outkast speakerboxx the love below full album

You can dance to it, get krunk to it, meditate to it or just plain think on it – they work on all levels. The only predictable thing about OutKast was that they always worked together to create soulful hip-hop. In fact when one got used to this dichotomy, they would change the rules of the game just to funk with your head. While Big Boi kept them grounded in the gritty reality of concrete streets, Andre was the self-appointed Funkadelic of the group, descending from the Mothership to shoot rhymes from the hip. OutKast has always drawn it’s strength from the complex interaction between Andre and Big Boi, a hip-hop yin/yang that achieves a beautiful balance. After a greatest hits album and some time off to promote their Aquemini Records and its artists like Killer Mike, OutKast has returned in a big way with “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.” Although Atlanta has a fine hip-hop tradition it can be fairly argued they are the duo that put the city on the map worldwide as a hip-hop mecca – even naming one of their albums “ATLiens.” It was also the first of three consecutive albums widely considered by critics and fans alike to be 4 out of 5 stars or better, followed by “Aquemini” and “Stankonia.” Each time it seemed like the duo had pushed the limits of hip-hop to the max, their next album came even louder, as did Andre 3000’s wardrobe. Andre ‘3000’ Benjamin and Antwan ‘Big Boi’ Patton have a decade of rap’s finest music under the belt. It doesn’t stop the ambitious from creating double albums anyway, and few can be called more ambitious than OutKast. Approaching a project of this size is never easy for anyone: the artist, the reviewer, or the listener.

Outkast speakerboxx the love below full album