Atmosphere brings ‘emo-rap’ to the masses

updated 9:21 a.m. ET Oct. 7, 2005

MINNEAPOLIS - The title of Atmosphere’s new album is “You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having.” The rappers, it seems, are being sarcastic.

It’s hard to think otherwise after a few spins of songs that cover tortured father-son relationships, America’s over-reliance on antidepressants and the 2003 murder of a 16-year-old fan after an Atmosphere show in Albuquerque.

“I thought I was making a happier record than I was,” said Slug, the 33-year-old mastermind behind the Minneapolis-based group. “It wasn’t until the end of the day that I realized, you know, this record is kind of dark.”

A fixture for almost a decade in the underground rap scene, Slug’s forays into his conflicted psyche have brought greater commercial success with each release. As the latest prepares to launch the first week in October, Atmosphere — after years of touring and new distribution by the Los Angeles punk label Epitaph Records — is poised to find an even larger audience among young fans who seek out music that reflects issues in their own lives.

“When it comes to dealing with kids that I don’t know but they know me, I’ve learned that I’m into it — I have a thing for it,” said Slug, whose real name is Sean Daley. “I try to end up steering it, instead of into a fandom thing, into more of a faux-mentorship or whatever.”

Emo-rappers?
Mainstream hip-hop is often criticized for glamorizing violence and wealth and objectifying women. The first two are of little interest to Slug, who’s more likely to be sporting a black T-shirt than bling. But when it comes to women, things get a little more complicated. The topic of many of Atmosphere’s songs, women to Slug are an alternating source of fascination, confusion, regret and scorn.

“I’m over 30, can’t maintain relations, all these women wanna hurt me and I just don’t have the patience. I can’t trust ’em and they’re not much help, when they start to push and pull the buttons I don’t trust myself,” Slug raps in the new song “Little Man.”

Despite — or perhaps because of — Slug’s professions of vulnerability, he has built up a large female following.

Slug’s interest in tackling his demons has gotten him labeled by some as an “emo-rapper,” tying him to emo-rockers like Death Cab for Cutie and Dashboard Confessional, which have landed scores of teenage and young adult fans with their nakedly confessional lyrics.

“It’s real live stuff, not trying to rap about a fake life,” said Nate Kranz, head booker at the famed Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue, a regular stop for Atmosphere. “It’s songs that me, you, anybody can identify with.”

Atmosphere has also gotten a boost from being in heavy rotation on Minnesota Public Radio’s new alternative music station, The Current, and its popular Webcasts. The station debuted in January with the band’s “Say Shh.”

It’s earned Atmosphere followers that diverge from the usual hip-hop fan base. City Pages, the Twin Cities’ alternative newspaper, once put it bluntly: “Atmosphere is hip-hop for people who don’t like hip-hop.”

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