ATLien Workshop

When Outkast released ATLiens, the album became more than just another dope entry in the duo’s impressive catalogue – it was a consciously different and forward-looking LP whose title came to represent the uncommon in hip-hop. Being an “ATLien” is more than just a catchy regional identification, it’s the spirit of being an outcast to the norm, whether that be to often purist East Coast ideas of hip-hop or your own city’s orthodoxy.

For ATLien Workshop’s Hemi, Sonny Bamboo, Baby T, and Ness Lee, the tag is a willingness to combine the kind of flashy technical rapping rarely associated with Atlanta spitters and quirky, hyper-literal extraterrestrial references and imagery. Formatted somewhat like a compilation or mixtape rather than an album proper, First Contact doesn’t really coalesce around a single sound – instead the album’s 16 tracks are united in their unabashed love of double-time rap. Giving new meaning to “alien tongue”, First Contact should definitely fulfill any fast-rap fan’s yearly quota, with much of the album’s flow having a minimum speed of TDE.
That’s not to say ATLien Workshop suffers from the common supergroup problem of sacrificing musicality to flex their already lauded technical prowess; from Them Crooked Vultures to Slaughterhouse, there have been a grip of rock and rap collectives that actually ended up being less than the sum of their parts, often feeling like a quick cash-in to boost profits and profiles coasting on its members’ past pedigrees. In contrast, the mix of boom-bap, soul beats, club tracks, and renditions of recent radio hits is thankfully serviced with song-craft and the listener in mind – flows remain dynamic and playful even as the level of difficulty wanders from “Hands on the Wheel” to “Adrenaline Rush”. Speaking of Twista, much of the flourishes throughout First Contact are kept from being gratuitous by the group’s use of melody – fishing trip style, the hooks are on deck.

A purposeful reminder that Southern rap isn’t the lowest common denominator stereotype it’s sometimes reduced to, First Contact is a great primer for a group of Atlanta emcees with talent to spare. First Contact is currently available for free download from Bandcamp and Datpiff.
- RapMusic.com

When Outkast released ATLiens, the album became more than just another dope entry in the duo’s impressive catalogue – it was a consciously different and forward-looking LP whose title came to represent the uncommon in hip-hop. Being an “ATLien” is more than just a catchy regional identification, it’s the spirit of being an outcast to the norm, whether that be to often purist East Coast ideas of hip-hop or your own city’s orthodoxy.

For ATLien Workshop’s Hemi, Sonny Bamboo, Baby T, and Ness Lee, the tag is a willingness to combine the kind of flashy technical rapping rarely associated with Atlanta spitters and quirky, hyper-literal extraterrestrial references and imagery. Formatted somewhat like a compilation or mixtape rather than an album proper, First Contact doesn’t really coalesce around a single sound – instead the album’s 16 tracks are united in their unabashed love of double-time rap. Giving new meaning to “alien tongue”, First Contact should definitely fulfill any fast-rap fan’s yearly quota, with much of the album’s flow having a minimum speed of TDE.
That’s not to say ATLien Workshop suffers from the common supergroup problem of sacrificing musicality to flex their already lauded technical prowess; from Them Crooked Vultures to Slaughterhouse, there have been a grip of rock and rap collectives that actually ended up being less than the sum of their parts, often feeling like a quick cash-in to boost profits and profiles coasting on its members’ past pedigrees. In contrast, the mix of boom-bap, soul beats, club tracks, and renditions of recent radio hits is thankfully serviced with song-craft and the listener in mind – flows remain dynamic and playful even as the level of difficulty wanders from “Hands on the Wheel” to “Adrenaline Rush”. Speaking of Twista, much of the flourishes throughout First Contact are kept from being gratuitous by the group’s use of melody – fishing trip style, the hooks are on deck.

A purposeful reminder that Southern rap isn’t the lowest common denominator stereotype it’s sometimes reduced to, First Contact is a great primer for a group of Atlanta emcees with talent to spare. First Contact is currently available for free download from Bandcamp and Datpiff.
- RapMusic.com