Minneapolis, Minn., is well known for its kitschy Midwest culture and snowy winters, but its music scene is often overlooked.
Rock ‘n’ roll and folk genres have been strong in Minneapolis for decades, but in the mid-1990s, underground hip-hop began to flourish in the twin cities.
One driving force for the dawn of this subculture was the founding of Rhymesayers Entertainment, a well-known independent hip-hop label. Rhymesayers has signed several successful artists, including Brother Ali, MF DOOM and Evidence.
The founders of Rhymesayers, though, contribute significantly to the success of the label: Two of the four founders of Rhymesayers are Sean Daley and Anthony Davis — emcee Slug and producer Ant of hip-hop group Atmosphere.
Last week, Atmosphere’s new release, “To All My Friends, Blood Makes The Blade Holy: The Atmosphere EPs,” was on my top ten new albums for back to school.
This week, I wanted to give this album the extra attention that I believe it deserves.
If Atmosphere’s 2008 album, “When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold,” seemed a collection of songs that told stories about third parties who were going through hard times, “To All My Friends” seems like a celebration of success and life guidance from emcee Slug.
The insight into Slug’s life is deep; largely detailing his move into professional hip-hop and the omnipresence of drug sales in his past.
“(I) appreciate your opinion, but this dream’s mine,” he says in the title track.
We’re offered a short autobiography of Daley, detailing his disbelief that he has found success as “a full-time spitter” after a childhood with different life goals.
“The Number None” seems to build off of a song from an earlier release, rich with humor in a story about a teen romance of Slug’s. It begins over a high-pitched piano sample, “Baby, listen, they’re playing our song! You wanna slow dance with me? C’mon. You can just said no. You ain’t gotta be a douche about it.”
Several songs on the album offer the message that, even if you are having a rough time, things could always be worse.
Slug raps, “But somebody want that life you got, they think your boyfriend’s nice or your wife is hot. They on your block lookin’ at that home you bought; they’d move in today if that door wasn’t locked.”
My personal favorite track, “The Best Day,” gives this advice with the humor and wit that I’ve come to expect from Atmosphere.
Slug urges, “Take the bad with the good, now let’s play.”
Musically, too, Slug and Ant give us something of lasting value.
The solid beats Atmosphere has always relied on are still there, but they feel deeper and cleaner than they have on past albums.
The instrumentation on many of the songs is simpler and draws more on rock than on the funk and synthesizer from earlier work.
Sharp piano accompanies some songs, and rolling guitar licks characterize others.
A friend of mine commented, “It sounds like the Red Hot Chili Peppers with rap over it,” and I don’t disagree.
It works well for Atmosphere, balancing out some of the harder songs on the album.
“To All My Friends” is by and large uplifting, and its smart lyrics are more than worthy of recognition.
Atmosphere just hit Eugene on a tour supporting their new release, but if you missed them, spending an afternoon with a cup of coffee and this new collection of EPs is a close substitute.