727 OutKast - Stankonia (2000)

 727 OutKast - Stankonia (2000)

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 their fourth album. It was the first after creating their own studio, so they felt able to take their time recording it.

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

I listened to this twice, and in-between read about it. On this occasion, reading made a difference. The first listen - I was quite non-plussed. The second time, I guess I was plussed.

There is a problem with rap, well, more than one possibly. One problem with rap is the normalisation of nasty words. There's one, that's actually two words, that is generally considered to be about the sweariest of swears in the US, and there's another, which can only be used by people of colour to describe themselves, and if anybody with skin as pale as mine were to even think of writing it, I would have a lot of offended people tutting at me. These words are used so liberally in rap that they have little impact any more, which is a problem for rappers - what do they need to say in order to be edgily offensive these days? How can they climb the potty-mouth ladder to new heights? It's a toughie.

On my first listen, the things that impressed themselves on me were: 1) quite a lot of use of nasty words, 2) some pretty explicit sexual stuff and 3) some of the fastest rapping I have ever heard. After reading about the album, and catching some hints as to why some people reckon this is one of the most influential rap albums ever, I knew some stuff to listen for. First of all, I don't know if they used any samples, but I think possibly not. There are a good number of real instruments and actual musical elements (rather than just beats and shouting). Secondly, those musical elements are varied, and bring in elements of soul, funk and quite a bit else. Actually, there is less rapping than you might expect, because there is more singing, and on occasion what maybe could be called "tonal rapping" - it has a note. Vocal harmonies take a big leaf out of the Prince style, and guitars hark back to Jimi Hendrix, and there is a general psychedelic feel at times.

The rapping, is mostly fast as I said, and there are a lot of words, happening very quickly, in different "flow" styles. As is normal for hip-hop albums, there is a smorgasbord of guests, and also linking vignettes between tracks, so the whole thing flows as a whole. The content is varied, and adult at times, some of it is sexual, some of it is about relationships, there's only one track about gangs, and it seems almost entirely lacking in the "I'm the best rapper in the world" content that is so prevalent in rap. There are tracks about social responsibility and other reasonably non-objectionable things. Wikipedia claims that it is lacking in misogyny, I'm a bit dubious, but maybe I'm not the best person to judge whether either "Toilet Tisha" or "We Love Deez Hoez" are ironic or not.

It's actually well put-together, and fairly interesting (although hard to follow at times, partly the accent and slang words, but mostly the sheer speed). The guests are not the usual nepotistic set of people, and quite a few local Atlanta talents are showcased here. One thing that is done well is the variety of these in voice and style.

So in the end I mostly enjoyed it, but it is still rap, and it is still somewhat beyond my boundaries for offensiveness.

6.8/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2tm3Ht61kqqRZtIYsBjxEj

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLu4sMtaJ7fGsVXtkd5MxWgWhJvsE7Lzzz

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stankonia



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