Atmosphere – When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold

Rhymesayers 2008

Rating: 8.5/10

The innovative duo of Slug and Ant that makes up indie-rap pioneers Atmosphere has never been afraid to scare away the mainstream. When Life Gives You Lemons opens up with the classiest piano line this side of Norah Jones and an unadorned drum beat, the spotlight squarely on the two rappers’ effortless flow and city-street lyrics. Needless to say, it sounds nothing like on contemporary rap radio.

The focus is on Ant and Slug’s gritty, industrial-colored lyrics and simple, rhythmic flow, telling black-and-white stories of crime, drugs, the projects, and any number of other things that influenced the two as they grew up in Minneapolis. “Dreamer” brings out the woodwinds and horns in a catchy fable about teen pregnancy while “The Waitress” wallows in funky bass and a bird-like flute while it unweaves a story about its subject. While occasionally the duo’s unremarkable voices tend to blur together and the lyrical matter is unrelenting, the ingenious production keeps things from going stale.

Neither is as technically talented as rappers like Nas or Twista, neither boasts the advanced studio wizardry of producers like Kanye West or Timbaland, and neither indulges in gangster posing like Young Jeezy or 50 Cent, but Atmosphere’s unique combination of realism and straight-to-the-point beats makes their latest another gem in a long line of excellent underground releases.

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