When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold

When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
Studio album by Atmosphere
Released April 22, 2008
Recorded 2007-2008
Genre Hip hop
Alternative hip hop
Length 54:36
Label Rhymesayers
RSE0095
Producer Ant
Atmosphere chronology

Sad Clown Bad Spring 12
(2008)		 When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
(2008)		 Leak At Will
(2009)
Alternative cover
Hard cover book cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
About [1]
Allmusic [2]
The A.V. Club (B+)[3]
HipHopDX [4]
The New York Times (favorable)[5]
Paste (favorable)[6]
Pitchfork Media (7.0/10)[7]
RapReviews (9.5/10)[8]

When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold is the fifth studio album by the Minneapolis hip hop group Atmosphere. It was released on Atmosphere's own Rhymesayers Entertainment label on April 22, 2008. It was praised for Ant's synthesizer-based production and Slug's storytelling rap.[9] Because of concerns over piracy, Rhymesayers decided not to send advance copies to critics; instead, the label invited critics to listening parties.

The album was released in two different packages: a standard digipak and a limited edition (25,000 copies) 36-page hard-cover book featuring an illustrated children's story written by Slug and a bonus DVD entitled Sad Clown Bad Dub 13 containing over an hour of live footage and extras.[10] The 33 rpm record version is printed on yellow vinyl.

When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold debuted at number 5 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 36,000 copies in its first week. It is Atmosphere's first album to reach the top ten of the Billboard 200 and the highest charting release from the independent label Rhymesayers.[11]

Track list

  1. "Like the Rest of Us" – 3:20
  2. "Puppets" – 3:41
    • Additional vocals: Channy Casselle, Nate Collis
  3. "The Skinny" – 3:36
  4. "Dreamer" – 4:04
  5. "Shoulda Known" – 3:06
    • Synthesizer: Nate Collis
    • Additional vocals: Joe Mabbott, Mankwe Ndosi
      •
    • Contains replayed elements from "Somebody Told Me" by The Eurythmics
  6. "You" – 3:14
  7. "Painting" – 3:00
  8. "Your Glass House" – 3:58
  9. "Yesterday" – 3:23
  10. "Guarantees" – 4:32
    • Additional vocals: Nate Collis
  11. "Me" – 3:40
    • Additional vocals: Mankwe Ndosi
  12. "Wild Wild Horses" – 4:14
  13. "Can't Break" – 3:33
    • Synthesizer: Nate Collis
    • Additional vocals: Joe Mabbott, Anthony Davis
  14. "The Waitress" – 3:00
    • Flute: Rajiah Johnson
    • Beatbox: Tom Waits
      •
    • Contains a sample of "It Seems So Hard" by Sun
  15. "In Her Music Box" – 4:20
    • Flute: Rajiah Johnson
    • Rhodes piano: Erick Anderson
    • Additional vocals: Jessie Wilimek
      •
    • Contains replayed elements from "Time Machine" by Gary Wright

iTunes "Bonus Video Version" bonus tracks

16. Vanity Sick - 2:52
17. Sunshine (Live) [Video]
18. Guarantees (Live) [Video][12]

Personnel

Atmosphere
Additional personnel

References

  1. ↑ About review
  2. ↑ Allmusic review
  3. ↑ The A.V. Club review
  4. ↑ HipHopDX review
  5. ↑ The New York Times review
  6. ↑ Paste review
  7. ↑ Pitchfork Media review
  8. ↑ RapReviews review
  9. ↑ "Atmosphere: When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold (2008): Reviews:". MetaCritic. Retrieved 2008-04-29.
  10. ↑ "Rhymesayers Entertainment – Releases". Rhymesayers Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2008-04-17. Retrieved 2008-04-29.
  11. ↑ Hasty, Kate (2008-04-30). "Mariah Carey Remains Atop Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
  12. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/when-life-gives-you-lemons/id278120690

External links

Articles