Disco de OutKast: “Stankonia [PA]”

With three albums behind them OutKast has presented the listener with a different sound each go round. It is no different this time as Andre and Big Boi bring the hip-hop culture something new. The album starts off with the fast and high-pitched production on "Gasoline" and transitions nicely into the super smooth "So Fresh, So Clean". "Ms. Jackson" is the most well-known song from the album as it is a great song that will appeal to hardcore OutKast fans and first time listeners. "Snappin' & Trappin'" uses a dark, off-beat production to create a song that will dispel any thoughts anyone had of this album being more mainstream after "Ms. Jackson". "Spaghetti Junction" uses great instrumentation and has a very "Aquemini" vibe to it. "B.O.B." features the head spinning beat that makes for one of the most interesting and best songs on the album. "Xplosion" features a great verse by Cypress Hill's B-Real and he takes a nice shot at rap magazine XXL. "Humble Mumble" shows OutKast's diversity as they mix their great rapping ability with Erykah Badu's wonderful singing. "Red Velvet" is really nice song over a great beat. Very good storytelling from Andre and Big Boi. "Slum Beautiful" is OutKast at their "outcast" best with an extremely nice rapping/singing song. "Stankonia" is one of the funkiest and wildest songs OutKast has made, but past OutKast fans can appreciate this OutKast style love song.

The only real problem with this album is the excessive amount of skits. There are no real need for them and it would have made the album a strong 17 tracks instead of a lengthy 24. Another small complaint is that it does not have a distinctive identity like their past albums. "Southernplayallisticadillacmuzik" had the benefit of being the debut album and was the original bridge of OutKast's creativity to hip-hop. "ATLiens" had a wonderfully relaxed feel to it as it is an extremely well-rounded album. "Aquemini" took live instrumentation in hip-hop to new a degree and created an album so sonically beautiful it is impossible to ignore. "Stankonia" seems to be a mixture of all three of these and does not develop its own individuality.

Overall "Stankonia" is an extremely good album, OutKast's fourth best (no disrespect as their past three where classics). OutKast may not appeal to all fans, but all fans should give OutKast a try because their music gives the listener something original (and extremely good) to listen to in a time when hip-hop is becoming stagnant.

After 3 slammin' CDs, Outkast can no longer announce a release date and just come out with a CD, they have to meet or even exceed all of their fans' expectations from their previous work. "Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik" brought a new light to the hip hop world. There was the east coast and west coast and even a South, but few new about the Dirty South and ATL. Outkast did a good job of bringing that out in the open and impressed many hip hop fans with their debut CD. "Player's Ball", the title track, and "Git Up, Git Out" w/The Goodie Mob were the singles and their CD overall got a lot of attention in the hip hop world. Then with "ATLiens" and "Aquemini", Outkast only solidified what they have done and what they mean to hip hop. Few groups dare to try new things. They are scared because they may lose their fan base if they don't stick to the same old formula as before. Outkast defies that by always coming up with new and innovative ideas to make their music and hip hop better overall. Their 4th CD, "Stankonia" puts Outkast on the map even further. The first two singles on "Stankonia", "B.O.B" and "Ms. Jackson" are two totally different songs but they capture the attention of their fans as they always do. "Ms. Jackson" goes into depth on the subject of baby mother's mothers and sheds some light in general on the topic. "Ms. Jackson" is one of the best songs on their new CD. The Dungeon Family also shows up often on the CD as well: "Snappin' And Trappin'" w/Killer Mike & J-Sweet, "Gangsta S" w/T Mo of The Goodie Mob, Slimm Calhoun, & C-Bone, as well as, "Slum Beautiful" w/Cee Lo of The Goodie Mob, will remind you of Dungeon Family classics of the past like "Watch 4 The Hook" and "Black Ice". Outkast also shines on their own as always with songs like "So Fresh, So Clean", "Spaghetti Junction", "Explosive" w/B Real from Cypress Hill and "I'll Call Before I Come" w/Gangsta Boo of Three 6 Mafia & Eco. Big Boi and Andre 3000 have put Outkast on the map for a lifetime. Their place in hip hop history is solidified and their CDs are getting better each time out. If I wasn't such of a fan of their 1st CD, I would say this is their best. If you don't have all of Outkast's CDs in your CD collection, you don't know what you are missing.

For most of you that have been following the last three albums, Outkast has graced us with their hard-core experimental beats, an explicit message or story, and a fresh taste in the rap industry. If you were impressed before, Stankonia jumps over that ten fold with their newest blend of flavorful beats. I can only describe the album with one more word "Cornucopia". There are so many natural blends in this piece; a little something for everyone. Just in time for Thanksgiving...

It is a testament to Outkast's greatness that they made a cd that should be on many critics top 50 list of the decade, one that made many "best of" lists in the year it was released, and it's not even their best work (you will have to pick up 1998's Aquemini for that pleasure). But Stankonia does deserve its praise and place among great cds both within and outside of its broad rap genre. This record reminds me a great deal of the Clash's London Calling, a cd that came out twenty years earlier, if not in sound but in style and spirit.

Like London Calling, what Stankonia does is expertly takes the roots and influences of a talented group and effectively filters them through their own developed sound, at once paying tribute to those influences and also building on a diverse and eclectic range of styles. This creates something that is at once in line with what has come before it but also on a higher level. Not an easy thing to do.

From the Hendrix meets Public Enemy opener "Gasoline Dreams" to the soul swagger of "So Fresh, So Clean" to the bombastic "B.O.B" this is hip hop music for people who may not like hip hop as well as for the genre's most die hard followers.

In addition to those great songs, the huge single "Ms. Jackson" is also found here, as well as hidden gem's "Toilet Tisha" (a tragic tale of ghetto suicide) "Humble Mumble" (which features

some of Eryka Badu's best verses) and the truly dirty south "I'll Call Before I Come" a rap song that could have only come out of the south, generally, and by Outkast, specifically.

The skits may be a bit off putting for some, but in my opinion they set up and add depth to the upcoming track and gives the listener pause between the wide ranging and well made tracks of this truly diverse masterpiece.

I was apart of that radio listening audiance when Laface records first drop the first single "Players Ball" off thier upcoming Christmast album back in 93 or 94 by two slick clean cut kats straight off the street of ATL. The song totally shook me up for weeks....... finally someone from the southeast with skills on the mic, spitting rhymes with a southern slang and it wasn't booty shake. Just compare the sound of Dre's voice of 1994 to the now Andre3000 of today. A lot of growth and maturity took place over the past 4 CD's.

This CD falls right in line with the other great works by this dynamic duo. Tight, TIGHT beats........ great production....... off the wall metaphors and rhymes. Outkast brought back the meaning of southern pride to the hip-hop game and all the ATL headz and world wide give props where it's much deserved. Dungeon Family still drops the best MC's in the south and Outkast was the first of many more to come.