Atmosphere (hip hop group)

Atmosphere
Atmosphere at Warehouse Live in Houston, Texas in 2006
Background information
Origin	Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Genres	Hip hop
Years active	1996 (1996)–present
Labels	Rhymesayers Entertainment
Associated acts	Felt Brother Ali Murs Eyedea & Abilities Aesop Rock Mr. Dibbs Musab P.O.S I Self Devine Living Legends Sage Francis MF Doom
Website	rhymesayers.com/atmosphere
Members	Slug Ant
Past members	Spawn Stress

Atmosphere is an American hip hop duo from Minneapolis, Minnesota, consisting of rapper Slug (Sean Daley) and DJ/producer Ant (Anthony Davis). Since its formation in 1996, the group has released eight studio albums and ten extended plays.

The duo is composed of the rapper Slug (Sean Daley) and the DJ/producer Ant (Anthony Davis). With the exception of a few tracks on the album Lucy Ford, Ant has produced every Atmosphere record. A former member and co-founder Spawn (Derek Turner) left the group after the release of the group's first album Overcast!. Mr. Dibbs, a DJ associated with the group, toured with Atmosphere before their You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having tour, at which point Ant began touring.

Sean Daley and Derek Turner met in high school. The two took the names Slug and D-Spawn, respectively, as rapper names. They initially performed under the name "Mental Subjects", before changing the name to "A Rhythmic Culture", and finally settling on "Urban Atmosphere". Originally, Spawn performed as the rapper, with Slug acting as DJ. Eventually Spawn convinced Slug to start rapping as well. Through the rapper Musab (then known as Beyond), Slug was introduced to the producer Ant after they went to his house to record a track. Slug saw an opportunity to work with Ant and convinced Spawn to record further with him. They soon started recording songs with Ant, learning how to structure songs properly and practicing vocal delivery. Eventually the group dropped the "Urban" from their name.

Atmosphere, as a group, joined with other rappers Musab, Phull Surkle, Black Hole,and The Abstract Pack to form a collective known as Headshots. This group later evolved into the record label Rhymesayers. Over time, a series of cassettes was released under the Headshots name which earned some local acclaim. By 1996, Slug, Stress and Musab were making national appearances such as on NPR's All Things Considered. The start of Rhymesayers as a record label came when Siddiq, fed up with their treatment at a number of local studios, decided to buy his own.