It was around the time that Andre 3000 started rapping about Atari and Coleco that it became apparent what kind of lyrical expertise I was dealing with. After an album of styling themselves as pimps and another doing the same but with an alien gimmick, Outkast emerges as a cohesive whole, gimmicks be damned. In its place is tight, no holds barred hip hop that at times skews funk, pop, gangsta, and soul, all done with a clarity of vision and a drive that leads Andre 3000 and Big Boi to one singular destination: Aquemini. Andre and Big Boi come equipped with socially conscious lyrics and catchy hooks that keep your head bopping and your hips shaking, all the while your mind's racing. The opener, Return of the “G” with Andre rapping a spitfire, dropping lines about hypocritical rappers and calling out everyone from competitors to neglectful parents to a society that marginalizes to even himself. The duo returns to these topics in tracks like Da Art of Storytellin' (Part 1) and Liberation, but the duo doesn't lose sight of its sense of humor and purity of heart. It's a very specific balancing act, one that parallels the album's main theme of duality. The tones of social commentary and science-fiction genre rap is as distinct as each of the two rappers, and as connected as the duo's vision for the record. A song like Synthesizer is very easy to chill out to, especially with the very silly Frankenstein homage stuck at the very beginning, but the dirty production doesn't let the air of looming dread lift from the track. Fun is encouraged, but keep your eye on the ball, there's more going on, even with the titular instrument creating a texture that distinguishes this track from the rest. Not an easy feat on an album full of unique tracks. And after all of that, the duo never loses sight of their roots, with multiple tracks on the record devoted to giving a spotlight to the duo's hometown of Atlanta, and in the wake of the East Coast-West Coast feud that dominated much of the 90's, it makes the Atlanta-centric tracks all the more powerful. On tracks like West Savannah (a track carried over from the Southernplayalisticcadillacmuzik sessions) and Slump, the duo rap about their experience growing up in Atlanta, and do so with style, with Big Boi especially taking the spotlight on these tracks, especially on Slump. Aquemini brought the southern style to the masses, and set the gave the duo responsible the platform to expand into becoming one of the biggest forces in rap in the new millennium. But to a listener like me, Aquemini stands as a testemant to the lyrical prowess and the atmospheric power behind Outkast.
Rating: 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment