![]() ![]() Stankonia received universal acclaim from music critics and holds an aggregate score of 95 out of 100 at Metacritic. Billboard 200 chart, selling over 530, 000 copies the first week. The album debuted at number two on the U.S. Lyrically, the duo touches upon topics such as politics, misogyny, and personal introspection in an irreverent manner. In order to maintain musical cohesion with Big Boi and continue his musical evolution, André 3000 incorporated both techniques on Stankonia. Recording sessions became difficult as André 3000 wished to abandon his rapping vocal style in favor of a more melodic technique, an approach to which Big Boi and other producers were unaccustomed. On Stankonia, the duo hoped to create a chaotic musical aesthetic, and incorporated a diverse array of musical genres, including drum and bass, gospel, rock, salsa, funk, and psychedelia. Stankonia features appearances from many local Atlanta musicians whom the group discovered while visiting clubs in the city. The band’s ownership of the studio allowed for fewer time constraints and subsequently, more musical experimentation. In the spring of 1999, OutKast began working on Stankonia in the duo’s recently purchased Atlanta recording facility, Stankonia Studios. The group’s previous release, Aquemini (1998), played a significant role in introducing Southern hip-hop to other areas of the United States. It’s still a hell of a ride.Stankonia is the fourth studio album by American hip hop duo OutKast, released Octoon La Face Records. So now that it’s the 15th anniversary of the funky engine that could, I recommend taking an hour and thirteen minutes to hop back onboard the Stankonia Express for some funky beats, insane flows, and-oh yeah-some top shelf lyrics. And few do it better than Andre 3000 and Big Boi. To impart wisdom, with the goal of helping to change how the world is viewed, is one of the main reasons I love hip-hop. At the end of a verse where he flat-out dismantles critics who pigeonhole hip-hop as only guns and alcohol, Andre shows that it can often be a better way to spread ideas and to inspire change and action. Just one more instance in Andre 3000’s long history of brilliant insights. “The game changes every day, so obsolete is the fists and marches / Speeches only reaches those who already know about it / This is how we go about it.” And of course 3 Stacks’ breakneck, staccato flow makes it easy to see how he and Sir Lucious Left Foot were able to make it rain and why Stankonia indeed made it a year not to forget. Nestled within the infectious, head-banging beat of “B.O.B.” are some dope metaphors like this one, where Andre details Outkast’s expectation-defying success as they continued to make path-breaking music without a safety net to fall back on. “So now we sittin’ in a drop-top, soakin’ wet / In a silk suit, tryin’ not to sweat / Hit somersaults without the net / But this’ll be the year that we won’t forget.” ![]()
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