Soundtrack Soundcheck: OutKast

I promise that this will be my last post about OutKast for a long while.  In case you couldn't tell from my multiple mentions of it throughout 2012, I'm taking this "finish what I started" theme seriously.  Should Andre 3000 and Big Boi see fit to reconnect for the length of an actual album, I'll cover that just like normal, but until then, I'm using the Atlanta duo as guinea pigs for a feature I'm testing called "Soundtrack Soundcheck", which is not a review of a hip hop-based soundtrack (although I'm still open to those), but instead an exploration of the exclusive songs an artist or group contributed to a film's accompanying soundtrack instead of saving it for themselves.

OutKast have amassed a surprising number of soundtrack exclusives throughout their career, "surprising" only because the duo have only released six actual albums (and, for the record, I don't count Idlewild as a soundtrack, I just look at it as a bad album), which would make it seem as though they should save everything they ever recorded for their own shit.  Their biggest hits could easily be loaned out to music supervisors to set the stage for whatever the fuck they're trying to accomplish: "B.O.B." appears, albeit in a censored form that removes the actual long-form title of the song from the chorus, in the Chris Rock/Bernie Mac (RIP) comedy Head Of State.  But the fact that Andre 3000 and Big Boi gave up original material for use in Hollywood, some of which wasn't even earmarked for hip hop soundtracks, is impressive.  

The fact that some of the songs are excellent is just cake.

What follows is a list of all of the soundtrack-exclusive songs I was able to locate from OutKast.  I inevitably missed some, but so be it: that's what the comments section is for.  Feel free to compile the following songs into an album of your own: I'm sure the guys won't mind.  And let me know what you actually think of the concept: this being hip hop and all, I'm sure I could pull together a few more of these.

PHOBIA (FEAT. BIG RUBE)

FROM: Higher Learning

Big Rube's outstanding introductory monologue successfully sets up the unnerving feel of OutKast's "Phobia", one of the duo's earliest non-album tracks and easily one of their most underrated.  Dre and Big Boi use Organized Noize's unsettling instrumental, which is light years beyond anything they crafted for Southernplayalisticadillacmusik, to add three more verses into their canon, none of which directly address phobias all that much but manage to pick at a fear or two you may experience.  Big Boi's overlong and wordy chorus is also fairly threatening, as he proclaims himself to be "black and educated" but not above robbing you if necessary.  As Fredro Starr from Onyx once shouted, "I'm America's nightmare / Young, black, and just don't give a fuck."  You get the feeling that Dre and Big Boi do give a fuck, but that doesn't mean that you should take "Phobia" any less seriously.  

BENZ OR BEAMER

FROM: New Jersey Drive

This song is in my top five of best OutKast songs ever.  I'm not joking.  It was released shortly after their debut, Southernplayalisticadillacmusik, which is probably why the Organized Noize beat more closely reflects that project's vision instead of, say, that of ATLiens.  And that beat fucking bangs, by the way.  Big Boi and Dre alternate verses while discussing their lifestyle, occasionally dipping into actual talk about cars, or, more specifically, stealing them (my favorite Andre 3000 line, among many on here, describes how he's "moving the steering wheel side to side like a slalom", although "While you sitting by the seashore thinking about some seashells" makes me laugh).  "Benz Or Beamer" isn't a grand gesture or an attempt at being more abstract than it really is, but it's awesome, it holds up extremely well today, and it proves that OutKast were at the top of their game even way back when.

LAND OF A MILLION DRUMS (FEAT. KILLER MIKE & SLEEPY BROWN)

FROM: Scooby-Doo

A goofy track with a decent Earthtone III (Dre, Big Boi, and Mr. DJ) instrumental and not nearly enough Andre 3000 (he factors in mainly during the hook).  Big Boi's verse is hilarious, as he slowly succumbs to the pressure of product placement, dropping bits and pieces into his bars before simply giving up at the end and repeating the name "Scooby-Doo" a bunch of times.  Killer Mike Bigga is a bit more engaged, at least with the show, referencing the miniseries The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo and tailoring his rhymes for the kids (the kids who understood that Shaggy was high as a goddamn kite most of the time, anyway).  And Sleepy Brown's crooning at the end was a nice touch, especially with all of that "meddling kids" stuff.  I'm kind of surprised that nobody ever rewound Big Boi's verse back in 2002, though: it would seem that an overreaching hip hop audience would read into "We fathers with seeds of our own / Talkin' about sons and daughters, boy / Not roots and clones" as an obvious potshot aimed at the Roots Crew (and one of their more popular tracks, "Clones").  Oh well.

IN DUE TIME (FEAT. CEE-LO)

FROM: Soul Food

This song was pretty dull today, although to be fair, I don't remember it ever being all that interesting to begin with.  Big Boi and 3 Stacks undermine the overall positive message of the track with their boasts and general shit-talking, which was censored for the niche audience who would have actually watched Soul Food (a pretty decent flick, by the way) for the music, over a bland self-produced beat, and Cee-Lo Green is wasted on the hook.  You two can walk right past this track with a feeling somewhat approximating relief.

FRESH AND CLEAN (REMIX) (FEAT. SNOOP DOGG & SLEEPY BROWN)

FROM: Bones

This unnecessary remix not only sucks all the fun out of the original version of "So Fresh, So Clean", it even retroactively makes that earlier effort (from Stankonia) sound worse.  I have no clue why this shit appears on the soundtrack (I'm sorry, "houndtrack") to Snoop Dogg's horror movie Bones, but to be fair, it was released as a single before the soundtrack was ever a gleam in its creator's nut sack, and it sucked then, too.  Andre and Big Boi sound bored and uncomfortable, respectively, over their own noisy instrumental, and Sleepy Brown's vocals are buried underneath this sea of mediocrity.  Hell, the only guy that comes across as relatively decent is Snoop himself.  Hey, I just figured out why this song was included on the Bones soundtrack!

TOUGH GUY (FEAT. UGK & SLEEPY BROWN)

FROM: Shaft

This overlong experiment, which is ultimately more interesting than it is entertaining, features Big Boi and Andre 3000 rhyming alongside both halves of the Underground Kingz in the most aggressive manner possible.  Antwan especially seems upset, since he repeatedly becomes flustered throughout his angry-as-fuck verse, trying to cram waaaay too many words into each bar, although if he was going for an aural metaphor for the confusion one feels in their mind when they've just been disrespected, I may have been more impressed.  My point is that Big Boi's flow is off, and I mean that in a bad way.  Andre sounds okay, but the real winners of this race are both Bun B and Pimp C (RIP), who are both posted up in their respective wheelhouses.  The beat never fully takes flight (although I enjoyed the disembodied vocal crooning in the background), and Sleepy's hook seems to smirk at the audience.  Sigh.

FUNKANELLA (FEAT. KILLER MIKE, SLIMM CALHOUN, & DJ CLUE)

FROM: Backstage

DJ Clue formatted the soundtrack to Backstage (a documentary produced by Roc-A-Fella Records released to theaters in 2000 by Dimension) to sound like another one of his mixtapes full of exclusives, which explains both its inclusion on this list and all of the multiple shout-outs to the man himself.  Andre 3000 and Big Boi contribute verses, but they use "Funkanella" as a sly way to promote their artists Killer Mike (who was still considered to be a part of the Dungeon Family back then) and Slimm Calhoun, both of whom are so enamored with the idea of performing for a mainstream audience that they pay no attention to the fact that the Earthtone III beat is fucking awful.  Clue's insistent interruptions, par for the course on one of his projects, were also frustrating as always.  Next!

SOLE SUNDAY (FEAT. GOODIE MOB)

FROM: Any Given Sunday

Somehow "Sole Sunday" was credited as an OutKast and Goodie Mob track even though the only participants are Andre 3000, Big Gipp, and Khujo Goodie.  It's probably best that everyone else sat on the bench, though, since the end result was kind of meh.  All of the verses sounded alright (and they even occasionally reference football, which is appropriate, given the flick this song was a part of), but Dre's chorus doesn't fit the rest of the proceedings, and Mr. DJ's instrumental screams for a much darker song than the one it's currently hitched up to.

HIGH SCHOOLIN' (FEAT. SLIMM CUTTA CALHOUN)

FROM: Light It Up

This lost relic from OutKast's back catalog (which appeared on the soundtrack to a film nobody fucking remembers, although it featured R&B singer Usher's first lead acting role) is the result of cross-breeding "Chonkyfire" with "Speedballin'" (more on that one in a bit) that mostly connects, save for the wordy chorus.  Andre, Big Boi, and Slimm all donate generously to the cause, and the pulsating instrumental gets the blood pumping.  All of the references to school notwithstanding (hell, it's called "High Schoolin'" for fuck's sake), I would consider this to be a lost gem worth hunting down.  Yep.

SPEEDBALLIN' (FEAT. CEE-LO & JOI)

FROM: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

I've written about this song in the past (during my write-up for Stankonia), but what I said before still stands: "Speedballin'" is the enjoyable ADHD-addled cousin to "B.O.B." and will appeal most to those of you two who are sick and tired of hearing that earlier track.  The Earthtone III epileptic seizure of a beat won't appeal to all audiences, but Andre, Big Boi, and even guest crooner Cee-Lo throw their all into their respective roles, the end result being more of an ecstasy-fueled jam session than an actual coherent song, but I still loved it: I would place it in my OutKast top ten easily.  Worth tracking down if you want to hear something a bit different.

EVERLASTING

FROM: Nothing To Lose

When the soundtrack for Nothing To Lose, a forgettable Martin Lawrence/Tim Robbins vehicle, hit store shelves, I dismissed "Everlasting" as an ATLiens reject (mainly because of the timing of the release).  As such, I hadn't really paid it any mind until now.  Which was a mistake on my part, because "Everlasting" is half-brilliant: Andre 3000's one-and-a-half verses sound pretty goddamn great.  Antwan comes across as decent, but is blown out of the water by his partner-in-rhyme over a throwaway beat that nobody will care about.  But 3 Stacks was a nice surprise.

NECK UV DA WOODZ (FEAT. MYSTIKAL)

FROM: The Wood

Regardless of what the producers for the soundtrack of The Wood want you to believe, "Neck Uv Da Woodz" is a Mystikal song that just so happens to feature Dre and Big Boi.  Mystikal's flow is something that I can usually look past, but I found his schtick especially annoying on here, as he seems incapable of staying on beat even if you took all of his toys away, so it's a good thing that every other component of the track (including the hyper Earthtone III beat) works so goddamn well.  Maybe the duo should have kept this one for themselves, huh?

I'm including the following tracks in today's post even though they technically aren't OutKast songs.

GANGSTA PARTNA (COOL BREEZE & BIG BOI)

FROM: Hoodlum

This is really Dungeon Family affiliate Cool Breeze's song, but I'm throwing it in because it features an early-period Big Boi solo verse that shows just how little his flow has changed throughout the last decade-and-a-half (which is meant as a compliment).  And also to prove that there was more to the Hoodlum soundtrack than the Big Noyd- and Rakim-assisted Mobb Deep title track (and, speaking of which, what a weird week for Mobb Deep, right?).  The hook is essentially tone-deaf, but Antwan and Cool Breeze glide over the dramatic Organized Noize production with the ease of professional ice dancers.  Not bad for a song nobody really remembers.

I CAN'T WAIT (SLEEPY BROWN & OUTKAST)

From: Barbershop 2: Back In Business

You two probably know this as a Sleepy Brown solo track featuring OutKast, but when it was originally released (not even on the Barbershop 2: Back In Business soundtrack; I mean from before, for an unreleased Sleepy Brown solo album that eventually morphed into his Mr. Brown), it was marketed as a track from both Sleepy and Outkast, probably because Andre's voice is the first you hear.  I know a lot of people in Blogland dig this song, but I've always found it to be fairly dull, and the passing years haven't been kind: the instrumental seems afraid to commit to any sort of feeling.  Is the song supposed to be uplifting?  Unnerving?  Impatient?  Who the fuck knows?  All I can say is that I couldn't wait for the song to end.  An easy pun, yes, but accurate.

-Max

OutKast - Idlewild (August 22, 2006)

Idlewild is an album that I was not looking forward to reviewing.  My reasons why tend to depend on what day of the week it is.  It's the sixth and final OutKast album to date: I didn't realize this until I looked up the release date for the post's title, but it's been nearly six fucking years since Big Boi and Andre 3000 officially functioned as a group.  It also doubles as the official soundtrack for the film Idlewild, which served as OutKast's official entry into Hollywood, although only five of the songs on this overstuffed effort play any role in the actual movie.  I remember being disappointed when I first picked up Idlewild because the majority of the songs on here are solo tracks performed by either Big Boi or Andre: it always seemed like a poorly-executed mash-up of both halves from their last effort, Speakerboxxx / The Love Below, so that's probably the main reason why I avoided this one as long as possible.

And, of course, because I remember it sucking.

Idlewild was the first OutKast album I remember not liking very much, so it quickly earned a spot in the bottom of one of my bins collecting dust while I struggles to sort out the pieces.  3 Stacks and Daddy Fat Sax had to have worked together on the film of the same name (an R-rated musical that combined hip hop elements with jazz during the Depression, and based on that description alone, you can guess how much money it made), so it was a reasonable expectation to believe that they would work on the soundtrack together.  Especially since, as noted above, Idlewild isn't really a soundtrack: it follows the general storyline of the flick (at least, as far as I know: I've never actually seen the movie, as it was in and out of theaters seemingly within days and there are far too many other choices on DVD and Blu-Ray that pique my curiosity), but it should be looked at as an actual OutKast album, which makes my original gut reaction that much more depressing. 

But, as you can probably figure out, they didn't work on the "soundtrack" together: Idlewild the movie had been in the works for several years, so the former duo (although there has been no official breakup, there may as well have been) were as committed to the project as their contracts would demand them to be.  Idlewild the album, by contrast, sounds like it was recorded in the span of three days in two separate studios, which may not be that far off, since most of the guest stars came from within the Dungeon Family (if they even still exist under that moniker at this point) or, in the case of "alternative songstress" Janelle Monae (because she can't just be referred to as a "singer" in the media, right?), from Big Boi's own stable of artists.  The musical direction lacked clarity: the beats came from the likes of Andre 3000, Big Boi, and Organized Noize, among a few others, but I didn't remember any of them sounding cohesive.  Although a few critics, who were predisposed to enjoy Idlewild because of the artists involved, gave favorable reviews, the album was the first from OutKast to generate negative buzz, and its platinum sales but lack of response from those who actually bought the goddamn thing prove that even OutKast's own fans thought little of the actual album.

Or the movie.  I suppose.

1. INTRO

This soundtrack album intro (that phrase doesn't sound natural) features characters who talk about their plans to see Idlewild one the big screen when it opens “this Friday”. This would be considered “meta” if it didn't sound so forced. Much more interesting is the first guy who criticizes rappers who turn to acting, taking roles away from actual working actors: I wish Andre and Big Boi had expanded on that idea a bit, instead of dismissing it entirely by way of the other two characters in the skit, but then we wouldn't have any time for the actual music, I suppose.

2. MIGHTY “O”

This was the first song to leak from Idlewild, which makes sense: its attempt at viewing a hip hop song through a jazzy prism (as illustrated by Andre 3000's “chorus”) attempts to prepare the listener for what to expect during the movie, if not the entire soundtrack-slash-album. 3 Stacks is all over this Organized Noize production, contributing a crazy-long verse that doesn't quite fit the instrumental but still sounds welcome in this day and age, while his partner Big Boi, who seemingly steps in to perform his verse from out of the ether before disappearing just as mysteriously, sounds less than engaged with the whole process. Because “Mighty 'O'” isn't that great of a song, you see. Nor is it even any good. But it is interesting to hear both of these guys rhyming together again.

3. PEACHES (FEAT. SLEEPY BROWN & SCAR)

Daddy Fat Sax scores the first solo song of the evening with “Peaches”, a boring trifle that can't decide what it wants to be when it grows up, which may cause most critics to refer to it as “complex” when, in reality, it should be classified as “Big Boi can't stick to a theme”. The Organized Noize instrumental isn't captivating in the least fucking bit, Sleepy Brown's vocals are entirely wasted, and, worst of all, the vocal samples laid in after the first verse sound amateurish and oddly schizophrenic, which just goes back to the whole “Big Boi is indecisive” theory. This shit could not end quickly enough.

4. IDLEWILD BLUE (DON'T CHU WORRY 'BOUT ME)

Because it's only fair, that's why, Andre 3000's first solo salvo appears immediately after his partner's, but since Andre's head clearly wasn't in rap while Idlewild was recorded-slash-filmed (my understanding is that “Mighty 'O'” was actually an older, previously-unreleased track that was tarted up as a whore and trotted out to promote the movie), this allegedly bluesy track fits more The Love Below's aesthetic than, say, Stankonia. 3 Stacks does a good enough job with the vocals (his singing voice has never been one of my concerns), but this track contrasts so sharply with “Peaches” that, not only does it disrupt the flow of Idlewild, it also makes it difficult to prove that Big Boi and Andre 3000 were ever friends to begin with.

5. INFATUATION (INTERLUDE)

…

6. N2U (FEAT. KHUJO GOODIE)

This song was ass. That's all I got.

7. MORRIS BROWN (FEAT. SCAR & SLEEPY BROWN)

Wait, Big Boi scored two solo tracks in a row? What the fuck? At least the marching band sound of Andre's production makes “Morris Brown” light-years ahead of the bullshit sex rap that was “N2U”...right up until the chorus, which drills the “marching band” concept down your throat because you're not quite smart enough to get it on your own. Big Boi's lack of confidence in both the audience and his own song overshadows everything else. Are we absolutely sure that Idlewild isn't just made up of a bunch of shitty OutKast ideas that were originally locked away in the vaults for a reason?

8. CHRONOMENTROPHOBIA

Andre races back to the studio, after having been duped into running in the wrong direction by Big Boi dressed up as the Road Runner, with what is easily the coolest song title on Idlewild (one that, entirely coincidentally, echoes OutKast's earlier “Phobia” from the Higher Learning soundtrack). Dre's instrumental is fairly minimal, as the titular fear of time is represented mainly by a strikingly simplistic drumbeat, and 3 Stacks takes it upon himself to both sing and deliver a rhyme, one that's actually quite good. It's too bad that the sung portion of the track was weak at best. Cool titles can only carry you so far, you know.

9. THE TRAIN (FEAT. SLEEPY BROWN & SCAR)

We finally hit an actual good song on Idlewild, thanks to Big Boi's “The Train”, a melodic piece of pop that is more engaging and moving than every fucking thing that came before it. Big Boi's instrumental is engrossing, the guest vocals are soothing and hopeful, and the actual rhymes (provided by Antwan and Scar) sound like they were provided by artists who gave a damn about quality. If this paragraph makes me sound angry that “The Train” actually sounds good, well, that's exactly how I'm feeling right now: you shouldn't have to sit through eight tracks on a motherfucking OutKast album in order to strike gold. This is fucking OutKast we're talking about. They're better than that.

10. LIFE IS LIKE A MUSICAL

Andre's instrumental sounds like something Pharrell Williams would choose if he were still pursuing his solo singing career. Andre's love song is delivered in a vocal style that annoyed the shit out of me, but looking past that for a moment, it's incredibly easy to imagine that the chanting at the end (where Andre repeats the phrase, “Don't let them change us”), aimed at a love interest, could also be read into as a request to Big Boi to not allow the glamour and glitz of Hollywood to change their relationship. Well, it was already on shaky ground during Speakerboxxx / The Love Below anyway, so there's no pinning the blame on Tinseltown, dude.

11. NO BOOTLEG DVDS (INTERLUDE)

This was just another skit that ultimately led nowhere, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that the line about the guy having a bootleg “G-rated” cut of Idlewild “just in case you don't want to see 3 (Stacks) take his shirt off” made me laugh out loud.

12. HOLLYWOOD DIVORCE (FEAT. LIL' WAYNE & SNOOP DOGG)

I remember the Interweb going insane when “Hollywood Divorce” leaked, since (a) Andre 3000 is actually rapping, and (b) Lil' Wayne's opening guest verse was supposed to be really good, and I mean “now the critics are actually paying attention to him”-good. Well, here's the truth of the matter: this song is boring as shit. Yes, Andre is actually rapping, and his verse sounds alright, but everyone else is mediocre at best. Weezy wanders off onto so many tangents that you'll want to file a missing persons report on him, and Snoop jumps in at the end as the very definition of the phrase “odd cameo”, but the real loser of this bunch is Big Boi, whose verse sounds so blatantly tacked onto Andre's that it's incredibly obvious that (1) those two didn't work together on the track, and (2) Big Boi wasn't originally supposed to even be a part of it. And the 3 Stacks beat sucked, too. Yeah, I said it.

13. ZORA (INTERLUDE)

…

14. CALL THE LAW (FEAT. JANELLE MONAE)

This is really a Janelle Monae song featuring Big Boi, one that probably would have been labeled as such had Antwan not referred to both himself and his guest as Idlewild characters (even though, to my knowledge, she isn't in the movie). Monae's vocals are good enough to almost salvage the entire track (especially the way she sings about grabbing her gun), but her beat never really changes, and Big Boi sounds like a fucking tool, although, admittedly, that was kind of the point. Still, I wish this song was much better than it was.

15. BAMBOO & CROSS (INTERLUDE)

Can something be both adorable and useless? Yes.

16. BUGGFACE

The backing music from the previous interlude forms the Mr. DJ-produced instrumental for “Buggface”, so I probably should take back what I said about the skit being useless, but I won't, because I'm a dick. Anyway, the hook in here is really fucking awful, but Big Boi's effortless two verses over the catchy, funky beat almost, almost salvage the track. I suppose the brief interlude at the very end, tying back into “Bamboo & Cross”, was supposed to indicate that “Buggface” may have just been the equivalent of a fantasy sequence, but that just makes me like it less.

17. MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL

That song title makes this critique almost too easy.

18. IN YOUR DREAMS (FEAT. KILLER MIKE & JANELLE MONAE)

Organized Noize's instrumental sounds like it should have been much darker, creepier, unnerving, and far more confrontational, but I've long since given up on any of Idlewild making any sense. For what it is, “In Your Dreams” is actually okay, as Big Boi and Killer Mike contribute enthralling-enough verses framed by a chorus whose uplifting sound contrasts nicely with the violent undercurrent, but I couldn't help but feel that this song, I don't know, incomplete?

19. PJ & ROOSTER

“Nobody wanted to dance / When I had a lot of time on my hands / Now I have a lot of hands on my time.” That line, uttered by Andre 3000 in one of his typical moments of clarity, stands out among the rest of the mishmash that is “PJ & Rooster”. This is a 3 Stacks solo song that just so happens to also feature Antwan, and hearing Big Boi wander over to Andre's side of the fence is at once exciting and really fucking awful, if only because, as the rest of this project has proven, Big Boi isn't exactly the kind of rapper who can sound good over just any beat. 3 Stacks sounded just fine, though that's not really a reason for me to recommend this to anyone.

20. MUTRON ANGEL (FEAT. WHILD PEACH)

An interesting enough, if out of place, diversion, one where guest star (and producer) Whild Peach takes over the proceedings, leaving background singer Andre 3000 enough time to stick his household with necessities, since hip hop recluses hardly ever leave their homes. Most of you two won't feel this one at all, since neither of our hosts really plays much of a part, but for what it was, it could have been worse: at least her vocals weren't bad. Still, they really could have just given Janelle Monae another solo showcase. Sigh.

21. GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (FEAT. MACY GRAY)

3 Stacks sure is dominating the back half of Idlewild, isn't he? For this track, he resurrects the bloated corpse of Macy Gray, which I'm pretty sure nobody actually requested, for some pure bullshit that fails to entertain: in fact, it's possible that Andre 3000 was actively trying to piss everybody off at this point. Macy Gray lost me the moment she purposely mispronounced the word “circus”, which sounded so fucking retarded that it wouldn't have mattered if the track featured an uncredited cameo from all of my favorite artists, I still would have hated this shit. Hated.

22. YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL (INTERLUDE)

Contains actual dialogue from Idlewild, which makes me feel bad for Andre 3000 and Paula Patton, who were contractually obligated to recite it.

23. WHEN I LOOK IN YOUR EYES

A simple, charming Andre 3000 solo shot that won't offend anybody's senses. Sorry, but that's all I have the energy for.

24. DYIN' TO LIVE

Depressing as fuck, but serves the film's story well enough, I guess. At least it's short?

25. A BAD NOTE

Unlike this song, a mostly instrumental effort that also serves as a rap album outro, meandering just long enough to remind me of the non-Black Thought suites of The Roots's “Water”. The music itself (from Andre 3000 Johnny Vulture's mind to your ears) is compelling, dark, and fascinating, but the vocals at the end fucks everything up royally.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Idlewild makes me sad. OutKast's legacy in our chosen genre can only be as good as their last project, and Idlewild is no way to treat any of the fans that have followed you since day one. Big Boi and Andre 3000 have obviously moved beyond what they originally set out to do, which is fine; Speakerboxxx / The Love Below proved that both men could succeed in hip hop on their own (the results varied, sure, but the best songs on both halves of that double album were as good as the classics in OutKast's back catalog, if not better). But Idlewild is a aural representation of a rap duo who had previously imploded, with 3 Stacks breaking out of his restraints while Big Boi no longer struggling to keep the ship afloat because he just doesn't give a fuck anymore. The fact that the majority of Idlewild is performed by either Antwan or Andre but not both speaks volumes: neither man feels the need to act as a team player because they're no longer functioning as a team. And the music suffers for it: there isn't a single track on here that would earn a spot on anybody's OutKast iTunes playlist, since neither man sounds fully engaged in what he's doing here in the first place, and the beats all succumb to that passive nature as well. Idlewild is OutKast's contractual obligation, not a cohesive album, and that shit just makes me sad. Everyone involved deserves much better than this, and I'm especially including the listener in that grouping.

BUY OR BURN? Burn this one, preferably as a sacrifice to the supreme being of your choice while praying for an OutKast reunion that can wash away the memories of Idlewild, both the film and this soundtrack.

BEST TRACKS: “The Train”, maybe “In Your Dreams” if I'm feeling generous

-Max

RELATED POSTS:

Catch up on OutKast by clicking here.

Outkast - Speakerboxxx / The Love Below (September 23, 2003)

In the three years between the chart success of Stankonia and the release date of their newest project, the members of Outkast underwent an identity crisis of sorts. Antwan "Big Boi" Patton was content with elevating his Southern pimp flow to the next level, while his partner, the increasingly erratic Andre "Andre 3000" Benjamin, decided that he didn't really want to rap anymore, choosing instead to record music in virtually every other genre (except for country and Scandinavian death metal) in an effort to become an "artist".

This division on the front lines of hip first reared its ugly head on Aquemini, Outkast's third album and the first to directly reference the differences between the two men. Their contrasting points of view meshed beautifully, though, resulting in what I find to be the duo's finest hour. (Shit, I may want to go listen to Aquemini after this write-up just so I can remember how good they once were.) Stankonia, Outkast's fourth effort and their most successful to this point, only drew the lines between Big Boi and Andre 3000 with a thicker Sharpie, although Andre was more willing to play ball, spitting verses as if Antwan put a gun to his boy's head, but still managing to craft memorable bits (such as "Gangsta Shit").

By the time album number five, the double-disc Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was announced, Andre 3000 had, apparently, moved on musically. LaFace Records marketed this project, rightfully so, as two solo albums packaged together: Speakerboxxx by Big Boi, and The Love Below by Andre 3000. What I expected was two albums that didn't sound even remotely related, which is what I received. However, one strange fact stood out for me while I was reading through the liner notes: Andre helped Big Boi write and produce Speakerboxxx, but Antwan's assistance was largely ignored for The Love Below. This led me to believe two things: (1) Andre's egomania had finally reached new heights, and (2) critics would be all over themselves sucking at the cock of Andre 3000.

And yeah, I was right.

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was both hailed and criticized by the general public: hailed because the music was good (at least, when it actually worked), but criticized because it isn't really an Outkast album. When you subtract one or the other from the mix, you get a rapper (or in Dre's case, a "musician") who is unencumbered by the trappings of the other's conventions, causing them to spiral out of control within their own ideas. Big Boi's Speakerboxxx showcased a philosophical pimp who paid much more attention to the political events of the world around him than one would believe, and he surrounded himself with guests who shared his views (Killer Mike, various members of the Goodie MoB, Sleepy Brown) and folks who would guarantee sales (Jay-Z, Ludacris, Lil' Jon), while Andre's The Love Below only features three cameo appearances, one of which barely registers. Dre's half of the project explores musical territory only hinted at on previous Outkast releases: funk, R&B, rock, jazz, drum and bass, polka, new wave, synth pop, and, yes, even rap are represented on here (the latter coming across as an afterthought, as if he snapped and realized that he didn't want to alienate his audience entirely), while Antwan stuck with what he knew.

The double A-sided single "Hey Ya!"/"The Way You Move" whetted appetite of popular music fans everywhere, with both garnering tons of spins on radio airwaves, although "Hey Ya!" was far more accessible (more on this later). Speakerboxxx/The Love Below would eventually go on to sell over fifteen million motherfucking units, winning a Grammy award for Album Of The Year and sealing the fate of Outkast as we knew it.

DISC ONE: Big Boi - Speakerboxxx

1. INTRO
This rap album intro makes it sound as if Speakerboxxx will sound almost exactly like the previous two Outkast albums. There's certainly nothing on here that informs the listener that this disc will be nothing like The Love Below. Both of which were probably the point, I'm sure.

2. GHETTO MUSICK
The music on here is all types of awesome, and the sudden turn it takes during the goofy chorus is fucking hilarious. Big Boi only manages to spit one verse out, but the song still works regardless. “Ghetto Musick” comes off as a third cousin, twice removed, on your mother's side, of “B.O.B.”, and it may actually get you as amped up as that classic track.

3. UNHAPPY
I like this song; its sound is that of a smooth, aimless drive on a Sunday afternoon, and there are constant references to hot sauce throughout. This probably isn't the first rap song to discuss how alcohol is a depressant and how ridiculous it is to abuse it when you're unhappy, but it's still a valid point to make anyway. (It's kind of like what Homer Simpson once said: “To alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.”) However much I like this song, though, I find myself missing the presence of Andre 3000. (This also would have occurred on the last track, had Andre not made a brief appearance on the hook of “Ghetto Musick”.)

4. BOWTIE (FEAT SLEEPY BROWN & JAZZE PHA)
I never cared for this track. I always believed that Big Boi (and his invited guests, by proxy) was trying too hard to retain the Stankonia audience, all without realizing that there are many songs from that album that absolutely nobody liked.

5. THE WAY YOU MOVE (FEAT SLEEPY BROWN)
The first single from Big Boi's half of the double album. While Andre's “Hey Ya!” moved up the charts much more quickly, after about a month this track overtook its partner in temporary popularity (because that is all that Billboard truly measures). And while “Hey Ya!” is still the more memorable single, “The Way You Move” makes for a fine alternative. This is due more to the silky smooth Sleepy Brown vocals and the Carl Mo/Big Boi beat than to Big Boi's generic-for-Big-Boi lyrics, however.

6. THE ROOSTER
Unlike the other tracks on Speakerboxxx thus far, I actually cannot fathom a verse from Andre possibly appearing on here: I suppose this would make “The Rooster” the first true Big Boi solo song. And when you look at it from behind those glasses, the man does a good job for himself over an instrumental that tries to be all things (okay, maybe just two things: a rap song and a marching band theme) to all people, but ultimately ends up sounding like it's too busy to just answer the phone like a normal goddamn person.

7. BUST (FEAT KILLER MIKE)
Big Boi, who sounds like a completely different rapper, and Killer Mike straight up destroy shit over a pulsating self-produced instrumental. I found this enjoyable as hell.

8. WAR
Antwan spits over two different beats on here, the second of which is much more radio friendly, but, strangely, sounds like a better fit for Outkast. His anti-fake-emcee tone morphs into an anti-Bush rally, which is probably something you didn't expect on a Big Boi song, but hey, a little diversity in your rhymes is typically a good thing.

9. CHURCH
This sounds more like an incomplete thought than an actual song, regardless of its three-minutes-and-twenty-six-second length. If any song were begging for a cameo appearance on this project, “Church” would be it. Moving on...

10. BAMBOO (INTERLUDE)
Far too precious to ever listen to all the way through, save for the once.

11. TOMB OF THE BOOM (FEAT KONCRETE, BIG GIPP, & LUDACRIS)
Features a far more fully realized version of the beat from the preceding interlude, which isn't saying a whole lot. Big Boi invites fellow Atlanta resident Ludacris to spit a verse, and Chris, predictably, blows everybody else out of the water. However, the song itself lacks a melody (not an entirely bad thing) and an overall purpose (which kills it completely): spitting shit is just fine, but nobody on the track appears to be familiar with the other participants. (I realize that isn't actually true, but that's how this track comes across.)

12. E-MAC (INTERLUDE)
…

13. KNOWING
Andre 3000's (uncredited) contribution to the hook is the icing on the cake for this outright car chase of a song, which is not about car chases, by the way. Had the label seen fit to continue supporting the double album beyond “Roses”, I feel this would have made an excellent, if off-kilter, single, and Dre could have even appeared in its video. Oh well; this is still an fun song.

14. FLIP FLOP ROCK (FEAT KILLER MIKE & JAY-Z)
Shawn Carter returns the favor Big Boi paid him by appearing on the Kanye West-produced “Poppin' Tags” (from The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse), but once again, Jay fails to convince Andre 3000 to appear on the track. The beat, from Mr. DJ and Big Boi himself, had elements of beauty (mainly the piano), but most of it sounded like a fucking mess, so the rhymes of our host and his guests are drowned out by the noise. Hova's contribution is completely worthless anyway, save for the blatant use of the image of hijacking a plane as a failed metaphor of sorts, which simply sounds socially irresponsible. This was disappointing.

15. INTERLUDE
Much longer than it truly needs to be.

16. RESET (FEAT KHUJO GOODIE & CEE-LO)
Sounds like a leftover from the ATLiens sessions, which is meant as a compliment. “Reset” provides a respite from the high energy of “Flip Flop Rock” and the next actual song, and the idea of starting everything over is always an appealing one in life, especially in the creative field. Cee-Lo manages to impress listeners (as per usual), but in reality, the stars of this track are Big Boi and Khujo.

17. D-BOI (INTERLUDE)
…

18. LAST CALL (FEAT SLIMM CALHOUN, LIL' JON & THE EASTSIDE BOYZ, & MELLO)
It isn't unheard of for Outkast to aim directly for the club audience, but I can only believe that Lil' Jon (and his increasingly useless Eastside Boyz) was included because he was a hot commodity at the time and not because the man has any talent for selling anything besides himself. So, as you can imagine, I found this track to be a hot mess, if for nothing else than because it isn't crunk enough, and why even bother if you're not going to go all the way?

19. BOWTIE (POSTLUDE)
And with this, Big Boi mentally checks out of the studio, only to return for the marketing meetings, with one important exception (which I'll get to in a bit.)

DISC TWO: Andre 3000 - The Love Below



1. THE LOVE BELOW (INTRO)
Unlike Big Boi, Andre wastes no time in informing everybody (especially the critics who love this album) that his half of Speakerboxxx/The Love Below will not be your typical Outkast album, a typical rap album, or even a rap album in general. You have all been warned.

2. LOVE HATER
The intro segues into this jazzy composition, which features Andre singing some goofy lyrics with full conviction (“Everybody needs to quit acting hard and shit / Before you get your ass whupped (I'll slap the fuck out'cha)”? It reads poorly on paper, but he makes it work). I can already imagine fans of Outkast's earlier work turning this shit off and moving on to something else, but I'm going to ask that the two of you stick with me for a bit.

3. GOD (INTERLUDE)
Big Boi and Andre 3000 sure do love their interludes, don't they? This one is kind of interesting, but there is no need to blast it on 'repeat' or anything.

4. HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY
This bizarre love song gives me a Prince-lite vibe. It's funky and catchy enough, but there is hardly any substance here. It is kind of funny how Andre toys with the conventions of modern songwriting by blatantly interrupting the chorus toward the halfway point, right before he begins to rap. That's right folks: the rumors of the rapper Andre 3000's demise have been greatly exaggerated. He just doesn't do it all that often.

5. SPREAD
Andre plays the dual roles of rapper and vocalist on here as well. This track, which is all about convincing a potential one night stand to spread her legs, is so audacious and obnoxious that it comes off as kind of entertaining. I wonder if this track was the inspiration for the Ashton Kutcher movie of the same name.

6. WHERE ARE MY PANTIES?
This interlude directly follows the events of the previous track. It would have been more effective had there not been a disembodied voice shouting “Ice Cold!” during Andre's monologue, as that takes you out of the story completely.

7. PROTOTYPE
Oh fuck, Andre fell for his one night stand. That goes against everything a rapper is supposed to stand for! (At least, that's what I have learned from hip hop. How about you?) This is a sweet enough song, though, and Dre does a pretty good job taking us through his character's thought processes. So, um, raise your hands if you miss Big Boi's pimp rhymes yet.

8. SHE LIVES IN MY LAP (FEAT ROASRIO DAWSON)
I actually really like this song, and not just because Rosario Dawson is singing on it, although, admittedly, that does play a large role in my decision making. (I've always wondered why a video was never shot for this track.) And, of course, the thought of Rosario Dawson singing about another woman who “lives in [her] lap” is bound to throw all kinds of possibilities into your mind. Andre clearly knew what he was doing by having her play his role for this track. Also, the music on here sounds good, too.

9. HEY YA!
The other “first” single. Everybody and their grandmother has already heard this song: it's so omnipresent that I'm pretty certain it's been used to advertise baby food, the Slapchop, steel belted radial milkshakes, several Kids Bop CDs, and nacho cheese-flavored dishwashing detergent. Yeah, this Beatles-esque track (yeah, I went there) is fairly ubiquitous. I can't say much about this bit of pop music perfection, except that, and I'm dead serious when I write this, I've heard this about one hundred thousand times, and I'm still not sick of this shit. Yeah, I don't know why, either. (The cover versions, on the other hand...) Side note: I seem to remember Chris Rock recording a song called “Crackers” set to the “Hey Ya!” beat. It was intended for inclusion on his Prince Paul-produced Never Scared album, and a video was even shot for it (I recall seeing still images on MTV's website). However, the song was never released, allegedly due to sample clearance issues. Two things: (1) If he was recording a parody, then sample clearances shouldn't have been an issue, since parodies are protected by copyright law, and (2) Where the hell is the song, Chris?

10. ROSES
LaFace chose this as the “second' single from this double album project because it is the only song on either disc that features both Andre 3000 and Big Boi in substantial roles. The video was quirky: I thought I was the only person who always thought of a West Side Story-esque gang fight taking place on a theater stage whenever this spun in my CD player. The fact that both gangs shout “Speakerboxxx!” and “The Love Below!” at each other inadvertently seemed to say that there shouldn't be any Outkast fans who actually liked both albums, as it was virtually impossible due to their differences: you had to choose one or the other. (I don't remember the rest of the video, so for all I know, the two factions combined to form a giant Supergang and went off to fight crime or some shit.) I never cared for this claptrap, and a clever video doesn't make the song sound any better in my ears, either.

11. GOOD DAY, GOOD SIR (FEAT FONZWORTH BENTLEY)
This interlude is really stupid. How did Fonzworth Bentley manage to find work again?

12. BEHOLD A LADY
I'm sure this song just played out all of its nearly five-minute existence, but I can't remember one fucking thing about it.

13. PINK AND BLUE
The scratching of the Aaliyah sample at the beginning is very jarring. However, the track quickly segues into a minimalist beat that barely registers, but is hypnotic in a way that forces your mind to fill in the blanks with sounds that don't exist in this world. Andre's singing is pretty decent (Prince's influence makes another appearance), as well. This wasn't bad at all, even if it does conjure up ridiculous images of grown men and women acting like infants.

14. LOVE IN WAR
Meh.

15. SHE'S ALIVE
Songs such as this make me hope that I never see the phrases “Outkast” and “concept album” appear in the same sentence ever again. I don't have anything against Andre's instrumental work, but this song is truly boring as shit. This will never become anybody's favorite Outkast song, even if the rest of their catalog was deleted, especially because Dre exorcises his daddy issues on wax.

16. DRACULA'S WEDDING (FEAT KELIS)
The title itself is pretty fucking badass: I'm fairly sure that there's a direct-to-video low-budget shitty horror flick whose working title will be replaced with this one prior to its international release, as it will play better to a European market. (Although vampires are now all the rage in the States, so I'm thinking that I should write a shitty low-budget vampire movie, just so I can make some quick cash.) The vocals of Kelis are predictably goofy (she brags about making good peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at one point), but there isn't anything here worth hearing more than once.

17. MY FAVORITE THINGS
Even though it was never supposed to be this way, “My Favorite Things” (from The Sound Of Music, previously titled The Nun Vs. The Nazis: A Love Story) has been appropriated for the holiday season: as such, it always reminds me of Christmas. Andre's all-instrumental rendition (with its obvious John Coltrane influence), with some hyperaggressive jungle drums laid underneath, manages to do the same: I halfway expected to glance out of my window and see snow falling on cedars. This is a strange song to include on any sort of album, but it worked for me, and chances are good that it will for you, too, unless you're a jazz purist and/or hate Christmas. (Side note: this song is not mentioned in the liner notes of the first pressing of The Love Below.)

18. TAKE OFF YOUR COOL (FEAT NORAH JONES)
The love affair between Norah Jones and Hip Hop (as documented through her collaborations with Q-Tip and The Lonely Island) grew from the roots planted here, an acoustic guitar-driven track on which she barely appears. In fact, this is more of an interlude than an actual song. It isn't bad, though.

19. VIBRATE
This wouldn't have been so awful if it wasn't for the instrumental and its meddling kids. The music on here grates on the ears as if they were made out of extra sharp cheddar cheese and your boys are over to watch the game and somebody requests that you make nachos the old fashioned way instead of using Velveeta or a store brand knock-off. I cannot condone this song's presence on The Love Below.

20. A LIFE IN THE DAY OF BENJAMIN ANDRE (INCOMPLETE)
This is the only track on The Love Below on which Andre 3000 takes off his cool and just straight up raps his ass off, and it's a doozy: Dre uses this song to tell an autobiographical tale about his career up until a certain point (hence the “incomplete” qualifier in the title). The man doesn't even gloss over his relationship with his famous ex, Erykah Badu, which shows that he respects his audience enough to not pretend that she didn't exist. This was an excellent way to end an album that, otherwise, barely qualifies as hip hop.

Shortly after Speakerboxxx/The Love Below won a Grammy for Album Of The Year, LaFace Records re-released the project to capitalize on the good press. My understanding (which isn't firsthand knowledge, as I bought this album the day it dropped – I fucking hate it when record labels reissue shit: they're about as bad as movie studios and their multiple DVD releases. I don't need eight hundred versions of Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead! Oops, I went off topic again) is that the re-release is interesting: Big Boi's album is untouched, but Andre's The Love Below inserts an interlude entitled “The Letter” in between “Dracula's Wedding” and “My Favorite Things” (which now appears in the liner notes), and a longer version of “A Life In The Day Of Benjamin Andre (Incomplete)”, which may or not be complete at this point, is also included. If anybody has heard the alternate version of The Love Below, please leave your comments below.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below serves to illustrate the artistic differences between Big Boi and Andre: they are, apparently, so diverse that it's a wonder they ever paired up in the first place. The duo's intent with this project was to subconsciously force their listeners to accept both halves of the whole, to embrace the duality in Outkast and, as a result, in humankind in general. Which might have worked, had there been any sort of cohesion between the two discs. Andre appears to be fully committed to the idea of ending the partnership entirely, as all of his songs focus on subjects other than the average rapper posturing, and his musical influences vary wildly from Outkast's previous efforts. Big Boi, in contrast, seems to be living in denial, wanting to keep the group together for the sake of the kids, as evidenced by the fact that Speakerboxxx tries (and succeeds, in sporadic intervals) to sound like Stankonia II: Electric Boogaloo. As much as I want to believe Big Boi, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below only serves as proof that (at this point in their careers, anyway), the Outkast that I know and love is officially dead in the water.

BUY OR BURN? This exercise in excess only really requires a burn. There are some very good songs on both albums, and had this been compiled onto a single disc, it would have effectively epitomized the concept of opposites attracting (and could have helped protect the environment, as there would have been half as many plastic compact discs produced). However, Outkast (and their record label) seemed to feel that the audience would only be able to recognize the differences between Big Boi and Andre 3000 through the physical act of actually switching discs. Which is both ridiculous and more than a little bit condescending.

BEST TRACKS: “Hey Ya!”; “Unhappy”; “Bowtie”; “Bust”; “Knowing”; “She Lives In My Lap”; “My Favorite Things”; “The Way You Move”; “Ghetto Musick”; “Reset”; “A Life In The Day Of Benjamin Andre (Incomplete)”; “Pink and Blue”

-Max




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Catch up on the rest of Outkast's catalog by clicking here.

Reader Review: Outkast - Aquemini (September 29, 1998)

(I'm still kind of recovering from May, so in the meantime, here's a Reader Review of a previously discussed album. SLG takes on Outkast's Aquemini from the point of view of someone who hasn't necessarily grown up around Southern hip hop. Enjoy!)

Ah, Aquemini. To be completely honest, I don’t have a funny story about this album to start off this review. I didn’t leave it out of my magical 5-album opening day haul like a douche (nice dig), I didn’t grow up listening to it: hell, I didn’t even listen to it until this year. However, I still have no problem saying that it’s my pick for the greatest southern rap album of all time. I mean, fuck, it’s just soooooooooooooo good! UGK? Geto Boys? Screw ‘em, I want some Outkast! That's not to say the competition isn’t fierce, but I’d say Aquemini is my favorite rap album from the Dirty South.

Now, just a preface about Outkast themselves. Just about everyone knows the group is made up of Big Boi and Andre 3000, but I’d say the collective knowledge often ends there (but then again, I’m an adolescent white kid at a school made up of at least 40% Asians, so I could be misreading the pulse of America). Many people seem to just think of Andre 3000 as a weird, sexually ambiguous singer-type, which is a bit unfair, considering his singing career constitutes about 1/12 of all of the group’s total album time, but that’s what happens when groups make it big, I guess. I mean, he’s an even better rapper than Big Boi! Speaking of Big Boi, a lot of people think of him as this southern-fried “piyump” alone, but he can get pretty deep and mature when he wants to, especially on Aquemini. All in all, both give a pretty gosh darn good performance, and come correct on just about every song.

I hear a lot of people debating between this LP and ‘Kast’s previous, ATLiens, as to which is their best work (some people say Stanktonia, but fuck ‘em, that disc is not even close to the former two). ATLiens is great, of course, but I think Aquemini is just more varied, and while it’s not QUITE as consistent, its peaks are much higher.

So, uhhhh, what does that leave, hmmmm…uhhh, jumpin’ like kangaroos, uhhh…oh yeah, the production! The record’s produced by Outkast themselves, Organized Noize, and David Sheats, and the work they do is so damn incredible that I have to justify not naming this odd group as my favorite production team by saying that collective production teams don’t count (and then I get to feel guilty about shafting the Bomb Squad, yay!!!). (Excited much?) Still, each song has its own unique backdrop, and the beats perfectly compliment Andre and Antwan as they take us through a couple days in their lives and talk about residue and busting nuts and shit like that.

Oh, and unlike most publications, which went solid 5 out of 5 or 10 out of 10 with this one, Rolling Stone gave this album a mere 4 out of 5. Incidentally, I can’t stand Rolling Stone.

1. HOLD ON, BE STRONG
Sure, it’s just another rap album intro, but…well…okay, it’s just another rap album intro. Next!

2. RETURN OF THE “G”
Now HERE’S what I’m talking ‘bout! I mean, Giorgio fucking Moroder? Organized Noize clearly knows their samples, and Outkast rhymes effortlessly over this track. I especially like Andre’s lines about how people think he’s just some sort of gay crackhead when he’s really just a fly mothafucka. Big Boi comes correct too, with his talk of blowing bubbles and Mel Gibson. (Huh?) And, of course, a shameless Goodie Mob plug at the end (the first of many)!

3. ROSA PARKS
Man, I can’t help but think about that crazy lawsuit that came out of this one, with Ms. Parks herself suing the boys from Atlanta with the help of Johnnie Cochran. Well, whatever the case, this song was the first single, and for good reason - it’s a fucking classic. While it’s true that Andre does way better over this beat, Big Boi’s lyricism might actually exceed his for a change, which is pretty cool. The beat is good, the rapping is great, the chorus is catchy as all hell, and the harmonica bridge is just genius. Who doesn’t like this song? (Rosa Parks, for one.)

4. SKEW IT ON THE BAR-B (FEAT RAEKWON)
An educational song about Australia? Maybe Wu-Tang really is for the children! Yeah, okay, it’s just one of those “we fucking own shit” songs with an unusual theme, with the beat taken from, of all things, Police Woman. Of course, Andre really does beat Rae on this one, despite the latter sounding surprisingly well-rested and ready for battle.

5. AQUEMINI
Jesus, is this song ever awesome: first Big Boi comes on and just totally rips shit up, then Andre shows us just how capable he is at coming up with lines bloggers are legally required to quote ("Is every n---a with dreads for the cause?/Is every n---a with gold for the falls?/No, so don't get caught up in appearance/It's Outkast Aquemini, another Black experience"). The beat starts out nice and spacey, ala ATLiens, then completely changes up with a bit of fanfare as Big Boi comes in again and rhymes about his Escalades and shit. Overall, the song fucking knocks.

6. SYNTHESIZER (FEAT GEORGE CLINTON)
Man, that’s a name you don’t expect to see in rap anywhere other than in West Coast liner notes and Del The Funky Homosapien album titles. Personally, I have no idea what Max is talking about, as this song is great (maybe he just hates drums and mini-skits on principle?) Andre in particular steps correct on this one.

7. SLUMP (FEAT BACKBONE & COOL BREEZE)
Of course, the weed carrier song; most great rap albums need one of those! Problem one with this song is the lack of Dre Benjamin. Backbone sounds really lazy and boring, which is pretty bad for the opening verse (compared to, say, Ghostface or Inspectah Deck on any Wu-Tang song they kick off, or Kurupt on Snoop's “Serial Killa”). Big Boi does well, which is to be expected, and Cool Breeze gets a distant silver medal. The song has a nice soulful beat, but that’s it, pretty much.

8. WEST SAVANNAH
Ah yes, the Southernplayasupercalifragilistic outtake song, made apparent by Big Boi’s high voice. Organized Noize’s beat is pretty darn funky fresh, and the song is the closest to an introspective, mature solo rapper type song that Outkast has. Overall, pretty damn good.

9. DA ART OF STORYTELLIN' (PART 1)
And here we go, the beginning of the six-and-a-half minute uber-epic awesome climax of the album known as the “Storytellin’” Suite. For the first part, Big Boi takes us through a day in the life of a playa, featuring a sexy groupie, a baby mama, a beeper, and Darth Vader similes, while Andre decides to take the high route and rap about a chick in a bad relationship who dies of a heroin overdose. While Big Boi clearly has the better rhymes (especially when he mentions that said groupie wants to take him out to the parking lot so she can "sick your duck": that's a brilliant way to court fellatio on the radio, and for that, Antwan, we salute you), Andre’s lyricism has really improved, and his verse is the reason this song is so damn sad (it sure as hell isn’t Ricky D’s verse on the remix). The video with the Muppets is also pretty much the best thing ever. (I'm still questioning why that video wasn't included on the official Outkast video collection.)

10. DA ART OF STORYTELLIN' (PART 2)
Oh man, if you thought the first part of the suite was good, here’s where it really gets amazing. While this is the shortest real song on the album, its amazing piano beat perfectly compliments Andre’s surprisingly awesome distorted vocals, and Big Boi surprisingly destroys the track with possibly his best verse ever. Then, the chanting comes in - oh, good Lord, the chanting. This is probably the closest I’ve ever come to a religious experience. A fucking incredible track.

11. MAMACITA (FEAT MASADA & WITCHDOCTOR)
Well, since nothing could follow the last song, Outkast decides to insert one of their worst songs into the mix. Nothing about this song is anything less than cheesy, melodramatic bullshit: Masada is awful, Andre sounds surprisingly terrible (although his lyrics are all right, I guess), Witchdoctor is pretty laughable (I still love the plug for Stouffer's lasagna), and Big Boi swoops in too late to save the song.

12. SPOTTIEOTTIEDOPALISCIOUS (FEAT SLEEPY BROWN)
In vast contrast to “Mamacita”, which was pretty much as over-the-top as Outkast could get, this song is pretty damn chill spoken word poetry. But that’s it, really.

13. Y'ALL SCARED (FEAT T-MO, BIG GIPP, & KHUJO)
And so, (three-fourths of) Goodie Mob gets their big chance to shine, and comes off pretty damn well: T-Mo kicks things off nicely, Gipp slightly underwhelms, Dre and Big Boi destroy the track just like everyone expected, and Khujo does very respectably as well. A great posse cut that shows just how linked the two groups are…but wait, where’s Cee-Lo? I love that amusing little fella!

14. NATHANIEL
Dot, dot, dot…

15. LIBERATION (FEAT CEE-LO, ERYKAH BADU, & BIG RUBE)
I knew Cee-Lo would come and make me happy! This epic song was probably the first time a lot of people realized how good of a voice Cee-Lo really had (unless, of course, you listened to the Goodie Mob albums prior to this), which is a good thing as far as I’m concerned. Then, sweet sweet Erykah impresses, and Rube does some very impressive spoken word, all over a haunting piano beat.

16. CHONKYFIRE
Every great album must end eventually, and “Chonkyfire” makes sure people stay excited at this point. A fucking awesome riff ushers us out, along with some impressive rapping from both guys, and a clip from Outkast’s acceptance speech for the Best New Artist at the 1994 Source Awards (of course, more love for Goodie Mob).

FINAL THOUGHTS: Aquemini fucking rocks, there’s no half-stepping that. It should be at least in everyone’s top two Outkast albums: it is definitely number one for me. While a couple songs in the third quarter of the album (how oddly specific) may falter a bit, it’s overall one of the very best rap albums, and anyone who disagrees with that has done enough to earn an ass whooping in my professional opinion. Now, someone pass the tissues! (I like how he essentially takes the piss out of himself before anybody that's reading this can do it for him. However, I don't know many hip hop fans that would disagree with the general assessment. In saying that, though, I'm sure somebody will prove me wrong.)

BUY OR BURN? Buy repeatedly, preferably at least 10 copies, and make some sort of collage with the extra sets of liner notes. Send me your best design, and I’ll give you a shoutout in my next review! There’s some incentive for you, right!? Well, fine, just buy one, whatever…

Best Tracks: Both “Da Art of Storytellin’” parts; “Aquemini”; “Return of the “G”“; “Liberation”; “Rosa Parks”; “Chonkyfire”

-SLG

Bonus video: "Da Art Of Storytellin' (Remix)" featuring Slick Rick:



(Questions? Comments? Concerns? Leave your thoughts below, and if you have an album that you absolutely need to write about, hit me at the e-mail address in the top right. And for those of you interested, here's a link to the original review.)

Outkast - Stankonia (October 31, 2000)

That's not the album cover that I have, but it's the one that you're most likely to find in stores, so we'll run with it.

On Halloween in the year 2000, Big Boi and (the former Dre, rechristened officially as) Andre 3000 released their fourth album, Stankonia. With this disc, they were finally able to break through the glass ceilings of mainstream radio, with three ridiculously huge hit singles and sales of over half a million copies in the first week alone. (Stankonia would eventually move more than four million units.) It was met with overwhelming critical praise and is listed as one of the best albums (not rap albums, but albums) of all time by many publications. Which is not bad for what is the most bizarre album in the duo's catalog thus far. Yes, even more bizarre than ATLiens and Aquemini.

Stankonia is notable because of its many musical influences: Outkast have certainly come a long way from the straight-up Southern hip hop from their debut Longasstitle. Stankonia combines elements of funk, rock, gospel, jungle, samba, there's a kitchen sink somewhere, R&B, drum-and-bass, spaghetti western scores, polka, metal, new wave, and Broadway musicals. Oh, and rap. Can't forget about that.

Big Boi comes through with his typically pimped-out flow, albeit one much more well-informed than his peers in the game, while Andre is just fucking nuts, building upon his ideas from the past two discs. All of this occurs throughout the span of this one album, while the duo give back-and-forth testimony regarding the concept of "stank". The disc was mostly produced by the production team Earthtone III, made up of Big Boi, Andre, and Mr. DJ, with longtime friends Organized Noize handling the remainder. Due to the possible huge influence from Dre, the album is so far out there that it has been compared with some of Prince's better work, which is probably the best compliment that anybody could give these guys at this point in their career.

But how does Stankonia hold up nearly nine years later?

1. INTRO
This is the kind of rap album intro that critics hail as “organic” and “innovative”, thus validating the artistry attempted, but people who listen to music for entertainment purposes hate this pretentious shit. Max falls into the latter category.

2. GASOLINE DREAMS (FEAT KHUJO)
A high-energy, and, yet, incredibly weak, way to start off Stankonia. I always thought the song was decent and forgettable in the past, but I realize today that this is a master class in misdirection: it's all loud noises and shouting, diverting audiences from the fact that all three rappers sound off.

3. I'M COOL (INTERLUDE)
…

4. SO FRESH, SO CLEAN (FEAT SLEEPY BROWN & RICO WADE)
At least Stankonia seems to pick up steam early on. Single number three was an interesting choice, as there was nothing like it on the radio at that point in time. This track remains cooler than sipping a milkshake in a snowstorm. There's a remix for this song featuring Snoop Dogg (featured on the soundtrack to Calvin's horror flick Bones) readily available on the Interweb: that version is hardly worth the price of admission. (While writing this part of the review, I also discovered that there's a Fatboy Slim remix of this song that was commercially released. Has anybody ever heard that version? Let me know if it's worth my time.)

5. MS. JACKSON
This second single also sounded absolutely nothing like anything else on the radio at the time. Hell, it didn't even sound remotely related to Stankonia's first single. It's altogether pleasant, and the inclusion of the wedding march hidden behind Big Boi's final verse was a nice touch. However, while it is a good song, it's not essential Outkast. Yeah, I said it.

6. SNAPPIN' & TRAPPIN' (FEAT KILLER MIKE & J-SWEET)
The outro is entirely unnecessary, but this collaboration between Big Boi and Killer Mike (who would later win a Grammy alongside Outkast for “The Whole World”, a track which only appears on the duo's greatest hits compilation) is infectious otherwise. Andre 3000 is nowhere to be found, though: I assume he drew the short straw.

7. D.F. (INTERLUDE)
…

8. SPAGHETTI JUNCTION
The beat only barely evokes the feeling of starring in a Sergio Leone classic spaghetti western, but it's still pretty dope. The back and forth between Dre and Big Boi reminds me of how they sounded on their debut album, the one with the long title that I don't feel like spellchecking right now. Anyway, this song is pretty good.

9. KIM & COOKIE (INTERLUDE)
Already there are too many fucking interludes on Stankonia.

10. I'LL CALL BEFORE I COME (FEAT GANGSTA BOO & ECO)
This song is silly, but ultimately unnecessary. This track was recorded before Gangsta Boo (formerly of the Academy Award-winning group Three Six Mafia (I love the fact that the crew will always be known for that now)) found Christ and stopped rapping about fucking and fighting, at least until she realizes that she won't make any money rhyming about the Lord.

11. B.O.B. (FEAT THE MORRIS BROWN COLLEGE GOSPEL CHOIR)
The first single, which was originally given the unfortunate title “Bombs Over Baghdad” before it was amended (by the label? by the United States government?). I seem to remember reading about a twelve-minute version of this track: whatever happened to that song? This is still really good, and incredibly musically ambitious for a rap song, but you can easily get sick of it if you heard it every single day.

12. XPLOSION (FEAT B-REAL)
I loved this song upon Stankonia's original release, thanks to the unadulterated hip hop and the left-of-center guest spot it provided. Today, it's still really good, and B-Real (from Cypress Hill) actually sounds fantastic, but the song is overshadowed by the classics that Stankonia produced. The hook is pretty weak, though. A marked improvement over the last time Outkast and B-Real worked together, on Tash's “Smokefest 1999” from his Rap Life.
13. GOOD HAIR (INTERLUDE)
That's also the name of a documentary Chris Rock directed (that should be released to theaters later this year) that supposed to be pretty good. Also, Chris Rock used "B.O.B." in his directorial debut, Head Of State, in which his psychic powers predicted the first African-American president of the United States. I include that tidbit just so you don't think I went off on a tangent while completely ignoring this boring-ass skit.

14. WE LUV DEEZ HOEZ (FEAT BACKBONE & BIG GIPP)
This sounds as if it were recorded as a joke. If you look past the corny musical backdrop and the hook, Big Boi's rhymes, at least, are decent, Backbone sounds terrible, and Big Gipp (from Goodie Mob) stumbles through admirably.

15. HUMBLE MUMBLE (FEAT ERYKAH BADU)
This track, which I'm sure is beloved by Outkast stans the world over, is run into the ground by Erykah's singing, which makes this song sound as if it's reaching for too much. The message in the hook is a good one, though, and the beat switch when Andre starts rapping is an unexpected plus.

16. DRINKIN' AGAIN (INTERLUDE)
…

17. ?
This is really more of an interlude than a song, but it's appealing in the same way that A Tribe Called Quest's “What?”, an obvious influence, was. “What could make a n---a figure he ought to be a pimp 'cuz he don't like love?”, indeed. It's a valid question.

18. RED VELVET
Can't say that I remember anything about this one. Oh well.

19. CRUISIN' IN THE ATL (INTERLUDE)
…

20. GANGSTA SHIT (FEAT SLIMM CALHOUN, T-MO, & C-BONE)
This is actually my favorite song on Stankonia. The slow groove literally drives your car for you while you cruise around the ATL (or wherever you happen to live). A lot has been said about Andre's verse (which begins “'Outkast' with a 'k'/Yeah, them n----z are hard”), but everybody involved with this posse cut pulls it off. The chorus is repeated at least three times too many, though. I believe there may be a remix of this song on someone's compilation album, but I don't have any more information than that.

21. TOILET TISHA (FEAT ROSALYN HEARD & SLEEPY BROWN)
Meh.

22. SLUM BEAUTIFUL (FEAT CEE-LO)
A pretty sweet ode to the female half of the population. Cee-Lo's contribution is especially touching. It leaves you wishing that the musical backdrop were a bit more appealing, though.

23. PRE-NUMP (INTERLUDE)
…

24. STANKONIA (STANKLOVE)(FEAT BIG RUBE & SLEEPY BROWN)
Big Boi must be an awfully good sport to allow Stankonia to end with this bizarre and polarizing final track. I can't imagine that anybody has ever heard this song more than the once, and I'm including the artists themselves in that sentiment.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Stankonia starts off strong, yet falls apart midway through the (overlong) album. It expands on the basic concepts introduced on Aquemini (Andre 3000 and Big Boi are two completely different artists that choose to work together, but have very different musical tastes) and, as a result, a lot of Stankonia sounds like an experimental art installation piece (that would be Dre's influence). The outright rap songs on here sound good, but this album is definitely not for a mainstream audience. Which is funny, considering how many copies of Stankonia flew off store shelves. Definitely not the best work from the duo: that would be either ATLiens or Aquemini, depending on your preference.

BUY OR BURN? There are enough hood songs on here to warrant the separation of cash from your wallet, but consider yourself warned: this disc is more avant-garde than you would expect coming from a couple of guys based in Atlanta who began their rap career sounding like a couple of pimps. Don't take it too seriously, and you'll be just fine.

BEST TRACKS: “Gangsta Shit”; “Xplosion”; “B.O.B.”; “Snappin' & Trappin'”; “So Fresh, So Clean”

B-SIDE TO TRACK DOWN: "Speedballin'", which sounds like it was recorded at the same time (or at least during the same mindset) as "B.O.B." (and features Cee-Lo), was eventually released on the soundtrack to, of all things, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. The song takes the drum-and bass influence and twists it onto its ear, and in doing so, manages to be much better than "B.O.B." The dirty version is tough to find, but if you have faith in the Interweb, good things will come.

-Max

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More Outkast material can be found here.