Outkast’s new double album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, is 146 minutes of soulful, unclassifiable music.
With the release of the album it’s apparent that Outkast is much bigger than hip-hop.
The most interesting thing about the album is that it’s actually two solo albums packaged as an Outkast album.
The CDs have no cohesive link other than matching Andr “3000” Benjamin’s (a.k.a. Dr) yin with Antwan “Big Boi” Patton’s yang. The double disc is so impressive that it could have been split to create two candidates for hip-hop record of the year.
Andre 3000’s The Love Below disc is more eclectic of the two, considering he gave up his emcee credentials to become a funk-soul-jazz vocalist singing about the issues of love, carnal lust, and female admiration. He speaks of his relationship with Erykah Badu on “A Day in the Life of Andr Benjamin.” No two tracks on this album sound alike in the least. Andr 3000 seems to worship the early works of Prince and Parliament Funkadelic.
Outkast’s first single “Hey Ya” is fun and bouncy and has a downright awesome vintage video. Andr 3000 leads a ’50s-era band composed of-well-more Andr 3000’s. The more eccentric member of the duo plays the role of every member in the band, including bassist Possum Jones and backup singers The Love Haters.
Big Boi’s smooth highlight, “I Love the Way You Move,” seems to be on MTV every hour. It’s a delicious, horny tune that celebrates big women dancing.
Boi seems to be much less anti-female now that he’s not having to deal with Andr 3000’s freaky modern guy tendencies. His lyrical skills soar on “War,” a song with hardcore lyrics about social protest.
As expected, the Big Boi’s disc is less artsy, using more of his gangsta and worldly rap. Speakerboxxx features the less progressive guest raps of Jay-Z, who rhymes the hook on “Flip Flop Rock.” Boi fulfills his Dungeon Family duty with flying colors by flipping some dirty Southern upbeat rap over the electronic beats of “Ghetto Musick.”
Until now, it had been a while since a radio-hit-making rap group had shown artful talent throughout an entire album.