While we’re waiting for Big Boi’s upcoming sophomore solo effort and word from Three Stacks on some kind of studio work, I figured I’d take a stroll through the ATLiens’ goliath discography to rig up a set of my top 50 tracks that the pair have put out since they debuted in 1994 with Southernplayalisticcadillacmuzik from the SWATS.
Hip-hop runs pretty dry in terms of duos showing such drastic evolutions throughout their course, and from pioneering the early Georgia hip-hop modes, to driving innovation into the Grammy-worthy limelight, Outkast have tagged everything from funk to pop music with their fingerprints, and in a manner that has yet to be emulated. They’ve invented attitudes, personalities and a complete dictionary of slanguage, and their efforts of implementing the weird into street swagger while maintaining a cool with the general hip-hop community is something you won’t find rival to. Save for their place in the mid-90s Dirty South catalyst, Andre and Big have never belonged to an era, which is the greatest testament to their invincibility.
Here’s the top 50. Throw up your thoughts below if you want to speak your mind on placement, bitch, gripe, agree, and spend your cents on why I’m incompetent under your judgment, unless, you know, you find the list flawless.
Sharon Tharp:
Never was a big fan of that "Hey Ya" song.
June 22, 2012
Gabriel Hayes:
"ATLiens" may be my favorite OutKast song of all. Love the verse: "Softly as I played piano in the dark/Found a way to channel my anger not to embark/The world's a stage and everybody gots to play they part/God works in mysterious ways so when he starts."
June 21, 2012
J Cato:
p.s. Janelle Monae makes her debut in this video
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