When OutKast released the genre-bending “Stankonia” in 2000, critics proclaimed it the album of the year and even the most ambitious rap album ever made. They were the darlings of the critics.
Three years later, not much has changed. If “Stankonia” was supposed to be the messiah of hip-hop albums at the turn of the millennia, then their latest release is the second coming.
Enter “Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below” – the next level of hip-hop mastery from the champagne of rap duos: OutKast.
This time around, the group has broken all the rules – making their own albums separately and releasing it under the umbrella of the OutKast moniker. The double album features Andre 3000 on “The Love Below” and Big Boi on “Speakerboxxx.”
While both discs scream of the OutKast pedigree, they are remarkably poles apart – separate, but undoubtedly equal.
“Speakerboxxx”
In terms of user friendliness, Big Boi’s disc is the most approachable when considering the group’s past work. Essentially, “Speakerboxxx” is chapter two of “Stankonia.” Combining dirty south flavor with break-neck beats and syrupy melodies,
Big Boi works the microphone like a magician works a rabbit out of a top hat.
His flow is warm and familiar, rolling off the tongue like melted butter on a warm roll – soaking it all up, but always keeping it on the smooth tip.
On the assaulting opening track, “Ghettomusick” the true diversion from the past lies within the arrangement: an explosion of coinciding ideas that combine traditional hip-hop, electronica and Motown soundscapes.
Big Boi has mastered the art of retaining his gutter appeal while ascending high enough to intrigue an intellectual.
Moving from track to track, the disc flip-flops like a flapjack, pushing a sound that speaks to a plethora of clashing backgrounds.
From a bouncing Cadillac on 22’s to a toe-tapping business executive in wing-tips, “Speakerboxxx” delivers the funk that surely will make listeners shake their junk.
“The Love Below”
Straddling a fine line between genius and failure, Andre 3000 takes innumerable chances in his chaotically sexual “The Love Below.” From the introductory cocktail piano numbers, it is apparent Andre has left the planet of hip-hop, shifting unapologetically toward a more upscale, eccentricity that siphons an unabashed influence from Prince. Especially when the funky “Happy Valentines Day” chimes in. Singing “My name is Cupid Valentino, the modern day cupid/ I just want to say one thing/ Happy Valentines Day! Everyday the 14th!,” Andre successfully resurrects classic purple rain nostalgia.
Another trend more readily apparent on his disc, which he showed signs of on “Stankonia,” is that Andre sings for most of “The Love Below” – he raps on only a few tracks. His first single, “Hey Ya!” features him crooning in a style more fitting to 1960s era Mick Jagger with cornrows. The song carries the universal ideology of the record, that anything goes. In this roller-coaster ride of an album, nothing speaks of the typical – there is even a collaboration with Norah Jones.
It is hard not to wonder if Andre’s CD is a war cry of liberation from traditional hip-hop culture. Andre has taken the stereotypes of rap music and black culture and thrown them out the window. “The Love Below” will alienate some listeners, but this is the future of hip-hop. Nothing released this year in any genre will come close to this mastery.