Check out the newest edition of my weekly column on Refined Hype, dishing out classic album reviews. This week: Outkast's "Stankonia".
According to the album's opening lyrics, "Stankonia" is the name of a fictional land at "the center of the earth, seven light years below sea level", which is "the place from which all 'funky thangs' come.”
It’s a bit of an unconventional way to start things, but OutKast was never the conventional group. Although many may say “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” is the group’s best album (Grammy win for Album of the Year), I think “Stankonia”, released in 2000, is their seminal work.
The structure of the album is unique in itself with the way the lyrical content is divided between verses from Big Boi and André 3000. The two describe themselves as "a player and a poet", and this is reflected within the lyrics themselves. Big Boi tends to deal with mostly typical hip-hop topics like gunplay, girls, and pimps on tracks such as "Snappin & Trappin" and "We Luv Deez Hoez". On the other hand André 3000 spits about other elements of "stanking", using some interesting metaphors about bombs, elephants, and ski slopes.
I’m always impressed when artists show that they have an appreciation for past music, and OutKast goes above and beyond on this album, which is one reason why its so great. “Stankonia” has a widely diverse batch of musical influences, including many musical genres to create a fully unique-sounding album.
From the heavy metal-style electric guitar riff on "Gasoline Dreams" to slick funk on "So Fresh, So Clean" to the samba style on “Humble Mumble”, the group leaves no stone unturned. The album also incorporates influences from gospel, on "Toilet Tisha” and some heavy drum and bass on "B.O.B.".
This stylistic diversity blends perfectly with the production, which uses trippy synthesizers, spacey sound effects, techno percussion, and 70s-funk, but in a more contemporary context. Even the album’s cover is influenced by something; it’s homage to Sly & the Family Stone's “There's a Riot Goin' On”.
“Ms. Jackson”, without a doubt the most popular track on the album, it won the boys from Atlanta a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. The titular "Ms. Jackson" is the real-life mother of Erykah Badu, André 3000's ex-girlfriend and the mother of his son. The song discusses the problems that break-ups, separation, and divorce can have on a couple, and the animosity that a woman's mother can have for her daughter's former boyfriend or husband.
The lyrics are simple and illustrative and show some raw personal feelings, like when Andre raps: “Ten times out of nine, now if I'm blind fine/The quickest muzzle throw it on my mouth and I'll decline/King meets queen, then the puppy love thing, together dream.”
“B.O.B.” may be the most recognizable and memorable tracks on the album due to its social relevance and fast moving, jungle influenced beat. Simply enough, inspiration for the song came when André 3000 was in a newsroom and overheard a news report about "bombs over Baghdad".
There are a slew of great lines in this track, especially in Andre’s first verse, which he spits out quick and fierce. He raps: Stack of question with no answers/Cure for cancer, cure for AIDS/Make me wanna stay on tour for days/Get back home, things are wrong.” This track is even more relevant now considering we still have troops in Iraq.
"So Fresh, So Clean" is one of the best hip-hop tracks of all time, and my personal favorite from “Stankonia”. The laid, back, synth heavy beat blends perfectly with Big Boi and Andre 3000’s contrasting delivery and flow. The final chorus sums things up perfectly, as they state, “And we are...the coolest motherfuckers on the planet/
In my mind...the sky is falling ain't no need to panic.”
At 24 tracks, the album is an epic piece of material. It’s broken up by some brief, humorous interludes, which personally I don’t like, but work well on “Stankonia”. Due to the differing styles and sound of many of the tracks, the interludes serve as a good transition from one genre to the next.
“Stankonia” is a classic hip-hop album, and shows off the raw skill and artistic ambition of OutKast. Had the duo not made “Stankonia” and fully developed their interesting sense of music, I don’t think they ever would have made “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.”
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