Sean Daley, Slug of Atmosphere, has consistently been on the road for the last ten years, performing and introducing himself to a new generation of hip-hop fans, a generation that often names him as their favorite rapper. In a few weeks, he’ll clock more mileage for a Spring tour that’ll take him to ballrooms, clubs, music festivals, and tiny theaters across the US and Canada to celebrate the reissue of Atmosphere’s ‘02 release, God Loves Ugly. And while the 36-year-old emcee doesn’t “give a fuck about being the best”, he’s surely revered in a culture that has embraced him, a culture that “empowered” his own youth.
Here, Slug talks hip-hop, its dominant affect on him, who his favorite rappers are, working with DOOM (an admitted hero of his) and ultimately, the legacy he hopes Atmosphere’s music will leave. You don’t get good without knowing your roots, which Slug proves, as we kick it on this old-school discussion tip.
You remember the first time you heard rap music?
When I was first exposed to it, I was like ten or eleven-years-old. It was just stuff that was on urban radio. I didn’t know it was a new movement or anything. It wasn’t until RUN DMC where I was like “this is something else!” and that’s when I felt like it wasn’t my dad’s music. I mean, by the time RUN DMC happened, my dad was probably like “these motherfuckers are yelling at me!” where as the earlier stuff, the Sugarhill style, was still Disco, R&B, and Funk. The RUN DMC records sounded like they were smacking the side of houses made out of aluminum.
Let’s talk rap and rappers. Who were your favorites and what about them stuck with you?
I would say Public Enemy, KRS-One, Mc Shan, and Big Daddy Kane are my biggest influences. I actually saw PE in Sydney recently do It Takes A Nation… and it was the fucking shit. But initially, I was a huge Juice Crew fan. I loved the Biz and Shante and was about fifteen or sixteen when I feel in love with ‘em. I loved the whole Juice Crew concept because it was relatable, because I had my own little crew too. And in my crew, we had a dude named Mark, who was the joker, the kind of guy that would fart on your pillow or some shit. And that reminded me of Biz Markie, ya know? Everyone in the Juice Crew had their own personality. And in my own way, I wanted to be Mc Shan; in the same way kids look at a Transformer and want to be Optimus Prime. Plus I always liked Pumas even though I couldn’t afford ‘em. And Shan always had the fly suede Pumas. So his records were just the shit to me.
KRS seems to be a huge influence on many rappers. You mentioned KRS—what did he do for you?
He was the one that changed hip-hop for me. When KRS came out and demolished Shan, I was like well, I like Big Daddy Kane now [laughs]! But I gotta admit, KRS is my favorite of all time. Everyone has their favorites and everyone takes it real seriously, so I wouldn’t argue with anyone about favorites. But for me, on the DL, I know that KRS is the greatest. I don’t care what anyone else says. Prior to KRS, fools rapped at you and KRS was the first one to rap to you. It was like he took speech classes or something. He would use his voice and accentuate shit that made it seem like you’re the only person in the world he’s speaking to. And I picked this up, even as a little kid, so it was a big deal to me. That’s what made me want to rap. In fact, I’m not surprised people don’t accuse me of biting KRS-One, like I’m KRS-Two or some shit [laughs].
[...] Slug Interview For URB [...]