Atmosphere

To understand why Atmosphere's dominated the underground hip-hop scene for more than a decade, you might want to start with the duo's album When Life Gives You Lemons . . .. A glaring example of how to age gracefully in a game that celebrates elbow-throwing Next Big Things, it's driven by Ant's deceivingly simple beats and Slug's brutally honest rhymes, from the delirious but delightful piano line and fallen father tribute of "Yesterday" to the head-encircling synths and chunky drum breaks of "Shoulda Known." And, hey, if you want to hear where it all began, there's always the laid-back beginner's guide that's spread across the Lucy Ford EP collection.

Still not sure why two guys named Ant and Slug were meant for each other? Cue up our Next Steps and find out.

If there's one thing Atmosphere's known for, aside from Ant's spare soul samples (the heavenly Laura Lee hook of "Pour Me Another," the swift Lee Dorsey loops of "Watch Out") and leftfield guest list (yep, that's Tom Waits beat-boxing his way across "The Waitress"), it's Slug's storytelling skills and inability to hold anything back. Both sides of the Atmosphere equation come together beautifully on "Little Man," as Ant sets a Kanye West-like melody against a living, breathing letter to Slug's son. And then there's "Hockey Hair," a galloping groove that could've been pulled from RZA's hard drive — a groove Slug rides for nearly three minutes.

Now, before you think Slug doesn't play well with others, head over to our Deep Cuts, which features a stack of his guest spots and a very special side project with Murs.

You read that right — Felt really is a two-part collaboration (between Slug of Atmosphere and Murs of Living Legends) that revolves around the finer points of Christina Ricci and Lisa Bonet. It's killer, too, featuring some serious pass-the-mic action and the freshly dug record-store finds of Ant and the Grouch. Speaking of Slug side projects and special appearances, Deep Puddle Dynamics was a one-time-only supergroup featuring Sole, Alias, and Doesone of the Anticon collective, and "The Office" reveals what happens when you drop Aesop Rock and Slug — two indie rap superstars — off in the same studio. And what's that? Why, it's a solid gold single.

Don't believe the sarcastic record sleeve of Atmosphere's fourth proper album, 2005's You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having. Contrary to the "now what?" look spread across Slug's face, the MC's been having the time of his life alongside his longtime producer Ant since the mid-'90s. One of the most successful groups in the history of underground hip-hop, Atmosphere is an airtight example of why it takes only two make things go right, whether we're talkin' something as simple as the four-track experiments of Headshots: Se7En (originally pressed as a cassette in 1998) to the punchy, speaker-pleasing productions of nearly every Atmosphere track since Seven's Travels. The best of which headline our Essentials set, so we hope you're ready to rhyme along for the next couple hours.