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Atmosphere has strong showing on latest

Over the past ten years, rap music has taken over the Billboard charts. Hip-hop songs can be heard anywhere from clubs and bars to mainstream clothing stores. While conventional rap has focused itself on "gangsta" sounds like those from 50 Cent and Eminem, another form, with a little less bling and booty, has been coming forward.

Along with Jurassic 5, Blackalicious and Gang Starr, Minneapolis' Atmosphere has emerged as an underground rap group to watch out for. They are extremely popular in their hometown and college campuses nationwide, and have developed a reputation as a rap group for people who usually don't like rap. Slug, one of the rappers in the group, has been labeled an "emo" rapper due to the fact that he tends to hit more on issues like girls and his feelings, as apposed to a 40 oz. and sawed-off shotgun.

With their latest album, You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having, which is due out Oct. 4, Atmosphere gets a little bit louder than the previous. They have dumped the acoustic guitars that were used in Seven's Travels and added more synthesizers and computer-generated instruments.

The first track, appropriately entitled "The Arrival," is a whirling mix of both standard and computerized instruments. The song is a strong track that sets the tone for the entire record, letting listeners know that Atmosphere should be taken seriously.

"Panic Attack" starts out with a sound clip from The Cosby Show. Bill tells us he has something to make us feel good and then a Moby-esque beat continues the track. The song turns out to be a powerful ballad about drug abuse in America, and the well-written lyrics and infectious beats make it a song worth listening to.

The album continues with "Watch Out," an aggressive song that lets us know that the members of Atmosphere don't care if we like their music or not. It's a fast-paced song that uses a lot of synthesizers and mixes in beats from other songs as well. The song is lyrically decent, but the music winds up feeling a bit chaotic.

"Musical Chairs," which adds in piano as well as beat-boxing, comes off as a catchy song that is put together well, though lyrically it's a bit confusing. "Say Hey There" is a bit slower and is similar to songs on their previous album. It's a track about relationship problems and gets its message across well. You can hear the emotion in Slug's voice mix together with the piano in the background, fitting the tone of the song perfectly.

The album continues on with "Hockey Hair" which has very catchy lyrics and incorporates violins over the synthesizers. It is followed by "Bam", which is an upbeat song made for more of a club scene and is something you can dance to.

The album's first single, "Pour Me Another," layers a simple piano sample over some of Ant's trademark beats. Slug once more laments relationships past, rapping "Pour me another/ so I can forget you now" on the track's hook.

"Smary Went Crazy" is another song about a relationship gone wrong and incorporates electric guitars. It, as well as most of the songs on the album, is extremely well written. "Angelface" is a love song that shows that Slug has a soft side despite all of the relationship problems he raps about.

The album ends with "That Night," "Get Fly" and "Little Man." "That Night" has R&B vocals added in, which mixes up the song a bit. "Get Fly" is an energetic and positive song that is done with a gospel group next to it, which changes up the style. The song proves that they aren't so angry as well. Lastly, there is "Little Man," which is a slower but meaningful song about his family, and sounds quite a bit like Eminem's "Stan" — except without the homicidal fan. It wraps up the album nicely.

You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having is an overall decent album with poetic lyrics and interesting backbeats. All of the songs have meaning and the effort put into it is apparent in each song. While the disc can get a little monotonous at times, Atmosphere's talents shine through in each song.

Grade: B