Connection: Atmosphere and the Status Quo

When most people think of rap, they think of big African American with lots of jewels on and baggy clothes that can't ever seem to fit them right. They think of rthyum and rhymes and lyrics that almost always talk about violence, money or sexual intercourse. Of course this is just a stereotype that people put on rap music, but this is also the status quo.

Through out the whole week, we have read several articles on how different people and enterprises tried to challenge the status quo and how exactly they did it. The status quo (or the existing conditions of things) can be challenged in different ways. For example , Stravinsky challenged it through rhythymic and harmonic dissonance whereas Martin Luther King Jr. challenged it through his adaptation of non violence.  These are not the only ways to go about challenging the status quo, as the rapper Atmosphere demonstrates perhaps one of the most influential ways.

 Atmosphere is a young white rapper that seems to completely challenge all of these mis- illusions and preconceptions that we have of this subculture. Atmosphere is a rapper that raps about real life situations and things that most rappers are afraid to touch base on. In his songs, he not only raps about the government and the pros and cons of American society, but because his lyrics are so simple and deal with (most of the time) real life situations, most people can easily relate to his songs. Atmosphere is , in my opinion, an artist that not only challenges the status quo of rap music, but one that challenges the status quo for all music. He is an artist that tells the truth and connects with his audience through the simple experience of being human and that is why he is so great.