Atlanta’s hip-hop mavericks OutKast have arguably been the most exciting and brilliant musicians of the past ten years, and their names are certainly on the short list of the decade’s best. Since emerging with 1994’s Southernplayalisticcadillacmusic, each album they have released has further expanded their musical journey, a journey that has taken them down seemingly endless pathways of experimentation and creativity. Their last two albums, Aquemini and Stankonia, are both regarded as sheer masterpieces, among the best hip-hop albums ever made.
For their latest effort, the duo of Big Boi and Andre 3000 diverge, packaging two essentially solo records in one double album. While this split has fueled rumors of a more permanent disassociation, the group has vehemently denied that this project represents anything more than two different visions, both worthy of their own coherent context.
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is the result of that decision, and each half (Big Boi’s and Andre 3000’s, respectively) is a memorable and typically excellent journey into the fertile minds and souls of these near-genius talents. Indulging all the tendencies that have marked their previous work, the pair — heavily infused with George Clinton’s P-Funk spirit — have created a psychedelic, science-fiction, country dance-floor classic.
Although the unexpected nature of Andre 3000’s half — see below — will likely make Big Boi’s album look tame by comparison, some writers have been correct in asserting that it is no less exploratory than its companion. From its opening, with stuttering rhythms and blend of electro-beats, Speakerboxxx finds Big Boi further examining the outer boundaries of the Southern g-funk that has been his trademark within the group. Second track “Ghettomusick” is even farther out on the edge, alternating sounds and pace with staggering frequency; this is hip-hop from space.
Overall, the work is very consistent, and several songs leap out. Perhaps most notable among them is the jolting rush of “Church,” an appropriately gospel-inflected funk jam. One of the few tracks on either album to be feverish sonic joy, “Church” is also perhaps the album’s best showcase for Big Boi’s expert rhyming style.
Also notable is the New Orleans groove of “Bowtie,” the horn-driven strut of “The Rooster,” and the club thump of “Last Call,” on which Big Boi is joined by Dirty South compatriots Slimm Calhoun and Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz. Jay-Z also makes an appearance, reuniting with Big Boi and fellow guest Killer Mike — who joined Jay-Z on his last album’s “Poppin’ Tags” — on “Flip Flop Rock.”
First single “The Way You Move” is a slinking romance, buttressed by a stinging guitar hook. There are a few moments in which the socio-political consciousness that has always helped distinguish the group come out, like “War,” the fierce “Knowing,” and “Reset” (on which Big Boi is aided by Cee-Lo).
One thing worth mentioning is that Andre 3000 co-wrote and appears on four of the album’s tracks, and his presence is memorable enough to warrant worries that the break-up rumors might turn out to be true.
Andre’ half, The Love Below, is among the oddest things to ever be issued by a major record company. More than a little bit like a great, lost Prince record, this loosely connected concept piece about the possibilities and pitfalls of love contains sounds that — even by OutKast’s standards — defy description.
He spends very little of the album rapping; instead, he croons, purrs and shouts his way through songs ranging from the stylistically surprising (he begins the album with lounge jazz) to the jaw-droppingly original (like “Hey Ya,” the blend of soul, funk and 1960s pop-rock that is the year’s best single so far).
He plays with forms, manipulating and recreating the genres around which he bases his tracks. The music on The Love Below seems to simultaneously come from nowhere and everywhere, much like the best jazz. Andre clearly understands this connection; one of the album’s most mind-altering moments is his interpolation of John Coltrane’s “My Favorite Things” over an electronic break-beat, a track that then leads into an acoustic, near-folk duet with Norah Jones.
Also nearly indescribable is “Dracula’s Wedding,” a guitar-driven character study in which our hero — as the ancient Transylvanian hustler — is brought down by love (represented by guest vocalist Kelis). Andre attacks another character piece, on “Happy Valentine’s Day,” in which Cupid is presented as a laconic, nearly psychopathic bounty hunter over a dancing background of keyboards and handclaps.
“She Lives In My Lap” is a muted homage both to the sex nightmares of Prince and the dark descent of early-1970s Sly and the Family Stone. “Pink and Blue” samples Aaliyah’s “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number” before turning into a sparse, soul creep. The pulsating rhythms of “Love In War” render it nearly Euro-pop.
“She’s Alive” is an ethereal jazz ballad that spotlights Andre’s surprisingly versatile vocal abilities. He’s certainly not a fabulous singer, at least not in the traditional sense, but nowhere on The Love Below does his voice limit him or seem inappropriate.
Beach Boys’ harmonies mix with the dulled hammering of drum machines, strings and pianos with squiggling synthesizers on Andre’s half. Resembling much of the most complex funk and R&B, The Love Below is an endlessly interesting work, one from which breakout singles are relatively few but which, as an overall work, stands head-and-shoulders above the vast majority of recent music (hip-hop or otherwise) in terms of gutsy, probing ambition.
Brilliant as it is, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is not without its flaws or weak spots. Still, there has been little music made in the recent past that equals the vision and creativity of this massive work. They may or may not be splitting up, but Speakerboxxx/The Love Below suggests that, whatever their destinies, Big Boi and Andre 3000 will continue to make some of the most interesting music to be produced in this or any era.
Grade: A
