Originally released April 22, 2008, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Sh!t Gold was met with critical acclaim, debuting at #5 on Billboard's Top 200 chart and scanning over 36k units in its first week of release. By this time, Atmosphere had already grown into one of the most accomplished MC/producer duos in independent Hip-Hop, with a half-dozen official full-length albums under their belt, along with a dozen more limited tour albums, EPs, and various side projects, altogether amassing well over a million units sold. While Ant's ASR-born beats had grown increasingly melodic and musical, Slug's name had become synonymous with introspective raps, and together, they'd galvanized a faithful following.

 

However, the thing that set When Life Gives You Lemons apart from previous releases was that it reflected a pivotal shift in Atmosphere's songwriting processes, where they transitioned from self-reflective to broadly narrative. Rather than expressing stories from their own POV, Lemons was based entirely on fictional stories and characters, addressing societal issues at large, some of which revolved around themes of parenthood–perhaps foretelling of their future founding of "Dad Rap". Now, in honor of its tenth anniversary, When Life Gives You Lemons has been re-packaged into two vinyl LP editions–the standard anniversary edition and the limited deluxe anniversary edition–both of which feature custom packaging details.