Coming straight outta the rough'n'tumble surroundings of Minneapolis/St. Paul, the
Rhymesayers clique is slowly but surely putting Minnesota on the
hip-hop map. OK, so the frozen lands that gave listeners
Prince and
Morris Day & the Time may seem like a fairly unlikely setting for the next
hip-hop hotbed, but you can't deny the talent the area's been bringing to the table. First,
Eyedea won the country's biggest MC battle with a brilliant display of freestyle ability, now
Atmosphere's latest album states the case that there are some serious skills in the Great White North. The group is fronted by
Slug, whose densely packed rhymes on the opening
"Onemosphere" and
"The Bass & the Movement" showcase a clever lyrical flow that recalls early
De La Soul if they'd been produced by
El-P. On
"Hair" and the title track, the MC exposes a refreshing sense of self-deprecating realism all too often lacking among the current
hip-hop scene's posturing poseurs. Though the
lo-fi D.I.Y. production slows the momentum on a handful of tracks, when
Slug's rhymes and producer
Ant's beats click, the results are as good as
underground hip-hop gets. ~ Bret Love