The Soulful Sounds of Atmosphere’s “Southsiders”

Minneapolis duo Atmosphere, which consists of rapper Sean “Slug” Daley and DJ/producer Anthony “Ant” Davis, released their seventh album “Southsiders” May 6.

Slug’s introspective lyrical content is as potent and evocative as ever, while Ant continues the live instrumental production style that began in 2008 with “When Life Gives You Lemons.” Although some may prefer the stripped down beats of pre-2008 Atmosphere, Ant’s harmonic instrumentation perfectly complements Slug’s powerful lyrics and syllabic arrangements.

The album covers themes of contentment, relationships, hype, death and, of course, their hometown of Minneapolis.

What I love about Slug as a poet is the way he strings together simple words to evoke powerful, thought-provoking concepts. His lyrics are unpretentious, never sugarcoated or hyped up to be something they are not. Slug is humble, honest and full of soul, only ever trying to communicate and negotiate his subjective understanding of the world and his existence.

On first listen, the most memorable song is probably “Flicker,” a tribute to the late rapper Eyedea. When I first heard it I was on a run. I had to stop because I started bawling — the song is a masterpiece. “Flicker’s” brilliance lies in its simplicity, all while conveying deep melancholy. Anyone who has ever lost a friend could relate to this song.

My favorite song off “Southsiders” is “Fortunate,” a reflective musing on aging and human existence:

And all the life we wasted trying to make some bread /

Might’ve been better spent trying to raise the dead.

Although the notion of death and leaving a legacy is what propels the song forward, its blatant optimism is what is remarkable and makes it special. Slug has a fresh perspective on a concept that has been discussed incessantly for centuries and makes the topic original.

In an NPR interview, Slug discusses the song “Kanye West.” He said “My song is about how passion can sometimes be viewed as this negative thing. Love can make you do crazy things. Love can make you snap out and over react. So this song was kind of about some of the overreacting that occurred during the courtship of my wife. And I named it after Kanye West just because I feel like he kind of personifies that concept. He’s very passionate about his art. He’s very passionate about what he’s trying to accomplish.” I was pretty surprised when I heard this interview because when I first heard the song I shallowly assumed he was bashing Kanye West. Realizing that this wasn’t the case made me appreciate the duo even more.

Whether you’ve been following Atmosphere since their formation in ‘89 or recently fell in love with their more instrumental sound of the late 2000s, “Southsiders” is a work of art both musically and poetically.

As always, Atmosphere’s music is for more than just hearing, it is for listening.

You can buy “Southsiders” from Itunes or Fifth Element.

Featured photo courtesy of: i1.wp.com

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