As far as hip-hop duos go, Atmosphere is one of the longest-standing that we've seen still making music. Apart from feeding fans with So Many Other Realities Exist Simultaneously earlier this year, they've also got a treat for their older listeners in the form of Sad Clown Bad Dub 2. The 12-track effort finally hit DSPs this past New Music Friday, over two decades after Slug and Ant originally put it together to help generate more sales while on tour.
Per Broadway World, the series first began as a string of limited cassette tapes and CD-Rs. They've continued to share new installments, with over a dozen arriving since the first in 1999. Four-track demos, live recordings, behind-the-scenes footage, a mixtape, and vinyl singles are just a few of the forms we've heard the Sad Clown sounds come in. Of the many releases, the second iteration continues to be a fan favourite, likely explaining why the Midwest-based duo wanted it to be more readily available for their listeners.
Go Back in Time with Atmosphere's "Body Pillow"
"It is a deeply introspective project that explores a range of complex thoughts and emotions, counter-balanced by occasional moments of darkly humorous sarcasm and wit," the outlet praises Slug's writing. The longtime lyricist is perhaps best known for taking the darkest moments of his own life and turning them into bars that thousands of others can relate to and seek comfort in. As for Ant, his production has always perfectly complimented his partner's work, and listening back on their 2000s work now only proves how far they've come since first kicking off their careers.
Get a sample of Sad Clown Bad Dub 2 with "Body Pillow" above, or find the full project on Spotify/Apple Music. Are you a fan of Atmosphere's earliest work? Let us know in the comments, and find more of the latest HNHH release recommendations on our Fire Emoji update at the link below.
Sad Clown Bad Dub 2 Tracklist:
- Sad Clown
- Body Pillow
- The Pill
- Running With Scissors
- Fashion Magazine
- The Wind
- Hungry F**k
- Hells Playground
- The Ocean
- When It Breaks
- Inside Outsider
- The River
[Via]