Few rap artists can compare to the catalog of OutKast. André Benjamin, aka André 3000, and Antwan Patton, aka Big Boi, have been dropping rhymes on records for nearly two decades, and with each release they expand on the sounds that they work from. They are famous (or notorious, depending on who you ask) for originating the Dirty South sound out of Atlanta, Georgia, where the two have set up shop. They are an amazing duo that has outlived many rap acts over the years.
André 3000 and Big Boi met in an Atlanta high school (a visual and performing arts school, at that). They started writing at that time and were pursued aggressively by local record producers Organized Noize, eventually releasing their material on LaFace Records. OutKast was unique in how they wrote; their styles contrasted yet fit perfectly together for what they wrote. Frequently their topics related to the status of African Americans in the South, though they were known to also explore the underworld of pimps and gangsters. Their first three records, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994), ATLiens (1996), and Aquemini (1998), are considered hip hop classics that reveal the evolution in André 3000’s and Big Boi’s respective styles and the group’s focus. It also reveals the risks musically they were willing to take in order to not only gain a larger audience but to also advance the messages they wanted to push forward.
Stankonia is considered one of OutKast’s crowning achievements, crossing over from a harder edged rap to a more mainstream rap that retained some of the lyrical edges of their original material. Stankonia (2001) is the next record on the list.
#4 – Outkast, Stankonia (Metascore = 95)
The word “stankonia” evolved from Southern slang. “Stank” comes from the slang Southern pronunciation of “stink” and was referred to by Parliament/Funkadelic’s George Clinton as the more carnal, hedonistic things in life, including funk music. “Stankonia” represents another part of Earth where “all funky thangs come” (from the intro to the album). At this point André 3000 and Big Boi were diverging from each other in a greater way; ‘Dré continued to allude to the pimps’ and gangsters’ lifestyles, while Big Boi focused on more diverse topics. With this divergence also came diversity in music and sounds used; part of the universal acclaim to this record is for this diversity.
I’ll always remember this record for three songs: “So Fresh, So Clean”, “Ms. Jackson”, and “B.O.B.”. Each song was completely different but instantly hummable. For a long time “So Fresh, So Clean” was stuck in my head until some other track that year came out. “Ms. Jackson” for me got overplayed when it was out; now, I appreciate the record a lot more and the message that ‘Dré and Big Boi were trying to say. You have different commentaries in this song—André 3000 is bitterly recalling the aftermath of a breakup, while Big Boi is ruefully remembering his own love lost. “B.O.B. (Bombs over Baghdad)” was just a hot club hit with spitfire lyrics. I have always liked this song.
Hearing the rest of the record, I understand the critics raving about the record. Each song has something different in terms of sound than in previous records. “Spaghetti Junction” could refer to the intersection of several major roadways in DeKalb County outside of Atlanta, but the tune itself is a commentary on struggling to survive on the streets of Atlanta, with the characters resulting to pimping and hustling. The song has a great beat, too. “I’ll Call B4 I Cum” is a double entendre; I’ll leave the lyrics at that, but the song couldn’t be anymore different from “Spaghetti Junction”. The album also features a large number of cameos from other artists, including b-real from Cypress Hill (on “Xplosion”), Erykah Badu (“Humble Mumble”), and Cee-Lo (“Slum Beautiful”).
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