LA Times-Atmosphere is Flying High
After Tuesday night’s Atmosphere show, I’m convinced that it’s high-time we retired the label, “underground hip-hop.” Like “indie rock,” before it, the term has ceased to have any real meaning. When the phrase first started to gain currency in the mid-to-late 90s, it actually referred to something specific: the Rawkus/Rhymesayers/Def Jux/Quannum/Fondle ‘Em stuff that outwardly bucked the mainstream, big Willie posturing. But in 2008 there’s no mainstream to speak of. Rappers that move units: Kanye, 50, Wayne, are as pop as they are hip-hop.* And when a guy like Slug can sell out every date of his West Coast Tour, be named MTV Artist of the Week and debut at #5 on the charts, it’s a sign that the lines have grown hopelessly hazy. A dub or a sendspace link to Black and White in Dub to the first person who thinks of a clever genre catch-phrase that I can co-opt. Act now while supplies last.
As for the show, it was solid. Slug’s always been an impressive rapper and even though he’s arguably past his prime, he still can bring it on-stage. Moreover, I was stunned by how rabid his fan base has gotten. I saw them in October but this time felt more triumphant, a victory lap with both crowd and artist semi-stunned by the group’s recent trajectory. And yes, in case you were wondering, Ant still looks eerily like Burt Reynolds on Celebrity Jeopardy.
*Don’t argue with me Wayne fanboys. Granted, I know that new cut with Bun B features dope rapping but still, this exists.
LA Times: Atmosphere Flying High
From When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold
MP3: Atmosphere-”Puppets”
MP3: Atmosphere-”Yesterday”
May 8th, 2008 at 4:51 am
“rappers that move units…are as pop as they are hip hop”
that’s an interesting comment, b/c hip hop IS pop music, in the true “popular” meaning of the term, and that’s always been one of its’ great strengths. the first major post-modern form of pop music. it’s what allowed hip hop to stay on the cutitng edge of music for such a long, and frankly unprecedented, period of time. I mention this b/c the “underground hip-hop” of the late 90s was a precusor to the revivalism that hip hop had managed to avoid up to that point. not the original axis of labels you named, which were FWD-thinking (def jux most obviously) but in their imitators & the concept of saviors dedicated to prtoecting hip hop by defining its’ boundaries. the same exact thing, on a smaller scale, killed off drumnbass in the late 90s. not on on some hip hop is dead tip at all, just that revival equal stagnancy. dudes can still make GOOD records by flipping soul samples & multi syllabic flows but that formula will never, ever be INNOVATIVE again. whereas while people may call guys like RZA/Primo/Pete Rock traditionalists now in the 90s those dudes were all way out on the cutting edge of music, as avante-garde as John Cage in his day.
I do find it intersting that Atmosphere, one of the most traditional of all those late 90s groups, was the one make the great crossover leap. it does make sense - Co Flow was too weird, Fondle ‘Em too insular, Quannum too smart, etc. as for a genre buzzword, how about “Dad Rap”? it already happened w/UK underground dance culture, where all the original ‘88-’93 ravers are in their late 30s/early 40s, which is just where Slug & El-P and all their mates will be in 5 years. you know, time to think about what kind of serious artistic legacy you’ll be leaving behind.
May 8th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Just this week, two cats whose knowledge of Hip Hop is still stuck on 1990 asked me (since I’m the “rap guy”) “so this Atmospehere guy, what’s his deal?”
Your assessment is right on point Weiss.
May 8th, 2008 at 10:18 am
I disagree with you on the point that revival automatically denotes stagnancy. While I agree that many revivalist artists fall into the trap of slavishly emulating their idols, it is possible to be both innovative and slyly pay homage to your past. See The Knux, where the “Cappuccino” video clearly owes a creative debt to De La and Kid N’ Play, yet it always feels fresh and exciting.
It’s pretty simple actually why Slug crossed over. It’s because he’s the only underground dude who understood and knew how to do well what ‘Pac once told BIG: “Ya’ gotta’ rap for the [ladies].”
May 8th, 2008 at 11:49 am
This was eventually why I turned a blind eye to the Rawkus and Okayplayer aesthetic. They spent a great deal of time and money defining themselves by what they weren’t and constantly reminding people what they wish they were. It’s an express train to irrelevence.
Is the new Brian Jonestown Massacre album seriously called My Bloody Underground? How does Yo La Tengo feel about that?
Weiss this new genre should be called “pop” which is pop spelled backwards.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:54 am
^well, that & he’s a good-looking “white” (I know, he’s mixed, but effectively) guy.
i’d agree that it can be a fine line between homage & revival but the latter is usually indicative of a dearth of new ideas. I guess I should have been more clear that most people probably don’t give a shit if music is innovative and that in fact that’s usually a negative in commercial terms. which of course only makes hip hop’s long run of combined commercial/creative success all the more impressive. what I meant is that the true creative heirs to the pioneers of any genre are never the ones whose influences you can directly cite.