The rhyme-slinging duo of Atmosphere is reissuing one of their greatest albums, one that’s been out-of-print for YEARS! Dropped originally in 2007, Strictly Leakage is — without question — a milestone within Atmosphere’s extensive discography that should be revisited often.
The album is aptly named, playing a pivotal role in the band’s trajectory.
Between 2007 and 2008, Slug and Ant had a growth spurt of sorts, releasing a full-length LP alongside four EPs and a 42-minute mixtape of exclusive material (on Christmas Day, no less). They were quite literally ‘strictly leaking’ content. This landslide of recordings culminated into a whopping 48 songs — each evolving from the last.
Strictly Leakage being the pinnacle of it all, the 13-song album leaned heavily into jazzy elements over Slug’s raw and radical lyrics. It was a whole new sound direction, one of funk and soul, woven together by Ant masterfully at the deejay booth. Choosing samples over live instrumentation, the result were beats brimming with 80s and 90s hip hop energy — made even more of a vibe when played on vinyl!
That’s right, not only is this banger of an album coming back, it’s getting physically pressed into vinyl and CD formats!
We were lucky to get our hands on an early pressing of the double-vinyl, out to the public on May 17th via Rhymesayers Entertainment. For super fans, there’s even a special edition green-and-blue-colored vinyl coming, as well as a limited run of cassettes! Because, what would a “mixtape” be without it being a cassette??
Whether you want to spring for new beats for the tape deck or something to chill to at the house, the reissue will leave you far from being disappointed! In our opinion, the throwback samples throughout the album mesh perfectly with the low hum of a record player. The slightly more brittle acoustics, the soft delivery of the horns… it’s almost as if this album was supposed to be enjoyed on vinyl from the start.
With Atmosphere always churning out new music, like they’re latest Talk Talk EP, revisiting their earlier work is always such a treat. “YGM” and “Crewed Up” still hit like they came out yesterday! Strictly Leakage is now available for pre-order on both the Atmosphere site and Rhymesayers.com. Considering it already went out of print once, this might be your one chance to grab a copy!
Track listing:
- YGM
- Little Math You
- Full Moon
- The Things That Hate Us
- Jewelry
- Get It To Get Her
- Domestic Dog
- Crewed Up (feat. Stage One, St. Paul Slim, Muja Messiah, YZ, Brother Ali, Toki Wright & Blueprint)
- What They Sittin’ For?
- That’s Not Beef, That’s Pork
- The Old Style (feat. cuts by DJ Plain Ole Bill)
- You Played Yourself
- Road To Riches (feat. cuts by DJ Plain Ole Bill)
Cover photo by Dan Monick
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