Music » Southern Rap Music

It takes a few listens to sink in, but on Aquemini, Outkast have pulled off a rare feat in hip-hop: they've made a good record that's a masterpiece of subtlety. What's more, it's their third record, and they've yet to fall into a rut--and that alone puts them in line for an award. The Organized Noize production crew is sublime, working with live musicians and crafting hook-filled soundscapes that complement Big Boi and Andre Benjamin's melodic patter. (See "Rosa Parks," "Chonkyfire," and the epic "Liberation," which features Erykah Badu, Cee Lo, and Big Rube--and clocks in at just under nine minutes.) Classy and intelligent, Outkast haven't sacrificed anything in their quest to make challenging, innovative hip-hop that forgoes idle boasting for the duo's message. A sample, from the title track: "Now, question: Is every nigga wit dreads for the cause? / Is every nigga wit golds for the fall? Naw / So don't get caught in appearance." --Randy Silver

At a time when experimentation is taboo in most overground rap, that's all Outkast seem intent on executing. Firstly, this double CD has no cohesive link, other than the fact that it sounds like a pair of solo albums stitched together to demo exactly how Andre's yin works to augment Big Boi's yang. Andre 3000's Love Below disc rates as the more eclectic of the two, given that he's turned in his emcee credentials to become a full-on funk-soul-jazz vocalist who mostly sings about items of love ("Happy Valentine's Day"), carnal lust ("Spread"), and female adoration ("Prototype"). Minus the big band schmaltz of "Love Hater" and cheesy cover jobs ("My Favorite Things"), Andre's disc is sick (meaning great). As is to be expected, the Big Boi disc is less arty, more gangsta and worldly, and features the less-progressive guest raps of ATL crunk purveyors Lil' Jon and The Eastside Boyz ("Last Call") and Jay-Z who rhymes the hook on "Flip Flop Rock". Unlike Big Boi, Andre keeps his collabos to a minimum, once crooning alongside Norah Jones on the cool yet sappy "Take Off Your Cool", and once with Kelis. Boi fulfills his Dungeon Family duty with flying colors by flipping some dirty southern up-tempo raps over electro beats on "GhettoMusick". By the time Cee-Lo sermonizes on "Reset", Speakerboxx and Love Below rate mostly as majestic and inspiring, with the remaining 23 per cent being just plain incredible --Dalton Higgins

Release Date: 1994-04-26, Audio CD, La Face

If you're looking for that typical "bounce baby bounce" Southern flair, then Ludacris's debut is not for you. Instead of working from the usual template, Def Jam South's first man out enlists the likes of hit-makers Jermaine Dupri, Organized Noize, Timbaland and the Neptunes (along with himself) to give the listener an album with a variety of contrasting styles and musical feels. There are the hard-hitting keys and snares on "U Got a Problem," a streetwise freestyle track with more than enough boom for the beat junkies and plenty of lyrics for hip-hop purists. Then a cut or two later, there's the radio-favored "What's Your Fantasy," with its eerie keyboards and pattering drums. UGK, Foxy Brown, and Pastor Troy all stop by to lend a lyrical hand, but Ludacris is the star on this record. He's got a lyrical style and charisma that transcends coastal allegiances. No gimmicks. Funny skits. Moving music. --Kenji Jasper

Big Boi and Andre 3000 make a monumental mothership connection on their utterly stupefying fourth album. At a time when the hip-hop "album" seems to be sadly declining in significance, Atlanta's finest deliver a classic package of space-case imagery, curbside poetry, and delicious experimental funk. While the boys still celebrate their big pimpin' lifestyles, "Gasoline Dreams" and the breathtaking "Humble Mumble" overflow with striking images of dashed American dreams and urban frustration. Stankonia's most beautiful moments come in the name of love, whether it's a celebration of the current ("Stanklove") or a lamentation of the past ("Ms. Jackson"). The love movement is manifested on the album's revolutionary production, combining the oozing, organic licks of P-Funk, the fearless, sexual audacity of Prince, some down-home Southern crunk, and even a little drum & bass ("B.O.B."). While Stankonia certainly isn't an "easy" album, its ambition and vision easily rank it among hip-hop's greatest in some time. --Hua Hsu

Release Date: 1995-11-07, Audio CD, Arista

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"I write the songs that the whole world sings," rapper Jay-Z claims in the middle of "Money Ain't a Thang," from producer-rapper Jermaine Dupri's first solo album, Life in 1472. Solo? Only in name; as Dupri grabs his Puffy moment to make a gangsta party album sure to dominate MTV and radio for months, it seems he's indeed pulled the better part of the hip-hop planet into the booth. Besides Jay-Z, there are guest shots by Snoop Dogg, Nas, DMX, Mase, Lil' Kim--even Mariah Carey and Keith Sweat. But not even those mainstream singers can turn the record's tone away from the boasting that dominates the other cuts. And Dupri's performance? Tracks: catchy. Rapping: slightly better than Puffy's. --Rickey Wright

OutKast has almost singlehandedly defined the sound of Atlanta rap. Tongue-flippin', rhyme-spittin' and Cadillac-ridin', all with a Southern accent, Big Boi and Dre have proved tobe the South's ideal MCs. ATLIENS continues in the same vein as Outkast's 1994 debut, SOUTHERNPLAYALISTICADILLACMUZIK, with producers Organized Noize back to accompany the duo's laid-back flow. Big Boi and Dre proclaim to prove a point with every rhyme, never wasting a line. They like to think of themselves as outcasts from the hip-hop community--aliens,so to speak. Their tracks have an outer-space feeling to them--a feeling that, ironically, has warmed the community right up to them. They're so out, they're in.