Atmosphere Album: “When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold”

I've been an Atmosphere fan since 2003, and seeing them flourish over the years has been an exciting process. The strategic approach counting down to the release of their 6th full-length album "When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Sh** Gold", is among the best marketing scheme's you'll ever see spawned by an independent record label. So good in fact, that is has seemingly stripped them of underground status as the album debuted at an astonishing #5 on the Billboard Top 200 alongside other fluffy pop artists such as Mariah Carey & Ashlee Simpson.

Leading up to it's release, Atmosphere released a string of 4 excellent 5-song EPs, and the undeniably dope full-length "Strictly Leakage" for FREE through the official Rhymesayers web site. In addition to creating a plethora of solid material, Slug & Ant tirelessly promoted their new album through a series 10-minute You Tube episodes entitled "Paint It Gold", where they answered endless questions from fans throughout the world, and also provided them an outlet for that extra promotion they needed for the album.

In all actuality, the formula for "Lemons" is not sonically different from most Atmosphere records. Ant's beats creep into a bit more synth-heavy territory on some tracks, and on the whole, comes through with some of his cleanest, and most memorable set of beats to date. Slug is also maturing very nicely. His songwriting skills and his close-knit connection with his fans have reached an all-time high. I have a hard time thinking of a rapper that would be more in touch with the game of hip-hop today than Slug is. He seems to stay truly inspired, and it comes through in his writing and delivery. The album does slightly favor conscious, introspective material over straight bangers. In other words, it's nothing like "Strictly Leakage".

"Like The Rest Of Us" & "Puppets" kick the album off. They are notably slow for openers, and really sets up the mood for the album. "The Skinny" is one of the more unique gems here. The production is filled with grimey synth, and works quite well. Slug boasts clever lyrics about cigarettes through the metaphor of a pimp. "Dreamer" includes nice hooks, choruses & some beautiful production; definitely a favorite of mine. "Shoulda Know" is the first video/single off the record, and stands strong as well. "You" is definitely my favorite in the bunch. Ant's production is addictive here, and that chorus will get stuck in your head for days. And as Ant stated in one of their episodes of "Paint It Gold", this song makes you smile every time you hear it. The piano-filled "Yesterday" is equally dope in my opinion. "Guarantees" may be the most different song you'll hear here. Just Slug & a nice quiet guitar with a nice singer-songwriter piece. It would be served better with a better guitarist and a straight up acoustic, but it's still very nice. "Painting" & "Me" are also a couple of excellent tunes that border on melancholy. "Wild Wild Horses" works excellent here. Nice samples and beat all around. Closing out the album, we get some beautiful tunes. My favorites being "The Waitress" & the banger "Can't Break". The deluxe edition includes a 40-page gold embossed hard cover book with an illustrated book written by Slug, and a bonus DVD of an entire live performance straight from First Avenue in Minneapolis!

Overall, this is one of Atmosphere's most gorgeously crafted albums in their entire catalog; and of 2008. And I can't think of a much better album that could break into the Billboard charts with such presence than "Lemons". And it definitely holds a much different vibe than your typical mainstream rap affair, which will hopefully shine some light on more of the "real" hip-hop released in the days where mainstream rap is in a world of hurt. Excellent job Slug & Ant. You are making Minnesota proud!

Throughout the album slug departs from his previous up front, personal lyrics to telling stories. His beats are minimalistic and beautiful. "Yesterday" is by far the upbeat track of the album, but slug creates his familiar stark contrast with the sparse "Guarantees". Although Slug maintains some old formulas a major change is his live band making most of the beats which can be a good thing and a bad thing. It allows him more freedom musically but the 70s soul bass lines and guitar riffs become formulaic. This is not Atmosphere's best work, but it is certainly a fresh identity for Slug: storyteller.

What I love about Atmosphere is they keep evolving as artists. Everyone else wants them to deliver the same old stuff time after time, but every time they put out something new and original. Slug's storytelling ability continues to wow me on this album its as if he's actually standing in someone else's shoes(Guarantee's, In Her Music Box, Yesterday). Ant's beats are diverse and crazy and often time's on this album mesmerizing.

I will bump shoulda known everyday for the next month driving around town.

This album explains alot of the 5 track EP's and free albums Slug and Ant released leading up to this release. From track 1 til track 15, this album is a story. Hell, even the track names read as a full sentence if you look. This isn't a party album, but a masterful piece of evidence that true hip-hop is NOT dead.

Kicking off with the piano keys on "Like the Rest of Us" and ending with the anthem for any father that listens to hiphop, "In Her Music Box". The best part of this album, however, isn't the album itself, but the Limited Edition DVD of Sad Clown Bad Dub 13... It's about an hour of live performance's from the last 2 shows in Minneapolis from their previous tour. Alot of the songs from Lemons are run through, but also peppered in with some classics and rare songs like "Say Shhh".

This isn't "mass-consumption" hip-hop. If you still enjoy having rappers tell you about their money, jewels, and how dope they are... go buy a 50 Cent CD and wash your mouth with buckshot. This is the art of storytelling right here... This is Slug and Ant showing us what they do best... incredible music.

first, its unfair to assume that any innovative artist would accomplish much by sticking to the same old formula of past albums. if you cant get past that, you most likely wont like this album.

Slug has matured. when you age, the things that matter to you seems to change. as a artist, this would change your subject matter, unless you were a sell out, and thankfully slug is anything but a sell out.

i welcome the dark, real world feeling this album has. the beats arent mainstream, but i dont think i ever bought into the mainstream since the 80's. i am glad someone is willing to take a chance, and break the ice on a otherwise stagnant genre in music. i enjoy the fact that slug is challenging us all with his lyrics. the stories he tells can withstand the tests of time, much more so than raps about rims and bling.

i think anyone that has collected more than a few albums of atmosphere can see them as chapters in his life. this particular chapter of his life has him wrestling with age in my opinion anyhow. as you age, you have more things to look back on and reflect upon.

the final eye opener on the debate of this album is the title. he is showing us all the lemons that life has given him...