928. Outkast - Stankonia (2000)

Track Listing

1. Intro
2. Gasoline Dreams
3. I'm Cool (Interlude)
4. So Fresh, So Clean
5. Ms. Jackson
6. Snappin' & Trappin'
7. D.F. (Interlude)
8. Spaghetti Junction
9. Kim & Cookie (Interlude)
10. I'll Call B4 I Cum
11. B.O.B.
12. Xplosion
13. Good Hair (Interlude)
14. We Luv Deez Hoez
15. Humble Mumble
16. Drinkin' Again (Interlude)
17. ?
18. Red Velvet
19. Cruisin' In The ATL (Interlude)
20. Gangsta Shit
21. Toilet Tisha
22. Slum Beautiful
23. Pre-Nump (Interlude)
24. Stankonia (Stanklove)

Review

Finally something new and innovative comes through in the world of hip-hop. After a time when most of what you had were stereotypical West and East coast caricatures Outkast comes in like a bolt out of the blue.

This is actually not their first album, but it was the one that really got them noticed. It is really easy to see why they got noticed, the songs here are pretty great and there is a load of variety, from angry Gasoline Dreams to piano driven Ms. Jackson to bombastic BOB.

So this is the birth of the mainstream relevance of Southern hip-hop, and thank fuck for that! An indispensable hip-hop album, a work of genius and something to stand next to the great 80s hip-hop albums in terms of innovation.

Track Highlights

1. Ms. Jackson
2. BOB
3. So Fresh, So Clean
4. Gasoline Dreams

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Stank, a commonly used word on the album, is derived from a southern U.S. pronunciation of stink, the original meaning of the word funk. George Clinton applied the term stank to the more carnal, hedonistic things in life, including funk music. "Stankonia" is the name of a fictional land at "the centre of the earth, seven light years below sea level", which is "the place from which all 'funky thangs' come", according to the album's opening lyrics. The lyrical content is divided between verses from Big Boi and André 3000. The artists describe themselves as "a player and a poet", respectively, and this is reflected in the lyrics; Big Boi tends to deal with standard gangsta fare (such as guns, hoes, and pimping on songs such as "Snappin & Trappin" and "We Luv Deez Hoez") while André 3000 talks about other elements of "stanking", using metaphors about elephants, ski slopes, and the four humours.

Ms. Jackson (sorry it's cut at the end):