Atmosphere News

Chris Riemenschneider discuss the year and decade in Minnesota music Sunday at 6 p.m. on the Current's "Local Show" . Top 10 local albums of the decade More from Chris Riemenschneider It was the middle of April 2001, and -- just like the Prince song says can happen -- it snowed.

Duff McKagan's column runs every Thursday on Reverb. He writes about what's circulating through his iPod every Monday.

Nine years ago, two guys from northeast Minneapolis released a rap song called "Never," with a guest appearance by Slug of Atmosphere , one of the best-known rappers in town.

Rhymesayers' twosome Eyedea & Abilities are fresh off their national tour. Among Atmosphere, Brother Ali and P.O.S., this beat-dropping duo are in the belly of Twin Cities rap music beast.

Other than that, it's lower Manhattan, go figure. Prices at Culture Club/NerveAna Admission costs are typically $20 regular price, $15 if you're on some kind of special list, birthday list members get in free all night, one admission fee get you into both Culture Club and NerveAna.

In the wake of Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park, rap-rock might seem neither contemporaneous nor appealing.

Anthony "Ant" Davis, left, and Sean "Slug" Daley are two of the co-founders of Rhymesayers Entertainment.

Slug from Atmosphere will always own the throne as the rapper who most firmly put the Twin Cities on the hip-hop map.

The following is a transcript of the above podcast. Hi, I'm Abby LaPier of the Paly Voice .

EVEN THOUGH THE entire theme of Slug 's and MURS 's albums as hip-hop duo Felt is whether they can sleep with the girls they dedicate their records to, the wonderfulness of their latest - " Felt 3: A Tribute to Rosie Perez " - makes it really hard to resent their misogyny.

Fast-rising hip-hop artist Brother Ali's fifth album, "Us," was released Sept. 22 and has garnered the best response of his career, but he's not letting the praise go to his head.

Kings Island will hold auditions in search of trained, talented and versatile singers, dancers, atmosphere acts, characters, costumers and technicians for the 2010 entertainment season.A Auditions will be held Nov.

Sincerity is Atmosphere's strong point, so it makes sense that the Minnesota hip-hop duo named its fifth disc You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having.

Sincerity is Atmosphere's strong point, so it makes sense that the Minnesota hiphop duo named its fifth disc You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having.

Throwback Thursday brings it back to the Midwest, with the title track from Slug and Ant's 2002 album, God Loves Ugly.

Red Rocks, the geologically formed open-air arena located just outside of Denver, recently attracted the popular hip-hop group Atmosphere for a concert, with production rental company Slamhammer Audio providing sound and staging.

Brother Ali is recognized for being different. He is an albino, blind, Muslim rapper.

Brother Ali is like a cool roaming uncle who occasionally surfaces with gifts and insights.

Matt Smith a.k.a. Smith Made Music plans for his first release in late October to feature a variety of styles, notably his sharp-tongued, genuine take on hip-hop. The Beastie Boys, Vanilla Ice, Eminem, Atmosphere, Asher Roth.

Brother Ali Moving past the typical talking points , Brother Ali has steadily gone from being a respected underground MC to an up-and-coming major league contender.