Atmosphere

Really sincere rappers are my new thing. Slug, half of the group, Atmosphere is that kind of rapper. He has been pretty underbround for his whole career, and his latest album, last year's Seven's Travels showed a certain frustration at his anonymity. His songs are all pretty gritty, kind of dark. On this album, his lyrics are far more assertive than on his earlier work, he throws the words out of his mouth rather than sings them. "Trying to Find a Balance" is definitely kind of dark, but not so depressing. Slug makes you want to listen to him. Compelling comes to mind. And Ant's beats mesh really well with Slug's tone.

I'm not going to lie: I haven't listened to "Cats Van Bags" yet, but it's on my to do list. If it's in keeping with the rest of Atmosphere's oeuvre, then it promises to kick your hearts ass.

Link to Atmosphere