Atmosphere at Rescue Rooms

Date: Mon 23rd Jun
Time: 20:00

Monday 23rd June. £12adv
ATMOSPHERE & BROTHER ALI
+ KIDZ IN THE HALL
Atmosphere (formerly Urban Atmosphere) are an American underground hip hop group that was formed in 1993, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1998, just prior to the release of the group's first full-length release Overcast!, group member Spawn left the group leaving Atmosphere to be simply a duo between members Ant and Slug.
Slug was a member of a loose group known as The Rhymesayers Collective prior to the formation of Atmosphere. Its other members were Stress (Siddiq Ali) and Spawn (Derek Turner). Slug DJed behind the scenes and let Stress and Spawn handle lyrics. Later calling themselves Urban Atmosphere and garnering some underground notoriety, the group eventually formed a strong relationship with Ant (Anthony Davis) and began collaborating on music.
The live setup brings a jazzy, more improvisational feel to Atmosphere's Slug raps in an intensely personal, often introspective style, acting as a kind of storyteller relating his own experiences to his audience. Many of Atmosphere's recordings are considered to be "conscious rap". Slug's songs often deal with his difficult and destructive relationships with women. Slug also raps about "slice of life moments", where he documents a police man's struggles with power (Lucy Ford's "Between The Lines"), a worker in a convenience store tired of the 9-to-5, and sexual deviance and intrigue turned awry (Lucy Ford's "The Woman With The Tattooed Hands").
Brother Ali was originally from Madison, Wisconsin Ali moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota at age 15, where he became involved in the local hip hop scene. Ali is currently signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment, a hiphop record label founded by Brent Sayers, Musab S'ad Ali, Derek Turner, Anthony Davis, and Slug, the frontman of Minnesota rap group Atmosphere, with whom Ali has become fast friends. Due to his original reluctance to discuss his race, it was at first wrongly reported that he was African American. He has stated "I'm albino, my family is white, but I was really raised, and taught my important life lessons, by the black community." Like many individuals with albinism, he is legally blind. Although his appearance made him the brunt of bullying in high school (his response is chronicled on the track "Win Some, Lose Some"), he has come to be unabashedly proud of his distinctive features, celebrating it in a track called "Forest Whitiker", where he called on "anyone out there who's a little different" to stand up and exalt in who they are, rather than stay ashamed. Ali is also a devout Muslim, religion being a theme that is mentioned in several of his songs including "Self taught" and "Victory."

Rescue Rooms

Masonic Place
Nottingham
Nottinghamshire
NG1 5GG

(more)

Would you like to see more information about Rescue Rooms?
Let us know here and we'll do our best to get them listed and inform you when they are.

Atmosphere

(more)

Would you like to see more information about Atmosphere?
Let us know here and we'll do our best to get them listed and inform you when they are.