Outkast - Aquemini (September 29, 1998)

September 29, 1998, has been heralded by many bloggers as the greatest release date in hip hop ever, and rightfully so. This wonderfully historic day was met with five high-profile rap albums seeing daylight for the first time: A Tribe Called Quest's The Love Movement, the crew's final album; Brand Nubian's Foundation, the crew's reunion disc; Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, the underground pairing of the year; Jay-Z's Vol. 2...Hard Knock Life; and Outkast's Aquemini, Big Boi and Andre 3000's third album.

I recall vividly driving over to Best Buy after class to pick up as many discs as I could afford, since back then I apparently had money to burn (thanks, American economy!). However, I only ended up getting four of the five aforementioned discs, for reasons that I still cannot quite understand to this day. The Tribe album was a no-brainer, as they are my second favorite rap group of all time (right behind the Wu-Tang Clan) and I had been assigned to write a review of The Love Movement for the college newspaper for that week's issue (and, even though I tend to be incredibly conceited most of the time, even I have to admit that the final review was pretty shitty: the writing has truly improved over time). Given this blogger's obvious affection for the Shawn Carter catalog, obviously I had to pick up the Jay-Z disc as well. I think I snatched up the Black Star album because I kind of liked "Definition", and would later be blown away by the brilliance that was "Respiration", and somehow the Brand Nubian disc found its way into my hands because DJ Premier produced the leadoff track. (Also, "Don't Let It Go To Your Head" was a favorite of mine around this time, although I couldn't tell you what that song sounds like today for the life of me.) Yes, my two readers, that's right: I somehow rationalized not buying Aquemini the day it dropped, and I'm still pissed at myself. You can rest assured that I corrected that problem the following week.

Aquemini, whose title is (as you may have guessed) a combination of the astrological signs Aquarius and Gemini, was the first album in a long while to receive the fabled five mic rating in The Source, which, back then, meant that the album was pretty fucking close to perfect. The liner notes abandoned the comic book concept introduced on ATLiens (thankfully), opting to keep things simple by (gasp!) printing the song lyrics instead. Other than the fact that Andre resembles a skinnier Kool Keith on the first page of the booklet, with a goofy wig and all, this move was very highly appreciated.

Aquemini went on to sell seventy bajillion copies, and it raked in critical acclaim by the boatload. Fans were quick to revel in the brilliance of the album, a clear antidote to the radio-friendly pap that was coming out of New York at the time, even though Outkast's first single "Rosa Parks" dominated urban radio in its own right. Aquemini was the rare hip hop album that combined rap music's swagger with spoken word, R&B, social commentary, and uniquely abstract musical styles in enlightened coherence.

Oh, and the album sounds pretty good, too.

1. HOLD ON, BE STRONG (FEAT 4.0)
This intro is really boring, and, as such, completely useless.

2. RETURN OF THE "G"
This song would have been better utilized as the intro to Aquemini, with its slow-grinding, Giorgio Moroder-sampling beat helping to ease your way back into the world of Andre and Big Boi.

3. ROSA PARKS
Wow, I haven't heard this song in years. Even with the bizarre inspiration for the song's title and hook, this track still bounces along nicely. The harmonica breakdown is something I completely forgot about, and it fits like a glove. It's hard to believe that this was truly the first single from Aquemini. Also, Big Boi and Andre usually complement each other on Outkast tracks, but on here, Dre inadvertently destroys Big Boi over a beat that he's clearly more accustomed to.

4. SKEW IT ON THE BAR-B (FEAT RAEKWON)
The theme to Police Woman sets the tune for a terrific-but-still-kind-of-weird collaboration between Outkast and Raekwon the Chef, with a final product that is to this day lovingly referred to in my household as "the kangaroo song". Still, fantastic track. The video is awfully plain, though.

5. AQUEMINI
Very reminiscent of something that would have appeared on the second half of ATLiens...or, at least, it was, until the beat slightly switches up midway through the song. Although the hook is a bit too wordy for its own good, the listening experience is pleasant enough.

6. SYNTHESIZER (FEAT GEORGE CLINTON)
This is actually the first time I have heard this track in its entirety since I first bought Aquemini, and I gotta say, I have to agree with my former self, as this song kind of blows.

7. SLUMP (FEAT BACKBONE & COOL BREEZE)
Andre 3000 doesn't even appear on this track, and if I had to choose between an Outkast song and a Big Boi solo track featuring two of his random weed carriers, Outkast would win the day every. Single. Time.

8. WEST SAVANNAH
According to the outro of "Slump", Big Boi wrote this song around the time Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik was recorded, and if that's the case, it could have made an already good album even better. Dre doesn't bother to appear on this song, either.

9. DA ART OF STORYTELLIN' (PART 1)
A great song, even though the stories Big Boi and Dre (yes, he somehow found his way back from the restroom) tell are really fucking depressing. Mr. DJ's beat is undeniably entertaining, as well.

10. DA ART OF STORYTELLIN' (PART 2)
And as good as Part One is, Part 2 is even better, with a much darker tone to accompany the tales. This song fucking rocks, and the vocal distortion effects on Andre's voice actually work.

11. MAMACITA (FEAT MASADA & WITCHDOCTOR)
A pretty ridiculous misstep by Outkast. The beat is slow-driven and all of the rhymes are technically proficient, but the quote-unquote "hook" makes me want to strangle somebody out of general principle. Witchdoctor's statement "...in the oven I got your favorite, Stouffer's lasagna/That's how much I want ya" is pretty funny, though, since it's oddly specific and all.

12. SPOTTIEOTTIEDOPALISCIOUS (FEAT SLEEPY BROWN)
Certainly not what you would expect to hear on a hip hop record, but this is Outkast we're talking about here. Be forewarned: this is essentially spoken word poetry (performed by Big Boi, Andre, and Sleepy Brown, who is credited here as Pat Brown) over a nice groove of a beat. If that's not your cup of tea, you may want to grab another beverage while you hit the 'skip' button.

13. Y'ALL SCARED (FEAT T-MO, BIG GIPP, & KHUJO)
Outkast and their bestest buddies in Goodie Mob (minus Cee-Lo) creep along a threateningly paranoid instrumental, with good results. All five rappers hold their own, sounding more like a rap supergroup rather than a collaboration.

14. NATHANIEL
Interlude...

15. LIBERATION (FEAT CEE-LO, BIG RUBE, & ERYKAH BADU)
Oh, there's Cee-Lo. In a substantial change from the norm, this eight-minute-plus album cut barely features either member of Outkast. It's still good, though, and would serve as a better-than-decent outro on any enlightened rap album. However, once again, this is Outkast we're talking about, so...

16. CHONKYFIRE
...Andre and Big Boi pop up on this final track, which is dominated with a beautiful noise consisting of synthesizers and guitars, ending Aquemini on a high note. This song is fucking awesome. If only more rap albums had the balls to end like this.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Aquemini is the third good album in a surprisingly consistent career, which is especially rare in hip hop. Outkast seems to mature with each subsequent disc, and the music of Andre and Big Boi becomes more and more captivating with each listen. There are a few misfires, but every artist has a few paintings that they tend not to discuss much later in life, so it's okay. All in all, a blazing success.

BUY OR BURN? Most of my two readers probably already own this one, but if you don't, for some odd reason, you should definitely run out and pick it up now. Seriously.
BEST TRACKS: "Da Art Of Storytellin' (Part 2)"; "Skew It On The Bar-B"; "Da Art of Storytellin' (Part 1)"; "West Savannah"; "Chonkyfire"; "Y'all Scared"; "Liberation"; "Rosa Parks"


B-SIDE TO TRACK DOWN: "Da Art of Storytellin' (Part One) (Remix)" featuring Slick Rick. The video version of "Da Art Of Storytellin'", with its Big Boi and Dre Muppets, features the genre's master storyteller, and is well worth the time it takes to find it. The only version I own is the clean radio edit, though: does anybody happen to have the dirty version? Anyone? Bueller?

-Max

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Read up on the other Outkast albums by clicking here.