative optimism [3].
Album sales: 678,345
RIAA Certification: Gold
A hidden track on the disc, "Shhh...", is a tribute to Minnesota and the Midwest. Originally featured on the mixtape Midwest Broadcast, it was used as the track that launched Minnesota Public Radio's contemporary music service The Current on KCMP 89.3 FM in the Twin Cities in 2005. The song was also feature on Shreveport, Louisiana rap station K103THA Beat (KTTT-103.7)
History: Atmosphere released You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having on October 4, 2005. Ant brings more rugged production to this effort, drawing stylistically on some of Slug's early influences, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, and De La Soul. Slug has clarified that the title of the album is not a sarcastic statement; that he and his "friends" are having the happiest times of their lives[citation needed].
The lead single from the album, "Watch Out", was featured in a national And1 commercial that aired briefly during NBA and NCAA broadcasts in Winter 2005-06. The second ad in the campaign used the images and voice of Marcus Camby backed by the first instrumental from Rhymesayers labelmate and underground hip-hop heavyweight MF DOOM's song "Change the Beat" (released under DOOM's alias Viktor Vaughn on the album Vaudeville Villain).
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