Speakerboxxx/The Love Below [Edited] - Outkast (CD 2003)

Much like many of the others out there, the geekiest of the music geeks, I regard Outkast in much the same light as Radiohead, Bjork, and Tool. Which is to say, these are all musical artists that really push the boundaries of music, experiment seemingly unconsciously, and rarely, if ever, mis-step.

Still, when I heard that Outkast's next album was going to be a "double solo-LP", featuring solo albums by Andre 3000 and Big Boi, the two members of Outkast, and that their songs and production would mostly be done apart from the other...it certainly raised some red flags. I mean, they've done some great stuff so far...could some "alone time" possibly be good for them? And more importantly, could Big Boi, the far inferior lyricist of the duo, carry an album by himself?

Well, I'll talk about that later. First off, we'll venture into the land of The Love Below, Andre 3000's contribution to this double album effort.

The Love Below is very much an Andre 3000 effort. Writing or co-writing all of the tracks, and producing all but one track (he co-produces that one), his soul/funk/hip-hop groove permeates the album and fills it with the simple theme that fills the album: a successful rap star longing for a "real" love. Does he find it? Well...look on.

The album is slow to build, starting with an interlude, a short, soul-lite track, and another interlude, before entering into the jazz-funk stylings of "Happy Valentine's Day". Its a pretty song, but its hardly indicative of Andre's lyrical flow, instead focusing on a soul-inspired tone that is a bit different, but nice.

The soul vibe maintains its slow burn on "She Lives in My Lap", gradually building up to a vigorous bump-n-grind session of samples of "Mind is Playing Tricks on Me" by Geto Boys, Volume 10's "Pistol Grip Pump", and vocal elements by Andre and Rosario Dawson. Suddenly, the album is grinding, spitting in your face, and full of energy.

The energy continues on the first single, "Hey Ya!". The deceptively simple keyboard loop and strange quirks of lyrical meter produce a strange but catchy song that builds on the preceding track, and moves smoothly with the next track.

That track, "Roses" is a more old-school sounding track, sounding vaguely like a Cameo or Whodini song, or maybe even the O'Jays. Its definitely a little unusual, and the content of the song (about a woman that's not as good as advertised) suggests that this whole finding love gig isn't quite going according to plan.

The southern synthesizer funk of "Behold a Lady" is all I can hope for in an Andre 3000 track. Yeah, it doesn't have his rapid-fire delivery, but with lyrics like:

"The ying to my yang, darlin' you've got that thang and you know it/
But you don't and that's what's so cool/
You don't say too much, but when you do it's profound in the street"

show he's still got the pimp skills, even if he is showing his softer side. Add an awesome beat, and you've got a great track.

Opening with a sample of Aaliyah on "Age Ain't Nothing But a Number" is hardly a bad way to start a track, and on "Pink and Blue", Andre uses it quite nicely to open a storytelling track about wooing an older woman. Using a strange, almost trip-hop beat and a string section to accessorize his art of seduction, Andre 3000 is proving to make quite an impression both in front of and behind the boards.

Almost a euro-funk beat accompanys "Love In War"; honestly, the beat to this song could be on a Bjork album and work. Using it for a hip-hop song makes for an interesting listen; while the beat is slow, the song has a pleasant cadence to it, and really shows off the more delicate mic skills of Andre.

The nice sounding, but somewhat boring, "She's Alive" is a sweet ode to his mother, but just not that impressive of a listen. "Dracula's Wedding", on the other hand, is a quirky track built around an acoustic guitar sample and featuring a guest appearance by Kelis, and is a really solid, funky song about love (literally) eternal.

The wild drum-and-bass meets acid jazz interlude which precedes "Take Off Your Cool" is a wild climax to the album; the cool-down by Norah Jones on "Take Off Your Cool" is quite nice, emphasizing the theme of finding a woman that's not into Andre for his money, his fame or his prestige. The spare production on "Cool" makes the song sound even more barren and self-reflective.

Moving into the home-stretch, "Vibrate" and the concluding "A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre", wrap up the album about the pursuit of love in a world of sex.

While not exactly flawless, its still an amazing album. I would have preferred a few harder tracks, but he really does make a really impressive album, in which he demonstrates his production skills and his impressive lyrical skills. By itself, I'd give it 5 stars.

Okay, so now you know what one album sounds like; what about Big Boi's contribution, "Speakerboxxx"?

Big Boi gets a little more help from others on his contribution, with several guests, and some production aid.

From the start, you can figure out that Big Boi has some different priorities on a hip-hop album. The first real track, "Ghettomusik", contains much of the aggressive up-tempo delivery found on Outkast's albums. Its fun, and bouncy, maybe not too deep, but quite good.

Big Boi continues his tricks on "Bowtie", with Sleepy Brown and Jazze Pha. An impressive, highly funky track that has a groove worthy of Outkast, its quite a nice track.

"The Way You Move" is a nice showcase of Big Boi's lyricism at his finest. Mixing nice, but simple verses with a catchy, horn filled hook, Big Boi makes one of the album's finest moments that much better.

The pyschotic beats of "Bust" overshadow the rhymes of Big Boi and Killer Mike. This isn't to say that the lyrics are bad; its just that the deranged "haunted house" sonic onslaught is that damn good. Who would've guessed that Big Boi was that impressive of a producer?

"War" is a cynical, and more overtly political track than the average Outkast song. With some aid from Andre 3000 and producer Mr. DJ, Big Boi mixes a dense, intense flow with impressive lyrics and an up-tempo beat that mirrors the song's intense tone.

"Temple of the Boom" is probably the weakest track on the album, featuring guests with very little rhyme skills. Its not that its really bad...its just not very good.

"Flip Flop Rock", in spite of its weak Jay-Z hook used as a sample, is really good, with the fast beat and Big Boi and Killer Mike's fast-paced delivery. Admittedly, Jay-Z, both in the hook and on his verse, comes across as too ego-centric to be great, brilliant rhyme cadence or not. Still, Big Boi and Killer Mike give the listener an impressive song.

"Reset" is another political track about destiny, fate, and all the things that aren't really fun for us. Its an impressive track, somber and interesting.

Even better is the posse cut, "Last Call". This track, just before the end of the Speakerboxxx, is a strange mix of old school rhyme styles and modern beats. Produced by Andre 3000, this song is really impressive, full of great rhymes and a quirky approach.

In short, what we see in this album is an evolution. Perhaps Andre and Big Boi will break up and go solo, I'm fairly confident they can live up to the challenge...but who knows? I'm hardly an expert on such things, but this album suggests that, should the duo part ways, they could do a really good....