Atmosphere Drop ‘WORD?’ Album + ‘Barcade’ Video feat. Aesop Rock & MF DOOM

Atmosphere drop studio album, ‘WORD?’, today plus new video, “Barcade”, featuring Aesop Rock and MF DOOM.

Building anticipation for its arrival with a series of immersive and critically acclaimed maxi-singles, underground hip-hop titans Atmosphere proudly present their new album ‘WORD?’ today via Rhymesayers Entertainment.

After setting the stage with a pair of impressive maxi-singles, simply titled “WORD? Side A” and “WORD? Side B”, the group returned with “WORD? Side C” last month. The latter maxi-single churned out over half-a-million streams in a few weeks’ time fueled by the high-powered and head-spinning posse cut “Pressed” featuring Anwar HighSign, BlackLiq, Sa-Roc, Haphduzn, & Lateef the Truthspeaker, earning critical acclaim from HotNewHipHop, who summed “Pressed” up best as simply “giant”.

In advance of the full album’s release, tracks from ‘WORD?’ have cumulatively surpassed 5 million total streams and counting with highlights such as “Woes” and “Clocked”, just to name a few. Right out of the gate, mxdwn claimed, “‘Woes’ plays with futuristic and funky sounds to complete its deep yet light hearted message,” while HotNewHipHop stated “it’s all Atmosphere, who remain in fine form both lyrically and behind the boards.”

As always, Atmosphere have constructed a carefully crafted and cohesive vision with the full tracklisting. This time around, Slug and Ant welcomed collaborators such as Evidence, Sa-Roc, and Nikki Jean. In addition, they joined forces with Aesop Rock and gone-too-soon icon MF DOOM for “Barcade”, a track that expands upon the inimitable creative chemistry the trio shared 20 years ago on “Put Your Quarter Up”, the last time all three were together on one song. The song serves as a fitting tribute for their fallen friend and a closing chapter for their collaboration. Check out the full tracklisting below.

Fittingly, Atmosphere also just unveiled an action-packed animated music video for “Barcade”, directed by Rob Shaw. In following with the video game theme of their collaborations, the 90’s console-inspired visuals depict each MC as a “final boss” of their own game level, spitting their verses as unbeatable otherworldly supervillains who quite literally devour any challengers.

Following their last release, ‘The Day Before Halloween‘—an imaginative, distorted-synth-driven concept album—Atmosphere’s refreshing new project veers toward their signature sound. Further highlighting producer Ant’s undeniable talents, ‘WORD?’ leans into the classic boom-bap aesthetic, bringing a unique energy out of Slug’s wisdom, wit and delivery. From onset, ‘WORD?’ proves to be as much of an exercise in refining and advancing their craft as it is a harkening to earlier work. That is, while Atmosphere’s releases have grown more broodingly cinematic, and increasingly concerned with the human condition and mortality, ‘WORD?’ manages to reintroduce moments of levity and lightheartedness throughout, an approach seldom heard on their albums of late.

From album opener “Fleetwood”, with its razor-sharp snares and warm fleshy bassline, to the resonant melody of “Clocked”, there are strong hints of Atmosphere’s nascent years within the sound. Meanwhile, songs like “Woes”, “Strung”, and “Vanish” cheerfully make light of daily hardships, but they’re more likely to be remembered for making listeners want to bob their heads and sing along. With Slug and Ant directing the course, the album plays like a joyride through a range of experiences and emotions, with an extensive cast of special guests hopping in and out along the way, including Evidence, Muja Messiah, Musab, Nino Bless, Nikki Jean, Anwar HighSign, BlackLiq, Sa-Roc, Haphduzn, Lateef the Truthspeaker, Aesop Rock, and the late MF DOOM.

The result is a project that feels like it came from the era or, perhaps more fittingly, the mindset that created albums like ‘God Loves Ugly’, ‘Seven’s Travels’, or the popular ‘Sad Clown’ series, while sounding as polished and perfected as more recent albums like ‘Mi Vida Local’ or ‘Whenever’.

Ultimately, ‘WORD?’ pairs the breadth of Atmosphere’s talents with the beauty of their growth, all while showing they still have a lot of fun in the process and don’t mind letting the listener in on the fun as well.

‘WORD?‘ Tracklisting:

Fleetwood
Something
Crumbs featuring Evidence and Muja Messiah
Woes
Strung featuring Musab
Clocked
Sleepless featuring Nino Bless
Distances
Carousel featuring Nikki Jean
Vanish
Pressed featuring Anwar HighSign, BlackLiq, Sa-Roc, Haphduzn, and Lateef the Truthspeaker
Skull
Nekst
Barcade featuring Aesop Rock & MF DOOM

SoundCloud:

Bandcamp:

“Barcade” [Official Music Video]:

Atmosphere’s ‘WORD?’ album is also available now to stream and cop via all major digital streaming platforms