It was worth the wait. It's even better than you thought it would be. Better than "Stankonia." Better than "Aquemini," even. Better than anything else put out this year.
The subject at hand, of course, is the new double-album from Outkast, the single most innovative group out there, period.
Who but Outkast could release the kind of records they do, songs so utterly bizarre and noncommercial that they should belong to some unknown underground group, and yet still somehow be not only commercially viable, but ridiculously popular to boot? I imagine that when "So Fresh So Clean" was voted number one on TRL, some kind of invisible, universal law regarding the relationship between commercial and critically acclaimed music was twisted all out of shape. And only Outkast could accomplish something so revolutionary.
Big Boi and Andre 3000, the dynamic duo canonized for pushing the envelope in music, have made the astounding decision to release two solo albums together as an Outkast double album, simply because recording together as a group was "too easy." Thus, the new Outkast album actually consists of two completely separate solo discs, Big Boi's "Speakerboxxx" and Andre's" The Love Below." Not only has Outkast's self-imposed creative challenge been met, but the results are actually more successful than anyone could ever have imagined, as the two solo discs allow each artist to explore new territory which neither could as a group.
Andre, in particular, seems to be telling the world that he can do whatever the hell he wants, and we're just along for whatever wild ride he wants to take us on.
How else to explain how one of the sickest MC's out there would choose to rap only two verses on his entire album? Just hearing his wicked flow briefly grace "The Spread" is enough to make you wonder what kind of album Andre Benjamin could'vebeen made if he'd decided to stick to rapping. But Andre 3000 doesn't care if you think he's a good rapper.He'll make his album however he pleases, and what is so remarkable is that "The Love Below," an album based mainly on Dre's terrible crooning falsetto, is still such a fantastic work.
"The Love Below" answers the question of what would happen if Big Boi wasn't around to ground Andre 3000's spaced out antics with some recognizable hip-hop sensibilities -- it's quickly obvious that Andre 3000 inhabits a plane of existence farther away from us than we ever knew: A bizarre, fathomless universe where all genres of music come together to produce seamless, strangely perfect songs about love and loss.
It's impossible to isolate the sounds present on both Dre and Big Boi's solo discs. R&B, jazz, jungle, pop-rock, funk, drum & bass, electronica, goth-rock, gospel, bounce, old-school hip-hop... you can go on naming the categories until you realize how meaningless they are. This music is simply unclassifiable -- Dre's ebullient first single "Hey Ya" epitomizes this quality.
"The Love Below" is framed as a concept album in which Dre explores the nuances of relationships. It is a groundbreaking album, perfect in execution and artful in delivery. Beginning with the loopy "Love Haters," a song that melds hard rock wrangling with jazzy instrumental breaks, the album ends with an extraordinary remix of "My Favorite Things" from "Sound of Music." This is followed by the introspective coda "A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre," where Dre addresses numerous personal issues, including his relationship with Erykah Badu.
Even the limited guest appearances on Dre's disc prove how eclectic and eccentric the album truly is. Kelis spookily chants about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on "Dracula's Wedding," a song about fear of commitment, while Norah Jones sings breathily over an acoustic guitar on the mellow "Take Off Your Cool." And yes, that's actress Rosario Dawson singing on "She Lives in My Lap," which is slated to be the next single.
In order to reinforce the separation between the two albums, Dre and Big Boi only guest sparingly on each other's solo discs. Big Boi's only appearance on "The Love Below" is a verse on the hilarious "Roses." Dre, who appears a couple of times on Big Boi's disc, meanwhile lends his production skills and vocals to a catchy hook on "Ghettomusick," the leading track on "Speakerboxxx."
Big Boi's disc can hardly be compared with Dre's, it's really a case of apples and oranges. Big Boi's is the more conventional hip-hop record, but calling "Speakerboxxx" conventional seems incredibly insulting in light of the fantastic experimentation in the production and the innovative variety of the album's tracks. Big Boi aims to make a funked-up party record, and in this respect, "Speakerboxxx" is more of a direct evolution from "Stankonia" than "The Love Below."
Adopting the pimp personas of Sir Lucius and Dirty Fat Sacks, Big Boi is out to get everyone dancing to numerous funky, spaced-out, hip-hop tracks. On "The Rooster," Big Boi urges everyone to "throw your neck out, throw your back out" alongside a catchy groove with a horn-heavy sample. Horns show up again on the lead single, "The Way You Move," a booming party record. "Speakerboxxx" even ends with "Last Call," a cantankerous call for all partygoers that showcases Big Boi's classic flow, which only grows more honed with age.
Rare in hip-hop is an album in which guest appearances are an afterthought, but Big Boi manages to make us forget that Ludacris, Cee-Lo and Lil' Jon are on even on the album at all. The one rapper who makes his appearance known is Jay-Z, dropping a hot verse on the exceptional, melancholy, piano-driven "Flip Flop Rock," a standout track among standout tracks. "Speakerboxxx" is brimming with creative production and clever wordplay, and serves as a perfect complement to the deeper, conceptual "The Love Below."
As a double-album, "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" is simply seminal, a fantastic accomplishment that is desperately needed to revive a stale and decaying genre.
In case you haven't noticed the copious praise I've been lavishing on this double-album, there's nothing left to do but end this review with a string of justified hyperbolic adjectives. Brilliant. Genius. Extraordinary. Crazy. Off the hook. Spectacular. Brilliant. Banging. Fantastic. Amazing. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant.
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