October 2003

Outkast: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

I'm not a huge fan of the whole "Dirty South" style of hip-hop, but Outkast's double album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is definitely an exception in my book. Outkast's previous album, Stankonia, is good enough for Dirty South. It's got a few excellent cuts and a bunch of other stuff that I just skip through. However, this new album is something entirely different.

Instead of a CD of some soulful hip-hop and krunked-up anthems, we get two discs. These two CDs are completely different in nature and cause me to wonder about Outkast in very deep manner. What the fuck are they up to?

Speakerboxxx is much of what a casual listener would expect: an album quite similar to Stankonia. A couple of really funky tracks, some borderline tedious and uninteresting Dirty South Noise, and the usual cast of (outstanding) guest performers. One track here especially worth mentioning is "Unhappy", which shows that Outkast has spent a lot of time listening to Curtis Mayfield. Everyone should listen to Curtis Mayfield. "Unhappy" showcases Outkast's skills with backing melodies and arrangements that are both complicated and soulful.

In a sense, "Unhappy" somewhat foreshadows what appears on the next disc, The Love Below. I can imagine that most listeners will have the same reaction that I did upon first listening: WHAT THE FUCK? In my case, that was a good exclamation. I can't speak for others.

The Love Below is almost an enigma in my mind. It starts off sounding like an old George Benson album and continues to heavily borrow from Jazz and old R&B/Soul themes. In fact, there is a very drum & bass sounding cover of "Favorite Things". But the reason why this is so enigmatic in my mind is that while the musical quality is very high, the whole disc has a very tongue in check feel. The primary subject is love, as the title suggests. But the disc features things like a prayer to God about booty and lyrics like, "I know you'd like to thank your shit don't stank/ But lean a little bit closer/ See that roses really smell like boo-boo" from "Roses".

Also, I should mention that "Take Off Your Cool" with Norah Jones is pretty decent. And that "Dracula's Wedding" sounds even more like an updated Curtis Mayfield song than does "Unhappy". It's as if the ghost of Curtis Mayfield paid a visit to the studio and co-produced the track. That's the kind of poltergeist I like- instead of fucking with your TV, it bestows you with extra soul.

It's my understanding that each member of Outkast took a lead in producing either of the discs. It's my opinion that Andre 3000 showed Big Boi who is boss, but that's not to take away from Speakerboxxx. Together, both discs make for a fascinating totality. However, The Love Below is wonderfully surprising icing on the cake that makes this double CD the most thrilling hip-hop since the last Jurassic 5 and Blackalicious albums.