People seem to be under the impression that if a rapper isn’t on MTV everyday wearing a fur coat and a million dollars worth of jewelry that he isn’t as important of an artist or that he’s struggling. That’s not the case. Like with any other profession there are people who earn more or earn less. Some hip-hop artists earn less because they remain independent to keep full creative control and refuse to compromise their vision. And don’t get it twisted; some of these artists eat very well.

Atmosphere is the perfect example of this type of hip-hop act. They’ve been in the game for years and thanks to their hard work and dedication to making great, relatable music, they’ve built up a fan base that can rival some of the biggest acts in the game. While they may not be major label artists, they are about as big as you can get on an independent level. Here’s a question though, what happens when a group like Atmosphere lands a record in the top 10 while major artists are struggling to reach that feat.

Atmosphere recently accomplished that with their latest record “When Life Hands You Lemons Paint That Shit Gold”. Sixshot.com caught up with Slug of Atmosphere to discuss the highest debuting record of their career, why fans can relate to them, and why Jake One is the producer to watch for. 

Sixshot.Com: “When Life Hands You Lemons, Paint That Shit Gold” is your sixth album, correct?

Slug: Yes sir, well it’s the sixth official album. We probably have about thirty albums out right now (Laughs) but this is the sixth official album. A lot of the other albums were just stuff that I wanted to do for touring or whatever.

Sixshot.Com: What was the difference this time around? Because, I mean you guys moved a lot of units.

Slug: I really can’t say that we did anything outside of what we do. I have to give credit to the audience. They really fuckin’ went in man. They just showed their strength in numbers. We were all very surprised. I would love to be able to say we did this, this, and this but it wouldn’t be true. We did a little bit more as far as the viral stuff goes like Youtube and such. We didn’t send out advance copies so the record didn’t have a chance to leak. The first time anybody heard it was the day it was released. I didn’t want anybody to have a copy of the record so maybe that’s what it was.

I was really trying to avoid a leak. I had no idea that the record not leaking would produce these kind of numbers but I knew that I was sick of our album leaking two months early. By the time we went on tour it was almost like the record seemed old. With this album I was like, “Fuck it, I’ll take an L on this one because I’m not sending out advance copies and I’m not getting press”. And what happened? I sold more. I think it’s kind of an anomaly because I’m not sure it was supposed to work that way. I think we just kind of got lucky.

Sixshot.Com: So when the numbers came in it was just a complete surprise?

Slug: Yes, definitely. Usually when we put out a record we do between 15 and 20 thousand in the first week. I didn’t believe that we had gone up in popularity since the last record because the shows were still bringing in the same amount of people. The label is optimistic as fuck about it and I’m usually not. This is a time when all record sales are suffering. A record that should sell a million copies is only selling four hundred thousand. A record that sells a hundred thousand is only selling fifty or less. Every release we’re putting out is actually doing better so we’re in a position where we’re not on par with the rest of the industry. Our records are doing better as opposed to most others, which are doing worse.

We believe that they didn’t see the shit coming either. I give it up to the fan base man. People who like us don’t just like us because we have a song they could dance to. They don’t just like us because they could bump our CD on their way to work. The people who like us take us really seriously. The majority of kids that are feelin’ Atmosphere are feelin’ us for far more than the beats and the rhymes man. There’s something in their identity that attaches them to Atmosphere. I think these kids took it upon themselves to show their support by going out there and picking up the album. I couldn’t ask for anything more man. These kids are beautiful.

Sixshot.Com: Why do you think your fan base relates to you in such a strong way?

Slug: I got to imagine that it has something to do with them just relating to us as people. There aren’t a whole lot of kids out there who can relate to 50 Cent as a person. They can relate to 50 Cent as an image. They look at him like a super fuckin’ hero or a super villain depending on how you look at it. 50’s life is what it is man but most people who buy his albums don’t have lives like that. I think that most people who get into our shit are actually hearing a piece of themselves inside of it.

Sixshot.Com: Was the touring different after this album dropped?

Slug: It’s hard to tell because we always flip shit around on tour to make it better. We just try to make it crazier for the fans and ourselves. I’m starting a tour soon that’s going to really show me if there’s a big difference. I’m going to cities that I’ve never been to before. I grabbed venues that are bigger than the ones I usually do. I’m trying to test the waters to see what the fuck happened for real. That’s when I’ll be able to really plot and scheme and find a science to where we’re really at.

We’re in a spot right now where people are asking how we sold all these records, how we have a song on alternative rock radio, are we the next Gnarls Barkley? (Laughs) We’re usually under the radar. Right now we’re above the radar but we haven’t necessarily seen the results of that yet. I haven’t gotten a check yet. This tour is truly where we find out where we’re at. Right now we’re in a purgatory type of area.

Sixshot.Com: Does it feel different being so on the radar this time around?

Slug: I mean I guarantee you that if this was happening ten years ago when I was 26 we’d be acting like idiots. We’d be acting like rock stars but since we’re older and we have our priorities straight it’s easier to deal with this rationally. It’s not the kind of thing where we’re just bugging out. It’s kind of like us trying to figure out how we can use this to our advantage and get even more resources and do even better next time around.

Sixshot.Com: Do you feel like this exposure is bringing in a lot of new fans?

Slug: I think that still kind of falls under the purgatory category. One time I was on a tour called the 'Warped Tour 'and then when I did my own tour I saw all these new kids that had discovered us from the 'Warped Tour'. We went from performing for 300 kids to 1500. So what’s going to happen now, we’re going to be doing shows for 3000 because of all the new press and hype? I think it’s just one of those things where we’re going to have to wait and see what happens.

Sixshot.Com: You’ve got the new album obviously, what else can we expect from Atmosphere?

Slug: Right now we’re going to embark on a national tour, which is going to be 51 cities. The Jake-One album is crazy. He’s a Seattle producer and he’s incredible. He’s done stuff for everybody. There’s no lines drawn in his hip-hop, which is how it’s supposed to be. We aren’t supposed to be broken down into different categories. Jake One’s fuckin’ record does a great job of setting that example. I’m more excited about his shit than I am about my own. I can be excited about my own shit on some self-serving shit but I’ve kind of outgrown that and I’m at the point where I want my kids to have good hip-hop music to listen to.

www.myspace.com/atmosphere