In anticipation of Atmosphere’s headlining spot at Saturday’s Freakfest on State Street, The Badger Herald spoke with the group’s MC, Slug, on the phone. The rapper is a king of independent rap, and arguably the most well-known musician to come out of Minneapolis in the past two decades. In addition to talking about the group’s upcoming Freakfest performance, we chatted about classic producers and the story behind the group’s hit “Sunshine,” among other topics.
The Badger Herald: Can you even remember how many shows you’ve done in Madison? What is your favorite part of the city?
Slug: Whoa. I don’t know how many shows I’ve done there, so I’m going to just take a guess and say 15? Could be more, could be less. Actually there is no way it’s less. We’ll say somewhere between 15 and 20. To be 100 percent honest, one of my main favorite things about playing Madison is the familiarity, not just because I’ve played there many times, but because there is a crossover between Madison and Minneapolis. There are people that I know, especially from back in the day, there are people that went to school there, so it’s easy to find a place to sleep after the show. And then I’ve established friendships with people there so it’s a comfortable and familiar situation. It’s also a party town, so you know when you play party towns, obviously the people are there to party. They’re there to have fun. In fact, you can’t stop them from having fun and so, in that regard, it’s always good when there is energy there … as opposed to people that just want to fight or are there to hit on chicks. Or dudes for that matter. I don’t mean to be gender-specific.
BH: What songs do you think you’ll roll out for Freakfest out of the hundreds you and Ant have made?
S: We usually figure that out after sound check or at the beginning of the show. We kind of base it on what the vibe is. You know, it’s an outdoor show. A lot of times with outdoor shows we go for more high-energy songs and less depressing songs.
BH: Where do you think Ant stands in the hierarchy of music producers — compared with the Dr. Dres, the Kanye Wests, the Quincy Jones’ and the Phil Spectors of the world?
S: Where do I place Ant? I put him below Quincy, but above Phil. Well, I don’t know if that’s right or not. I’m not very familiar with Phil Spector.
BH: He did a lot of The Beatles’ work.
S: Oh, yeah. The Beatles. They’re OK.
BH: When I think of music in Minneapolis, I think of “Purple Rain,” “Funkytown,” “Closing Time” and “Sunshine.” Did you think the song [“Sunshine”], which was written about a hangover, would define the scope of Minneapolis music when you first made it?
S: Absolutely not. When I made the song I was hungover. I literally rode my bike to Anthony’s house that day and made the song because I was hungover, and so I didn’t even know if that song was going to make the cut. All I knew was nobody would’ve ever heard it. When me and Anthony make music together we really have no idea what is going to happen to it. It’s not until later that we think like, “This is what the song will be.” So yeah. I’m surprised actually that you think that song fits with all of those super famous songs.
BH: I think anyone from Minneapolis would agree, because that’s one of the songs they listen to religiously.
S: Well I’m from Minneapolis, and I wouldn’t put that song next to “Purple Rain.” But hey, I appreciate the thought.
BH: Earlier in your career, you made certain decisions about what record labels to commit or not commit to. You made it clear that your love of music was more important than making a buck. Tell me more about what this meant to you in terms of staying true to how you wanted to portray and produce your music. How has this impacted your music and your direction?
S: The main reason I stuck to the indie route, to be honest as honest can be, is because I’m a control freak. I don’t like the idea of anybody else being able to tell me what to do. I don’t. I don’t want a boss. The reason why I don’t have a regular job is because I don’t want a boss. And so sticking to the independent route gave me full control of my music. I can control what shows I play. I can control what photos get sent out for PR. I’m in control of every single little thing, which is a gift and a curse. The curse is that I have to always be on the job. I’m always having to make better decisions, to try to make improvements of every single aspect of business. But you know, the gift is that I get to control everything.
This Freakfest Prof wants you to invite him to your house party
BH: Rick Rubin, co-founder of Def Jam Records, offered to executive produce When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold. What was that experience like and what things does Rick do that no one else can replicate?
S: I think Rick brings a certain type of ear. I guess my favorite thing about Rick Rubin is that he is able to take the simple and make it more complex. He gives simple things a lot of complexity. I think anybody that has the opportunity to work with him is fortunate.
BH: 2014’s Soundset Music Festival had one of the best lineups I’ve ever seen in the history of its existence, yet many people derided some of the artists as being “low culture.” If you believe it does, how do you think diversity has impacted the evolution of hip-hop culture? Do you think it has a role in closing off people to certain sounds or artists?
S: I’m trying to fully understand the question. Low as in L-O-W?
BH: Yeah. For instance people saw 2Chainz on the list of performers and said things like, “He sucks, this isn’t good rap music, etc.” Do you think that diversity has impacted hip-hop’s evolution or that it has a role in closing off people to certain artists based on their content? People said that 2Chainz isn’t good music, which I don’t think is true. Do you think that’s true?
S: No. I don’t think that’s true at all. In fact, the funny thing about the way people view this culture is that every person views it through their own filter. Every person takes this culture and pushes it through the filter of their own identity. So people go, “Well, this is the kind of music I like, so this is the music that’s true to the culture.” There are people out there that will say, “Well Atmosphere and Aesop Rock, what the fuck do they got to do with hip-hop culture?” And they’re right just as much as anybody who criticizes 2Chainz is right. That’s the problem with youth movements — with movements that are youth-based — and I’m not saying that this is a problem, but I’m just using that to articulate my point. The youth have a tendency to be insular. It’s all about what’s right there beside themselves or what’s right there in front of them. It’s hard for us to have a broad perspective when we’re young because we’re still trying to figure out ourselves. So whatever identities we choose, that’s what we’re going to push.
So when kids say, “I don’t like 2Chainz” or “What does 2Chainz have to do with hip-hop?” they’re not thinking about the bigger picture. The bigger picture is this: When hip-hop was born, it was born from dancing. It was born from a party. It was born from people figuring out how to party in some burned-out basement of an abandoned building and showing up and dancing. It wasn’t about spitting lyrics. It wasn’t about trying to communicate knowledge to the masses. It was 100 percent about partying and dancing. From there it grew into all of these other beautiful elements. But 2Chainz — they’re forgetting that 2Chainz’s job is to make people dance. Just like the Black Eyed Peas’ job is to make people dance. So technically, if you look at this from a historical eye, 2Chainz, as well as the Black Eyed Peas, are far closer to the source of hip-hop than Sage Francis, Murs or Atmosphere.
BH: What is something about Atmosphere that fans don’t know yet?
S: Man I wish I knew, because I would make a song about it. I mean, nothing that I’m willing to admit publicly.
BH: Evaluate this Hunter S. Thompson quote: “The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.”
S: I think that is a — What do you call it when people write a shocking headline to get your attention?
BH: Since everything is online now, kind of like clickbait?
S: Yes! Perfect. I believe that quote is the equivalent of clickbait. Some of the greats like Hunter S. Thompson or Charles Bukowski — this is pre-Internet — they needed to say things and they need to have quotes that would make people go, “Whoa, that’s deep. What is that? I’m going to go and see what else this guy has to say.” So that quote is the equivalent of Hunter S. Thompson’s clickbait – to try to get you interested in other things he might’ve had to say. And it’s a great one. It’s a great quote. Because depending on your perspective, you can analyze that quote and it can mean a couple of different things. It could be him saying that the positive side to the music industry is all of that shit or it could be him saying that is no positive side to the industry. You know what I mean? It’s open for different interpretations, and that’s why I think it’s clickbait. I don’t think it’s a very solid statement. It’s not like a statement where he is saying, “Here is my mantra, here is something I’m really going to stand for.” It’s more of him saying something to get people interested in his other shit.
Honestly, I believe Hunter is someone who is kind of a king of that. He was really good at that. If you go through some of his books or read some of his essays, a lot of his writing was, I guess, intentionally obtuse. I know there is a better word, but it was kind of intentionally broad. It was really hard to pin down. It was really up for a lot of interpretations. I think a lot of us writers do that as sort of a defense mechanism. I do the same shit. I write things that can be interpreted in different ways because it’s like being afraid of letting somebody in. It’s like being afraid of letting somebody really really get to know you. So all you do is say awkward things.
BH: Is there something that you haven’t accomplished yet in music that you would like to before your career is over — or maybe someone you’d like to work with who you haven’t yet?
S: You know, I can’t say that there is. I’ve given this question thought before, but there really isn’t anything that I’m really concerned with accomplishing. I’m the kind of artist that just kind of wakes up and makes my choices on a day-to-day basis. I don’t really have anything where I’m like, “Yo, I have a goal that I’m going to set for myself that I’m going to work at for the next four or five years.” Because in that time, there is a lot of room for me to evolve and become somebody else. I don’t want to make a list of goals that I’m going to get bored with. I don’t make goals that I want to accomplish. I just do it.
BH: Is there anything that you would like to see change in the world?
S: Yeah. I would like to see police become more accountable for their actions and their policing procedures. I feel like there shouldn’t be such a separation between the police and the community that they feel like they don’t need the police. I feel like we’re living in a world where it’s too easy to say that there’s good guys and there’s bad guys, when technically I don’t think people are so black and white. I think people are complex things, man. I think everyone has both good and bad inside of them. I wish there was a way to use things that were extreme in the past to inform how we view the future instead of continuing to just repeat the cycles.
