Eleven years after becoming the first hip-hop act to put the Twin Cities on the map, Atmosphere has grown into one of the most accomplished MC/producer duos around. Between Slug and Ant, they’ve released six albums, 11 Sad Clown tour albums and various side-projects like Felt — amounting in well over a million units sold. And along the way have performed to sold-out crowds everywhere from modest sized venues in their hometown to colossal festivals in Japan. Since releasing their 1997 debut, Overcast!, Ant’s ASR-born melodic beats and Slug’s open book and observational style of rapping continues to evolve into hip-hop that’s more honest — more textured. And the praise for these Rhymesayers pioneers hasn’t stopped flowing in.
As Rolling Stone once gushed about Slug, “This Minneapolis indie rap hero has potential to spare, delivering taut, complex rhyme narratives with everyman earnestness.” Or as the Village Voice once wrote of Ant, “His dusty grooves are hooky and R&B-informed, and even when they back up Slug's most maniacally depressed rhymes, they never feel heavy-handed.”
While Slug’s name has become synonymous with introspective rap, the new revelatory recording process with Ant inspired the MC to open up his subject matter well beyond his own life. In fact, When Life Gives You Lemons… is entirely based around fictional narratives that deal with societal issues – many, which revolve around the theme of parenthood. To accompany the release, the album comes with a 40 page hard cover book that includes a children’s story by Slug in addition to all of the lyrics. And this was done in part to celebrate Slug’s growth as a writer.
“This time around I really did force myself to try and write these stories as if I was writing a book or short stories and just trying to figure out how to put them into music,” says Slug.
The song that got this whole album started is “In Her Music Box” – the tale of a young girl who sits in the back seat of her wannabe pimp of a father’s car, absorbing the explicit raps she hears coming out of the speakers. The song is not so much about neglect as it is examining the dichotomy between a young, inexperienced father and his impressionable child. As Slug says of the track, “The main point of it was to look at and speculate on how children at that age learn the art of escapism that as adults sets up for self-medicating and self-abuse.”
Another vital track on the album is “Shoulda Known,” which also touches on parenthood in the context of examining poor decision making and how crucial it is to think beyond the present. With songs like these, Slug proves that his best work isn’t necessarily the most revealing. And if you ask him, making an album with Ant completely comprised of fictional content sure helped get all of the real life characters from his former verbal journals off his back.
“Every record I put out you can guarantee there’s going to be about five people that are going to call me and e-mail me and go, ‘I can’t believe you fuckin’ said that on your record! I can’t believe you fuckin’ told people about that!’ This time around, nobody can call me out on that.”
Fuck a classic album, give my life five mics-Slug of Atmosphere
"One can feel Atmosphere loosening modern hip-hop from its moorings and yanking it into some weirder and far more interesting place." -ROLLING STONE
"This Minneapolis indie rap hero has potential to spare, delivering taut, complex rhyme narratives with everyman earnestness." -ROLLING STONE
"Like it or not, Slug is reluctant king of emo-hop, the emerging alt-rap scene." -BLACKBOOK
"After their last album went indie triple platinum, these guys got offers from every major label in the business, but the chose to sign to Epitaph just to prove how punk rock they are. Ant's got beats, Mr. Dibb's got skills, Slug's the nicest guy in the world and the ladies, they love him." -Vice
"With passionate inflection and pristine delivery, Slug toggles neatly among the poetic, preachy, and provocative, sometimes hitting all at once." -Entertainment Weekly
"In this era of the hip hop anti-hero, there's no more unlikely candidate for universal stardom in the rap game than a gangly kid from Minneapolis.Slug is bringing a new DIY spirit and, gulp, emotional vulnerability to a hip hop scene currently orbiting out of control in a materialistic galaxy." -XLR8R

In the early 1990s, emcees Suffa and Pressure met at a high school in the picturesque hills of Adelaide, South Australia. Later introduced by a mutual friend to DJ Debris, the trio found common ground with their love of Ultramagnetic MCs and Public Enemy, along with local pioneers Def Wish Cast and AKA Brothers. When the trio conspired to add their own chapter to Hip-Hop’s canon, Hilltop Hoods was born.
Applying their personal experience to the music that inspired them, the Hoods set out to represent their world, their lives and their country. When the crew’s first EP, Back Once Again dropped in 1997, the broad Australian accents, nimble flows and stunning beats declared the arrival of a significant new force in Australian Hip-Hop. More importantly, it laid down a gauntlet to an industry that had for too long ignored this burgeoning movement in Australian music. Over beats that celebrated the traditions of funk, jazz and soul, Suffa and Pressure displayed an instinctive rhyme chemistry that has remained as tight as it is intense.
#The Hoods have grown in both stature and skill through five full length albums – A Matter of Time (1999), Left Foot, Right Foot (2001) The Calling (2003), The Hard Road (2006) and The Hard Road: Restrung (2007). While their path has drawn on a broad range of influences, they have never lost touch with the unique flavour they created in the Adelaide Hills as young Hip-Hop fans. With an ethos that is innovative and fearless, Hilltop Hoods’ inspirational sound has been embraced far beyond Hip-Hop’s loyal underground. When the heads of rock fans, dance music devotees and even casual radio
io listeners nod in unison to the Hoods’ infectious beats, there’s no doubt the boys are at the head of their game. The crew are singled out among Australia’s hottest live acts by press, industry insiders and fans alike. A sold-out national tour and standout festival spots at Big Day Out, Splendour In The Grass and The Falls festival have confirmed their local drawing power, while performances at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire and Berlin’s Popkomm have proven they can take their sound to the far corners of the globe. With forthcoming spots at prestigious international festivals including Glastonbury and Canadian Music Week, the horizons are ever expanding for this powerful trio.
The Hoods’ phenomenally successful 4th album, The Hard Road, debuted at number 1 on the ARIA Album Chart and became the group’s second Platinum certified album, winning 2 ARIA Awards inFive singles from this album earned spots in Triple J’s annual Hottest 100 and the group were awarded with the coveted J Award for 2006. 2007 saw the Hoods return to the studio to rework The Hard Road with the assistance of arranger Jamie Messenger. The Hard Road: Restrung, incorporating the 31 piece Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, has since attained Gold certification and took home the 2007 ARIA Award for Best Urban Release. With these exceptional accolades, Hilltop Hoods have not only risen to the top of Australian Hip-Hop, but have cemented themselves a place at the very forefront of the Australian Music Industry.
Hilltop Hoods have stayed true to their music and retained their integrity in an industry that has a tendency to value the transient. Their tireless work has born the fruits of success and the future looks only brighter.