Bring on the party, Atmosphere

Atmosphere and guests
Crystal Ballroom
April 25
8 p.m.
All ages, $14
Heralded as a leader of the so-called “backpacker” movement in hip-hop, Atmosphere MC Slug (aka Sean Likes Ugly Girls) has spent the last five years and 10 sides of vinyl preaching mainly about Lucy, the girl who broke his heart, with occasional side notes concerning “the bigger things in life” and the “party for the fight to write” that is the lifeblood of the MC.

Slug’s mixed racial background and the easy flow of his rhymes, supported mainly by the sparse old-school beats of producer ANT, contribute to the optimistic and all-inclusive attitude he takes toward his music. On “Party For the Fight to Write,” Slug reminds his peers that “this industry’s big, so big in fact, that we can all get some and we can give some back,” downplaying the rampant in-fighting between rap enclaves and stressing the successful artist’s responsibility to their community.

Despite Slug’s commitment to his message, he never comes across as whiny or preachy and, despite his refusal to play up to a thug image, he doesn’t seem to be a pushover. Like his smooth-as-butter predecessors in A Tribe Called Quest, Slug is a competent and charismatic MC, tempering the message of his rhymes with level-headed reason and alternately self-deprecating and cynical humor.

While Eminem comparisons are very frequent with regards to Atmosphere’s work, Slug manages to work in humor without the accompanying hatred, providing that unmistakable party vibe that few others seem interested in creating. While his optimistic attitude and sing-song style can make it easy to dismiss Slug as another “happy-go-lucky head-bobbin’ nobody,” his work with the forward-thinking hip-hop crew Deep Puddle Dynamics and the insightful social commentary that comes through on darker tracks like “They’re all Gonna Laugh at You,” indicate someone who is not deliberately avoiding serious issues. Instead, Slug is acting as a mediator, letting his style bring the message forth in a way that promotes head-bobbing and ass-shaking as well as deep contemplation of the issues at hand.

On their first full-length release, last year’s God Loves Ugly, Atmosphere stripped themselves down to a duo, eschewing the guest rappers and producers that popped up on the various EPs and leaving ANT with sole production duties. This decision lends a little more sameness to the tracks than would be ideal, as some Eyedea rhymes or Jel production really helped to mix up the sound on previous releases. Taking God Loves Ugly on its own terms, however, the record stands nicely as a document of how much emotion and care can still be put into the old-school style, and it will sit nicely alongside the Jurassic 5 and Tribe in your collection.