I do think this Minneapolis Alternative Hip-Hop group deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

Commercial Success: Despite not having a top 40 hit single (The closest they have came were 2002's "Modern Man's Hustle" (#18 U.S. Rap) and 2008's "You" (#38 U.S. Alt.) All on lesser charts) Atmosphere has made Three albums that have peaked in the top 40 (2008's "When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That S**t Gold" (#8 U.S. Billboard), 2011's "The Family Sign" (#13 U.S. Billboard), and 2014's "Southsiders" (Also #13 U.S. Billboard) despite not having a hit single on the albums... And even started a label Rhymesayers Entertainment
10/20

Longevity: Atmosphere has been around since 1989 (They formed as a 4-piece group consisting of MC's Slug, Spawn, Beyond, and Producer Ant), but their first recorded material was released in 1997 Member "Spawn" left 3 years afterwards... It is unclear when "Beyond" left the group but it was probably sometime around 2002... For a band to remain together for that long is pretty remarkable... As bands usually fizzle out after a few years, let alone 25
20/20

Influence: Atmosphere has had a Large influence on Alternative Hip-Hop, Slugs poetic delivery style and clever writing (He uses women as a metaphor for life and the music industry sometimes) Have influenced Underground Hip-Hop artists from Seattle to Ny... But the influence stops there.
10/20

Critical Success: All of Atmospheres albums have been very well received scoring a near perfect review from at least one critic, every album... With the exception of "The Family Sign" (Which was still far from a dud in the critics eyes)
20/20

Innovation: There are Two parts to Atmospheres innovation. The first part is from the MC, as I said before Slug has a poetic style with a lot of metaphor usage (as a result the songs can make you think at times)... He also cites Prince as a large influence. Now as far as the producer, Ant brings a layered production to the table, using guitar riffs and synths to create some rather unique beats... He has even used live instrumentation in their latest albums.
20/20

Overall: Atmosphere are one of the MAJOR players in the Alternative Hip-Hop, scene... They deserve to be here.
80/100

Side note: The Wikipedia page is wrong... You have to go to a disimbaguation page to see the bands page... This needs to be fixed.

Posted by Michael on Sunday, 05/11/2014 @ 02:29am