OutKast Album: “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below”

I want to start this out by saying that Im not a huge rap fan, but this is still an incredible album. Of the two albums Andre 3000's The Love Below is the better and more interesting of the two. He strays away from any traditional rap sound and carries a more funky jazz vibe. My favorite tracks on the album are Love Hater which is basically a laid back jazz tune, Spread which is extremely funky, Roses with a cool piano intro and a catchy chorus, Hey Ya! with its acoustic guitar, awesome synth riff, and chorus, My Favorite Things is a crazy reworking of the original, Dracula's Wedding is short but sweet, and Vibrate is funky with great lyrics.

Big Boi's Speakerboxxx is my second favorite in this double album. It seems to stick to a more traditional rap style but is extremely funky. Ghetto Musick is a great track with a great backing track and chorus, Bowtie with crazy horn lines and great hook, Bust is a great track with a hard rock edge to it and great raps, War is a song about the problems in the world today, and Church is a great funky track. Definitely pick this album up if your looking for some music that isnt afraid to try something new in a genre that needs new life.

The genius of two men: Andre 3000 & Big Boi shine on this 2-disc album titled SPEAKERBOXXX/THE LOVE BELOW. Aready worldwide superstars, Andre & Big Boi take their incredible new hip-hop/funk/jazz/soul style into the mainstream. Here are the track highlights for the best songs.

Disc One - SPEAKERBOXXX

"Ghettomusick" is a fast-paced thrill ride with an electronic/techno sounding beat to back it up. Big Boi uses his high energy raps and slows down in-between to make an amazing first song.

"Bowtie" is a funky, infectious, pimp-flavored anthem where Big Boi brags about all he's got. The hook, as well as the rhymes, are all very catchy and solid.

"The Way You Move" is the infectious, jazz-influenced lead single that is bringing the sales of the album to a whole new hight. The rhymes and the soulful hook make this a great song.

"The Rooster" is another jazzy-type track where Big Boi asks you to "put ya back in it".

"Tomb Of The Boom" is a good straight-forward hip-hop track featuring rhymes from Ludacris on the side. Great song with infectious rhymes.

"Last Call" is a crunked-up party banger that features Slimm Calhoun, Lil' Jon among others. Very good track. Followed by a needless reprise of "Bowtie".

Disc Two - THE LOVE BELOW

"Happy Valentine's Day" is a funky, stylistic track which finds Andre 3000 playing the role of Cupid Valentino -- "the modern day cupid".

"Spread" is an hard to describe song but it sounds good and Andre 3000 really sings his all on the hook.

"Prototype" is a slow love song following the worthless interlude "Where Are My Panties?".

"Hey Ya!" is the infectious, dance-floor ready first single that has millions 'shakin like a polaroid picture'!

"Roses" is a concept song about how looks aren't everything. The hook makes it clear with the words "roses really smell like poo poo".

"Pink & Blue" is a buffet of interesting sounds that is hard to describe but very good.

"Vibrate" is another interesting song with some very interesting sounds.

"A Life In The Day Of Benjamin Andre" finds Andre 3000 spitting for the first time on the album. Followed up by an untitled bonus track.

OVERALL - 4 STARS because of the needless skits on SPEAKERBOXXX and the horrific song "Love Hater" on THE LOVE BELOW.

First, let me preface this buy saying that I am not a hardcore hip-hop fan, but I do like it. I was really excited to get this album because I knew it was going to be different and, frankly, no artist in any genre is being different right now. I have really been waiting for an album like this to come along. I have listened to it nonstop since I got it and it already feels like a classic, like it's been around for a really long time. Okay, here are the tracks: Speakerboxxx: 1. INTRO: This is pretty short and a standard intro kind of setting up the album. 2. GHETTOMUSICK: Amazing. Just flat out amazing. I have never heard anything like this before and it is one of my favorite songs off both albums. This song is so catchy and has a great dance beat. 3. UNHAPPY: This has a sweet sort of slow melody intercut with rap verses. It is very nice and could definitely be a single. 4. BOWTIE: This song has a great big band feel to it and the horns are really catchy. 5. THE WAY YOU MOVE: I love how this song starts off kind of slow and then builds up to a big, soulful chorus. 6. THE ROOSTER: I love this song. It's funny and has a good beat kind of reminiscent of a Jackson 5 track. 7. BUST: This is a really interesting song. It is incredibly funky and very rocky. To me it sounds kind of scary and apocolyptic, but maybe that's just me. 8. WAR: Another interesting song. It starts off as a creepy, loungy sort of vibe but then changes into a whole different kind of song. Very interesting. 9. CHURCH: I love this song (I love them all). It has a great gospel feel, especially when the music speeds up at the end. 10. BAMBOO: This is an interlude introducing "Tomb Of The Boom". Not much I can say about it. 11. TOMB OF THE BOOM: This is a more traditional sounding rap song but has a great beat. 12. E-MAC: Another interlude. 13. KNOWING: I love this song. It is very soulful and has a really interesting beat that seems to be very simple but addicting. 14. FLIP-FLOP ROCK: Another more hip-hop oriented song but good, nonetheless. 15. INTERLUDE: Funny how this interlude doesn't even have a name. 16. RESET: This is a really slow song, the slowest on the album, and a nice change of pace. It's very beautiful. 17. D-BOI: Another interlude. 18. LAST CALL: This is perhaps the least innovative track on the album but I think it is really catchy and pretty good. 19. BOWTIE: This is a short reprise of the song and provides a good closing to the album.

THE LOVE BELOW: 1. THE LOVE BELOW: Wow! This is technically an intro, but more like a song fragment. It has a crooning style much like Frank Sinatra. Listening to this, you know this album will be different. 2. LOVE HATER: A full on jazzy song that segues nicely from the intro. I love the line about dandruff and this is just amazing stuff. 3. GOD: An interlude, but more like a poem or monologue. It is touching and funny. 4. HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY: So catchy! This is just innovative stuff. I love the way that Cupid has been reinvisioned here. This is a funny song. 5. SPREAD: Again, a very catchy song that is quick and fun to listen to. 6. WHERE ARE MY PANTIES?: A funny interlude. 7. PROTOTYPE: A slow ballad with a catchy and killer guitar solo. I love this song!!! 8. SHE LIVES IN MY LAP: Oh my god! How good will this album get?? This song is AMAZING!!! Everything is perfect. 9. HEY YA!: Perhaps the catchiest moment on both discs. This is amazing! A new style of music has literally been invented here! You will love this no matter who you are! 10. ROSES: This is hilarious and very funky. It reminds me of Prince. 11. GOOD DAY, GOOD SIR: This is an absolutely hilarious interlude. 12. BEHOLD A LADY: This is a great upbeat tune that has a sort of electro background. Again, it reminds me of Prince. 13. PINK & BLUE: This is a wonderful slower song and is very catchy. 14. LOVE IN WAR: A very pretty and catchy song. Andre can sing!! 15. SHE'S ALIVE: A very jazzy and touching song intercut with some spoken parts which add so much. 16. DRACULA'S WEDDING: This is a short song but one of the best on the album. It is so catchy and so completely jawdropping in its amazingness. 17. MY FAVORITE THINGS: For some reason this song is not listed on the track listing on the cd. It is a very interesting and wonderful instrumental reworking of the classic song. Groundbreaking. 18. TAKE OFF YOUR COOL: Another short song, this sounds mostly improvised but is very laidback and great. 19. VIBRATE: This is a very funky song that has a lot of depth to it. I love the lyrics. 20. A LIFE IN THE DAY OF BENJAMIN ANDRE (INCOMPLETE): This is a very bizarre ending to a very bizarre album. I have to listen to it more because it is kind of challenging.

BUY THIS CD BECAUSE IT IS VERY WELL WORTH YOUR TIME

Well, 2003 is about over, and with the exception of a few releases hip hop has let me down again. It's predictability, self assured ego and lack of depth and emotional power had almost leaving H.E.R(as Common put it) and has got me listening to more rock music. Then one fine August day, something magicial happened; Outkast, the most talented, progressive and outright funky group known to man would be hitting us over the head with not one, but TWO CD's !And get this; they're SOLO albums! Is this the final indication that Big Boi is fed up with his partner in rhyme Andre 3000's ultra eccentric lifestyle and is leaving him? Or is Andre fed up with hip hop's ultra blandness and has decided to leave? Or are both of them just flexing their

creative muscle in an attempt to give urban music the kick in the ass it sorely needs? The answer to the last three questions are no, no, and HELL YEAH!

For the straight ahead hip hoppper, Speakerboxx is the one for you. Had Big Boi released this on his own, this would be easily the best hip hop album of 2003. I always thought Andre was the lyrically stronger one of the two; I guess that's why they're a duo, and not an MC and a hypeman. The first single, "The Way You Move" may be getting all of the airplay, but that's the LEAST quality song on this CD. While there's the usual player stuff that Big Boi espouses; it's not nearly as cliched as most of the rappers cluttering up the airwaves. There is stuff about relections about being a father(his son even makes a cameo on one song), war and politics and about being black In America that would make Public Emeny and KRS-ONE proud. The guest apperances are great, from the VERY underrated Killer Mike, the VERY overrated Jay-Z ,the VERY funny and whistful Ludacris, and the VERY anticipated Sleepy Brown(when is his album gonna drop?). But the two ring circus that is Outkast's new CD isn't over; in fact, the best is yet to come.

The Love Below. If I could describe it in one word, it would be...LOVE. Love for hip hop. Love for music. Love for friends and family. Love for making love. And especially love for that emotionally ambiguous species known as woman. Andre 3000 has been decribed in many ways; weird, eccentric, wise, powerfully alluring. But this portion of the Outkast album will get him another description; GENIUS. One reviewer said it perfectly; this is the best album Prince never made; I should know being a big Prince fan(thanks to my mom; thank you mom). It trancends genre;the single "Hey Ya" is getting big rotation on top 40 and alternative rock radio; which means that Outkast has more fans than they know.

Well, that's my long ass review of Outkast new album. While this is very much worth buying, it only serves as a reminder that Big Boi and Andre 3000 are peanut butter and jelly; good sepearately, but great together. For those deep into hip hop and are fed up about the way our great music has deteriorated, pick this up and have your faith renewed. For those whom might buy this and would want to get into hip hop more, don't be fooled by the radio, MTV and BET that what you see and hear represents all that hip hop has to offer; there is plenty off great stuff out there(Gangstarr, Goodie Mob, Jurassic 5 ,Black Eyed Peas, Slum Village, Common, Lauryn Hill, most albums between 1988 and 1994)for those who are willing to look. So to close up, there is but one question: What's next?

At a time when most artists run the risk of sounding the same over and over again, OutKast proves to the world that Hip Hop is what you make of it, infusing their own thang and creating something new. Like many, I was totally unprepared for Andre's album, but I totally loved it. It takes a lot of confidance in oneself to go out and produce something so different, yet he pulls it off with aplumb and shows the world that Andre 3000 is indeed multi-talented.

Big Boi's effort was not to be left behind. His album packs the solid punch that the double disk album needs.

OutKast has done it again, and as a die-hard OutKast fan, I might be biased, but I believe that you should really go out and try this album.