By Sonora Birnie
Atmosphere, celebrated hip-hop duo with more than 20 years in the music business, is currently embarking on a national headlining tour to promote their most recent album Mi Vida Local. Members Slug (Sean Daley) and Ant (Anthony Davis) made a stop in Boise, Idaho with opening acts from The Lioness, deM atlaS, and DJ Keezy.
The Lioness is known for her intense lyrical rapping that has vast amounts of substance, and she did not disappoint as she hit the stage to start the show off. The women of hip hop were well represented as she performed alongside DJ Keezy, who sat at her table with trademark glasses and a shirt reading “Women don’t owe you shit”. The Lioness exuded passion and power as she spat her fierce and pointed raps for a killer 30 minutes.
DJ Keezy kept spinning the beats as deM atlaS (Joshua Turner) came pounding onto the stage with ferocity, bringing the already high energy in The Knitting Factory even higher. The sweat dripped off his face as he bounced around the stage, jumping and spinning to punctuate the beats and his meaningful raps. He performed such crowd favorites as “Music Man”, “All We Got”, and “Bad Loves Company”. deM atlaS did not disappoint, delivering an impassioned performance that conveyed the intensity of his emotions. He connected to every person at the sold out show, and left the crowd amped and ready for Atmosphere to make their much anticipated appearance.
The openers had warmed the crowd up to a near frenzy, and when Atmosphere finally took the stage, the audience erupted in excitement. As Ant sat stoically on this DJ throne, Slug opened the set with numbers off the new album. He frequently commented on the age of his audience, joking that he was “glad that there was enough child care in Boise to accommodate this situation”. Despite this, there were plenty of younger people in the crowd rapping along to songs that may have been released before they were even born.
Atmosphere brought their signature and self-proclaimed “dad rap”, but their lyrical and writing genius was undeniably present. They took the stage with the comfortable grace of performers with many years under their belt, but somehow were able to simultaneously make the show feel fresh. Slug frequently thanked The Knit for “looking at us and letting us look at you”, conveying their love for the art.
When the set was over, the crowd screamed and begged for more. Cries for an encore echoed through the packed venue, and the duo was happy to return. This time they brought The Lioness and deM atlaS with them and the group brought the energy through the roof. The show was overall packed with inspiration and amazing music, proving that the Boise stop on the tour was sold out for a good reason.
