The release of a "mature" album by an artist usually signals the end of the purity, effervescence and spontaneity that made previous albums successful. Such albums are usually marked by a self-conscious urge to weigh in on important issues not particularly well served by a 50 to 70 minute running time.
What makes Atmosphere lyricist Slug's (Sean Daley) maturity on 2005's "You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having" successful is how he flanks his opinions on serious issues with his trademark humor. On "Panic Attack," he tackles the issues of prescription drugs forcefully but without the dogmatism that usually colors such opinions.
"We all have our opinions and I don't judge people on how they self-medicate," Slug said in an interview with The Eagle. "Whether you drink a lot, fuck the pain away ... I want people to be aware of what's going on. It isn't even just drugs, either. They are people that are addicted to AA. I watch kids that miss a meeting and freak out because they haven't gone."
Slug blames much of this overmedication on parents who prematurely put their children on behavior modification drugs. "The only thing I stand firmly on is when adults put their children on meds, I'm very against it. If you're going to put your kid on it, you have to take it, too."
Another issue Slug feels divided about is violence in rap and its influence on his audience. "I don't think I view rap's negativity the way a lot of people do, or the way people expect you to view it. I'm not against mainstream or gun rap. I love 50 Cent because he's rich and he employs 250 black people. I don't know how important or suitable it is for my 11-year-old, but I look at gun rap as a way to help people forget their problems. It's a type of therapy."
Slug is taking these stands for the purpose of connecting with his audience. He also dramatically expanded his list of tour dates in order to reach as many people as possible. An auxiliary aim of the tour (one of the largest within the underground rap community) is to expose his largely suburban audience to other urban acts.
"I'm trying to put my friends in contact with as many people as I can," Slug says. "These are people who I consider to be making good rap music. But these are also good people with good intentions. That's what we stand for."
Slug's extensive itinerary is also based on his efforts to reduce the insularity of the scene he is primarily associated with: Minneapolis, Minn.
"We're seven hours from any other city. We're not going to drive to Chicago to go see Fugazi. We would miss a lot of tours [growing up]. In Minneapolis, the scene becomes self-supported. There are plenty of artists there that can live off of what they have in Minneapolis. I'm trying to help distill the need to get out."
The new album concerns itself with more sophistication from the musical expansion of Slug's partner in Atmosphere, Ant. The album boasts fuller melodies, less filler and layering that manages to be fruitful without being overwrought. This is achieved primarily by sticking to the formula that made albums like "God Loves Ugly" so successful.
"We followed the rules and guidelines. There's more layering going on than what we're used to. We've learned how to do what we do better; it has gotten more refined. If you look at our lives, they've gotten more refined over the years. Everyone is trying to grow up. It sounds super pretentious, but I think our records are synonymous with our lives"
