1000 OutKast - Aquemini (1998)

1000 OutKast - Aquemini (1998)

Studio Album - Hip-Hop


About the Act:

OutKast were a Southern Hip-Hop duo from Atlanta, Georgia, active from 1992-2006 and again in 2014. They were André 3000 and Big Boi. They produced 6 studio albums, and were one of the most successful hip hop groups of all time. They are best known for the chart hit "Hey Ya."  

About the Album: 

This was OutKast's third studio album. The title is pronounced "a-KWE-mi-NIGH" and is a portmanteau of the duo's starsigns, Aquarius and Gemini. There are 40 people credited as musicians, and 25 more under "technical". At 1hr 15m it's a long album.


My History with this Album: 

None


Review: 

So this is my first review in this long long, series, and already I am well out of my comfort zone. It's rap, and hip-hop, which is not a genre I listen to much at all. I have very little I can refer to for comparison.  

So, most of the tracks are rap songs, interspersed with little vocal acted vignettes. It's almost like listening to an album in a foreign language, it's so laden with Southern US Black slang. There is a good strong smattering of swearing, as you might expect. From the best I can tell it is not all about gangstas, violence, misogyny and hatred, and looking up information about the album seems to bear this out. Mostly though, I really cannot follow it. Some content seems to be sexual, but there is social commentary in there too, and just stuff about life, and probably drugs.

Musically, well it's more musical than I tend to assume rap is, the backing is broadly not sampled, but real instruments (although quite a bit is synthesised, like bass lines and sometimes the drums). Harmonically it's very simple, with mostly one or two chords used in a track (sometimes more). That doesn't mean it is has no sophistication. The feel ranges from quite up-tempo to chilled to quite psychedelic at times, and it is refreshingly diverse in sound. There are certainly nods here to funk and soul and there are some nice grooves. I can recognise elements of acid jazz in here too. It's really nicely produced and a lot of time has been taken to make it sound just right, with the result that it is rich and warm like chocolate.

Did I enjoy it?  Well, kind of. I'm not a sudden convert to rap, but I didn't find it offensive or objectionable. I could listen to it again, possibly even by choice. I found it to be lyrically inaccessible but musically more accessible.  

6/10





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