Hip-Hop in Missoula

Atmosphere: Like You’ve Never Seen Them

By Joe Prebich, 9-08-05

There are very few people that can legitimately claim to be underground. But those who have continue to live the life many either gave up on or sold out of. But, to understand the lifestyle of a hip-hop artist living on the fringe, with his lyrics flowing even farther to the margins, you need to forget what you thought you knew, because this is Slug.

It was a nice day on Wednesday in Minneapolis, Minn., where Slug, the front man for the indie hip-hop group Atmosphere, was busy getting ready to head out on tour. This meant that the glamour of the hip-hop lifestyle of life on the road put him in the local laundromat, doing a few loads before they skipped out, cats, van, bags.

In recent years, Slug has gained a huge amount of popularity among the “underground� hip-hop scene of college campuses. Known for his distinctive style and flow, Slug has managed, though inadvertently, to transcend the boundaries often associated with genre music. He has black fans, white fans, punk rocker fans, and indie rocker fans. But to Slug, it doesn’t’ make a difference who or what they are.

“I don’t care who listens to my music. White, black, whatever! I will kick rhymes to a dog if it will listen.�

And he is serious. His intensity coming forth over the phone. Slug loves to rhyme. His life has been filled with rhymes, delivered in a unique style where fans relate and Slug prophesizes. When asked whether life imitates art or art imitates life, he is careful in answering.

“I guess for me it goes both ways, my songs are a precursor to life. I find myself often living out my rhymes. It is weird, so I have been consciously reminding myself not to die in my songs. And this has made me more positive.�

This is Slug. Metaphysical, ethereal, and wickedly sarcastic. Blending elements of life, and especially love, to form hip-hop potions for pondering students. His rhymes have created fodder for the Friday night, front porch flame. His lyrics have taken people in and associated the fans so closely with the inner Slug. This creates a problem; fans think they actually know what he is thinking.

And then come the labels. Sellout, trend, poser, wack, ugly, you name it, Slug is devoured personally by his fans and fanatics through the plastic cup politics of musical discussion.

Labels are dangerous, said Slug. There are these kids who come together not because they love something, but because they love to hate it.

“We define our identities by what we love and what we hate. It seems to me that it is the have-not’s that love, but it is the have’s that have the time to dissect and then hate something.�

He is quick to point out an idea that has defined his life and his music: co-dependency.
Not necessarily relying on others for help, but relying on others from a community perspective.

“When I find something I like, I pull it in quick and I make I my own. If I like it, I will go out and take it all now. If it speaks to me, like music, I become dependent on it. My life is cluttered and full of the different things that have pulled me in.�

This aspect translates to his music and his shows. For Slug, he knows that it is not really about the music at the end of the day, but about the community. He sees himself as an enabler for action, reaction and discussion.

Simply put, their show is just something to do. Whether you are a hip-hop head or the kid just looking to get out of the house. Atmosphere wants you to have a good time.

“Go to that show and then maybe two young kids will hook-up and make a baby, or hook-up and start a rap group. We are just bringing people together.�

So, Slug is portraying a different voice, and they have noticed. Shows are selling out and Slug is gearing up for the future.

But, when all is said and done and Slug has dropped from behind the mic to behind the scenes, he just wants to make sure that he has left himself and hip-hop in a good place for the future.

“You know I just want to be an ambassador. We have the groups, the label and the shop. And we are working on the escort service, that will be coming soon.�

Slug, the front man for Atmosphere, a hip-hop group hailing from the icy winters of Minnesota, is getting ready to head out on tour again, promoting the new Atmosphere album, “You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having.� The group will be doing 56 shows all across the country hitting the Missoula scene on Sept. 27.

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