Stankonia - Outkast

Stankonia" was the fourth album to be released by a group which consists of Andre 3000 and Big Boi, who collectively go by the name of OutKast. This album was a successful one for the group as they managed to a #2 in th Billboard Charts, as well as three singles, of which one achieved a #1 in 2000. "Stankonia" has a multitude of musical genre's blended within it, whch shows the diversity of the group. Amongst what OutKast brings us, we have: metal, gospel, jungle, samba, techno and P-funk, collectively this has been called alt. Hip Hop as this is what it revolves around. The two artist differ greatly, also adding to the mixture of ...  Read the complete review

Mainstream hip-hop certainly overrules the more conscious side of the genre; this is simply because it is more marketable, however the downfall of this was that artists such as Jay-Z and even Nas to some extent have all lost their conscious roots. Unlike any other group Outkast have remained focused to the cause and have been able to keep their individual talents as artist rather than bowing down to the expectations of mainstream hip-hop. Through their previous albums, Southernplayalisticcadillacmusic, ATLiens, and Aquemini, Outkast showed that their musical creativity was completely unrestrained; with the addition of the Dungeon Family in production and ...  Read the complete review

Outkast are back and as Stanky as ever. Stankonia, the new release by the Kings of the Dirty South's rap scene is a musical experience beyond funky, it's STANKY! Nowadays many hip-hop artists are becoming complacent, relying on the success of past albums to sell their new projects, Outkast continues to reinvent themselves always surpassing the quality of previous albums. The intro sets the scene of what to expect. "Welcome to Stakonia. The place where all funky thangs are from. Do you wanna come?" "Gasoline Dreams" propels the album into a great start. Pure funky beats are rapped over by the revitalised Big Boi and Andre. ...  Read the complete review

You've all heard 'Ms Jackson' by now, one of the greatest pop-songs to enter the UK Top 10 in the past decade, chances are, you're probably quite sick of it by now, but 'Stanlonia' has plenty of other treats for you. This album rocketed Outkast to recognition this side of the Atlantic, but the Atlanta duo had alredy been widely appreciated in the USA for years now, with their previous album 'Aquemini' being hailed as a masterpiece over there, due to its complex live instrumentation and fresh ryhmes. 'Stankonia' is a totally different kind of masterpiece, the spoulful tones of 'Aquemini' have been replaced by an outrageous ...  Read the complete review

Which genre should I put this album in? That's a very good question. I would describe it as a blend of hip-hop, soul and 70's funk. It's unlike anything I've heard before and the most attention grabbing album that's come along in years. Apparantly, this band have been around for years, but I don't know any of their earlier music, I'll certainly give them a listen though. Outkast are two guys, Big Boi and Andre 3000 from Southern USA. You may have heard their upcoming single Ms Jackson? It's one of those melodical hip-hop tunes that sticks in your head for days. I don't know exactly what it is, but something that these ...  Read the complete review