OutKast
ATLiens
»
OutKast
ATLiens
LaFace, 1996
RiYL: Spearhead, Black Star, The Roots, Jermaine Dupri |
The meditative intro sets the tone for the album from its beginning, a gospelly evocation that features a woman moaning "some go low to get high / you may hurt 'til you cry / you may die / keep on tryin'." Not your average playa fare. The record then slinks into the low-riding beats of "Two Dope Boyz (In A Cadillac)," where Big Boi and Andre first step up again to remind us of their lyrical prowess.
On this album, their tongue-twisting lyrics and artful delivery achieve a new level of proficiency. Part of this is due to the pair's expanding realm of lyrical source material. Sometimes when a group like this finds early success, its members realize their lifestyles are changing and honestly writing about their everyday lives becomes more difficult. But as much as Outkast injects ATLiens with surreal imagery, the two also remain true to form, often rapping about their hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, or waxing philosophical about the trials of the have-nots in modern city life.
Andre even takes a moment in the excellent single "Elevators (Me & You)" to address the questions of a fan who might think fame is distancing the successful rap stars from their roots: "Sure i got more fans than the average man, but not enough loot to last me / to the end of the week, I live by the beak like you live check to check / if you don't move your feet then I don't eat, so we like neck to neck."
ATLiens also finds the duo establishing their separate personas with more vigor. For instance, Andre has shunned psychoactive substances altogether ("No drugs or alcohol so I can get the signal clear"), while Big Boi still relishes his weed ("See I smoke good / cuz see it go good / with dem flows, boi").
But the more their personalities split away from each other, the more their chemistry seems to grow, as sprawling later efforts like 1998's Aquemini attest. It's as if the two's musical collaboration has created a spherical electrical field with Big Boi at one pole and Andre at the other. As their player/poet personas drift apart from one another, this globe merely increases in diameter, making room for more funky goodness in the center.
In 1996, however, the group's vision had not expanded so far that cohesion became a problem. ATLiens, consequently, is probably Outkast's most focused effort. It doesn't jump from style to style as rampantly as some of their other albums, but instead explores the many methods of expression within its set vibe of relaxation, reflection and self-awareness. This is not to say there are no rockers on the album -- the title track and "Wheelz Of Steel" have been known to get the crowd moving at gigs -- but let's just say the BPM never gets as high up the chart as it has been known to do on other Kast records.
The album draws to a close with the wistful "13th Floor/Growing Old," which has got to be one of the most beautiful rap tracks ever. After a spoken-word poem about the horrors of Babylon recited over a slinky piano riff, the track slides into a laid-back rap bolstered by a soulful female-voiced chorus. Coming from two guys in their early 20s, the worldly wisdom and wake-up-to-reality vibe of this song is amazing. Dre's closing verse compares the deterioration of human flesh and youthful innocence to "Trees bright and green turn yellow brown / Autumn caught 'em / see all them leaves must fall down / growin' old."
Southernplayalisticadillacmusik gave us a hint that Outkast was going to make a major contribution to '90s hip-hop. ATLiens makes manifest this concept, and shows a thirst for experimentation that implies the band's even more promising future. When Big Boi claims in the title track that the Kast is "cooler than a polar bear's toenails," he must be believed.
TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.