Spoonfed scores an invite to listen to the new Atmosphere album (it's sensational, their most mature and complex yet) and chat with the duo behind it: Intelligent wordsmith and underground rap hero Sean 'Slug' Daley, and his producer Anthony 'Ant' Davis.
Atmosphere are a Minnesota-based rap crew whose subtle beats and thought provoking, meandering and sometimes hallucinatory raps about not committing crimes, craving stable relationships and the things they've seen have made them cult hip hop heroes. Last year at the Scala they were taken aback by a crowd who had downloaded and digested every word.
We find the boys at The Social, ready to talk about what makes them tick.
What was the mood behind the new album?
S: I think for both of us we wanted to push ourselves to take what we do a step further. I don't think either of us are trying to work outside of who we are and so all of Atmosphere's albums have been pretty much a culmination of who we are when we made that album. Kids… have been listening to this music now for ten years but there are also new kids that didn't find out about it until a year ago and so there's a huge space for us to play in. It's not to say that everyone's going to like it, it's not to say that anyone's going to like it but we like it and we like... who we are.
Which artists do you admire most at the moment?
S: Brother Ali. And I'm sure I'm biased for a lot of reasons [Ali is a fellow Rhymesayers artist], obviously he's my friend… but I've never been that kind of dude that loves somebody's art because they're amazing at it. Amazing, whatever, fuck amazing, anyone can do amazing if they practise it enough. I'm more into what stands behind the art and what it was that inspired the art and since I know what inspired Ali's art it's really easy for me to say that that dude is amazing.
A: Mine would be Snoop Dogg… [he] can do anything and everything and nobody's tripping on it. He does porno, he teaches kids how to play football, he has a TV show, he goes on Jay Leno and is just as witty as Sean.
What do you listen to apart from hip-hop?
S: Truthfully I don't listen to that much hip-hop anymore. Not to be a dick but it's just like everybody in hip-hop, much like myself even, we're all just recreating what Big Daddy Kane and KRS One and Ice Cube have already done. So… I listen to lots of old rap. But as far as new music I'm kinda like everybody else I'm a sucker for poppy shit, I'm a sucker for Radiohead you know I'm not a very avant garde music listener…
A: When I'm in my car, and I don't know if this is a sign of old age or not but I've been listening to Sports Talk. I tend not to listen to a lot of music just because it's what I do for a living, it's everything about me.
Do you have any ambitions to produce?
S: Absolutely not. I see what Ant goes through and that's crazy to me. I've got enough stress… I'm not going to make beats. Besides there aren't any other good rappers - so who the fuck am I going to get to rap over my beats?
Did you enjoy writing a book?
S: The childrens book? Yeah the book really wrote itself though. All I really had to do was write what I felt the album was about and then have somebody illustrate it. I did enjoy it, it was fun...
Who are your favourite writers?
S: I hate to read. My favourite writers are Frank Miller… people that write comic books. I like to read comic books. I like to act like I'm a reader and like I'm all extra smart but that's just an act, and I usually do that when there's women around. My guy friends all know I'm an idiot, my girlfriend knows I'm an idiot, hell I think even her parents know I'm an idiot. So there's really no pressure on me to keep up with what's going on in the literary world whatsoever.
A: I don't read... I haven't read a book since I was twelve or something.
S: I actually read up until I was about 24 and then I stopped reading and started writing more. I think my time reading is better spent writing.
So is that when did you start writing seriously?
S: I started writing when I was a kid but I didn't really start writing a lot until I quit reading books
What is the attitude of bigger hip-hop/rap artists to independents like yourself?
S: I don't really think there is much of an attitude. I always laugh when I see these underground kids have hate on mainstream rappers because it's kinda like, really? You're mad at that guy for being popular – that's high school. The bottom line is… if people feel it they feel it.
A: I really don't give a shit about either side
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