Dungeon Family

It's no secret what a huge fan of OutKast I am, and in honor of the release of the 6th OutKast album - Idlewild, I felt it would be a good time to pay tribute to Andre and Big Boi. In a way I think OutKast has been the defining hip-hop group for me growing up. I’ve always placed them in my Top 5, along with Wu-Tang, 2 Pac, Biggie, and Big Daddy Kane. But the more I think about it the more I realize that if you were to parallel my life to any rap group, the best correlation you could find for me would be with OutKast. As a matter of fact, I think you can make the case that the same rings true for a lot of people born between 1977 and 1979. Now, I realize that comparing my life to that of two Grammy-winning brothas from Atlanta is a little bit of a stretch, but, I think I’ve got a few valid points here.

Now, OutKast first came onto the scene in 1994 – my sophomore year of high school. Their steez back then was true to was common in hip-hop. On Southernplayalistic, they rapped about dime sacks, Cadillac’s, and trying to make something of themselves. My steez was playing video games, sports, and trying to hook up with girls. Oh, and also trying to make something of myself in the form of an athletic scholarship.

After that they did ATLiens (1996), where they got more introspective and rhymed about esoteric subjects that got you thinking. There was definitely a shift in their content and rhyme style. I would liken that to me heading off to West Liberty State College in West Virginia. As a matter of fact, I actually can still picture myself purchasing ATLiens from some little music store next to the mall (which was 45 minutes away in Ohio). So from DC to a small, country town. Not knowing a single person, forcing myself to branch out and adapt to my surroundings.

Next, Aquemini (1998): On this album, OutKast experimented with different styles of music outside of hip-hop. They mixed it up phenomenally with George Clinton on Synthesizer, as well as the jazzy sounds of SpottieOttieDopaliscious and Liberation. Unfortunately there is nothing I was doing in 1998 that I could remotely compare to that steez. I was actually being a huge Russ at JMU at that point in time. Quite possibly the worst year of my life. To quote the sports guy, ‘let’s just move on.’

Stankonia (2000): This album was a bit of a disappointment and was a little all over the place. It had 8 friggin’ skits (out of 24 tracks) which broke up the continuity of the album for me. There are some solid individual tracks of course. So Fresh, So Clean & Ms. Jackson, B.O.B. to name a few. But after track 15, the album gets pretty boring and stagnant. This album came out during my final semester at JMU. I had decided not to play football and be a regular student, and my long-time girlfriend had graduated and was living 2 hours away. I pretty much flailed and was also all over the place. Way too much time on my hands, which led to too many nights at Highlawn Pavilion drinking Blue Motorcycles and Long Island Iced Teas. This was pretty much the beginning of my ascent to being a semi-big fella at 205 lbs by 2002. You could also say that because of the very little I had experienced in my life up to this point, that after a certain point, just as from track 16 on in Stankonia, there wasn’t much to my steez.

Speakerboxx/The Love Below (2003): This was where you really saw the full-fledged changes with Andre, as he explored a completely un-hip-hop approach to his album. On The Love Below you started hearing him talk about random things he had on his mind, like relationships & the wide range of emotions that women inspire. During interviews he talked about taking acting lessons and wanting to enroll at Oxford – clearly ideas you can only start to entertain when you’ve got millions in the bank. I liken this to my self-proclaimed independence from everything I had grown accustomed to up to that point. This album came out right after a few fallouts on the relationship front for me, where I was forced to branch out and go my own route. This led to the Aaron “Garment Renaissance,” which correlated with something many of my friends were undergoing as well. I started tossing out my XXL-sized shirts and jackets, and began started picking up things to wear that actually fit me. I also made trips to Vegas, South Beach, Europe, Montreal, and switched from skiing to snowboarding (which was a special decision).

Idlewild (2006): So that brings us to Idlewild. I picked this up last Monday (August 21st – its release date). As with any new CD, it’s too early to decide. My gut tells me it won’t end up as an OutKast classic – there are again too many skits, and the end of the CD is rather annoying. But there are some genuinely good tracks within the first half of the album. We don’t know where this album will take us as we look towards 2007, but I’m sure when OutKast Album #7 drops, it’ll remind us all of some interesting things – possibs?

Wavy Gravy OutKast Album Rankings:

1. ATLiens
2. Aquemini
3. Southernplayalisticcadillacmusik
4. Speakerboxx/The Love Below
5. Stankonia

Wavy Gravy Top 13 OutKast Songs:

13. E.T. (Extraterrestrial) – ATLiens
12. Da Art of Storytellin’ Pt. 1 – Aquemini
11. Wheelz of Steel – ATLiens
10. Crumblin’ Erb – Southernplayalisticcadillacmusik
9. ATLiens – ATLiens
8. Humble Mumble – Stankonia
7. Aquemini – Aquemini
6. Git Up, Git Out – Southernplayalisticcadillacmusik
5. The Whole World
4. So Fresh, So Clean – Stankonia
3. SpottieOttieDopaliscious – Aquemini
2. Hootie Hoo – Southernplayalisticcadillacmusik
1. 13th Floor/Growing Old - ATLiens

Wavy Gravy Favorite OutKast Lyrics:

“You can't discrimi-hate cause you done read a book or two
What if I looked at you in a microscope, saw all the dirty organisms
living in your closet would I stop and would I pause it? Whoo!
To put that bitch in slower motion, got the potion and the antidote
And a quote for collision the decision.. is,
Do you want to live or wanna exist?” (Andre 3000 – Humble Mumble – Stankonia)

My mind warps and bends floats the wind count to ten
meet the twin Andre Ben. welcome to the lion's den
original skin many men comprehend
I extend myself so you go out & tell a friend
Sin all depends on what you believing in
Faith is what you make it that's the hardest shit since MC Ren
Alien can blend right on in wit' yo' kin
look again 'cause I swear I spot one every now & then
It's happenin' again wish I could tell you when
Andre this is Andre y'all just gon' have to make amends (Andre – Aquemini – Aquemini)

Right now I'm smiling
Taking advantage of this moment
Cause there might not be another soon
Holding on to memories like roller coaster handle bars
tightly cause I'm slightly off my rocker--
But to youI may appear to be your average joe
But little do you knowthat even joe got problems that he gots to joust with
Floating in this game of life
Despite how out of place you may feel
In this race oh you just can't quit
Ain't that a bitch…
Cause in a sense
See we all be kind of fly
Just can't be scared to spread your wings
Head to better things
Maybe the mockingbird and nightingale
they want to sing--keeping this thing alive
To the table's what we bring
We like hailstorms and blizzards in the middle of the spring
Extraterrestrial, out of this world (Andre – E.T. Extraterrestrial – ATLiens)

Me and everything around me, is unstable like Chernobyl
Ready to go at any moment, jumpin like a pogo stick
Life never lived up to my expectations, so I accept the patience
Expect the worse but now I'm pacin, back and forth
Inside I'm melting like water on wicked witches
A monster truck done came and ran over my picket fences
I had the best of life in my clinches but monkey wrenches was thrown
Like chairs kings sit on, my prayers seem to long
I fall asleep before the endin, don't even get to say Amen
I hope He understand I be on bended knees
At times, I think I'm crazy, so I say forget it
Or maybe it's the devil infiltrating and like Riddick...Bowe
I've been fighting this since them fetus days
I count from one to twenty, when I'm through, repeat the phrase
It's just a phase, it's gon all pass, but that gets old too
I'm weakening like a deacon doin dirt
What am I supposed to do? (Andre – Millennium – ATLiens)

Three in the morning yawnin dancin under street lights
We chillin like a villain and a ni**a feelin right
in the middle of the ghetto on the curb, but in spite
all of the bullshit we on our back starin at the stars above(aww man)
Talkin bout what we gonna be when we grow up
I said what you wanna be, she said, "Alive" (hmm)
It made me think for a minute, then looked in her eyes
I coulda died (Andre – Da Art of Story Tellin Pt. 1 – Aquemini)

Follow the funk from the skunk
and the dank that is crunk in the Dungeon
It goes on and on and on, like that
Goin out to the Jeeps and hoes in the 'llac
Ah suki, sukiAll day and day, any day, every damn day
I be thinkin about the good ol' days when I was a whippersnapper
Used to try to get a kiss, but now it be them draws I'm after
I'm just a Southernplayalistic pimpI used to slang a fat rock, but now I'm servin hemp (Big Boi – Hootie Hoo – Southern)

Oh, it's Saturday night, I guess that makes it alright
Got an obese twenty sack, fully packed, it's so tight
That it's bustin out the seems, yes sir, I'm set
Oh, but let me tuck the 380 before I jet (Andre – Hootie Hoo – Southern)

When it come to this music we stay relentless
Pursuing all that's pursuable
Doing God willing all things that are doable
The only liable limitation is yourself
Dre set it on the right and I'll set it on the left (Big Boi – The Whole World – Big Boi & Dre Present)