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>THE BAR HAS BEEN RAISED.
hmm, dunno how well this joint'll stand the test of time. prolly well though, because this is an intellectual excercise in some ways but dem boyz always make 'mood music' that you can bump whenever you get that feeling. anyway..
>I have listened to stankonia
>objectively and subjectively and decided
>that I am not prejudiced
>in my views, I’m just
>right. 
I've listened to it a couple of times, it's air-tight.
>INTRO – Very Parliament 2000.
>Gives me a feeling of
>being somewhere out there, mars
>maybe? This is the
>kind of music that should
>have beenthe score on the
>Fifth Element or something.
but I like how big boi brings it back down to the hood in a second flat, like that's the role he's going to play throughout this whole album, earth to andre's live wire.
>BREAK (this is consistent throughout the
>record. the chant heard
>before leaving a football huddle.
> it’s very cute)
oh, is that what it is? never saw a football game, me thinking it was some sort of old skool shout.
>GASOLINE DREAMS – talk about moving
>back and forth! The
>bassline in the song is
>what u drive to, this
>song is made for blasting
>out your car stereo.
true that..these are the opening joints that make me wanna see what creators like ?uesltove will respond with, because outkast don't really have much music-making competition even approaching their popularity. black thought is equally vivid but can he get you ampted like andre can on the hook..cut sounds like stage would be in flames live.
>I’M COOL (interlude) – B*tch stay
>off dat blow! Very
>funny, cause u think she’s
>talking about love or something
>then u just realize she’s
>a powdered donut. it’s
must be like waking up from a dream..feel like they're saying she's damned if she doesn't and condemned if she does.
>SO FRESH, SO CLEAN - Who
>knew that pimping wasn’t dirty?
> Exactly which ohio players
>song this REMINDS me of
>I can’t think of right
>now, but when I get
>home I’m popping in Funk
>on Fire (the anthology you
true that, and I love the little keys/piano all over this album. and will dre ever run out of different flows, I like how he makes use of space in how he raps to different beats. yeah, and big boi takes you there so you feel like you've been dirty southern all your life..so fresh and so clean.
>MS. JACKSON – Although the radio
>tried to spoil my initial
>hearing of this album by
>putting this song in regular
>rotation, they did nothing of
>the sort cause this song
>is SICK! Who in
easily one of my favourite songs off this album, nice mix and everything just combines lovely with the keyboards and piano, reversed drums - then the bass comes in, damn. this where outkast always challenge their own standards, by tackling everyday subject matter (lyrics) in an unorthodox fashion (beats) and executing it perfectly (piano & bass) to the last detail (birds, dogs).
>SNAPPIN & TRAPPIN -- …sigh…..i don’t’
>think I really am overwhelmed
>by this song. it’s
>not bad, but it’s not
>as good as the previous
>three. it almost could
>fuck up my high if
>I got high, underdig?
way it just starts makes this sound like an experimental instrumental that they rhymed over, it's usually big boi that breaks in new fam, and he does it with the usual flair which more than makes up for an unmemorable hook and uninspiring ragga chat at the close - one to grow on.
>D.F. INTERLUDE – The trumpet/trombone thing
>going on here is an
>example of unfair interludes.
>u know the kind u
>want to last longer than
>1 minute? big
ahh, this is too ill: 1st generation dungeon fam.
>SPAGHETTI JUNCTION – I cannot for
>the life of me remember
>where the interpolation (replayed sample)
>is from? what is
>it? it’s driving me
>CRAZY! well whatever it
>is, it works, oh so
>well! then comes sleepy,
>again! I think this
>is a bbq song. not
yeah, this song could fit on any outkast album really and anything with sleepy on it says sateeva and sunny weather. and that's the truth, fire, the horns sew the track together. but this track and the df interlude have me thinking how much I miss dre and fatsax on that tag-teaming tip, that's one of the things that forever maintains 'atliens' in the top bracket.
>KIM & COOKIE (interlewd) – I
>hate the way these broads
>talk, then again I love
>it! it’s the duplicity
>of me. they sound
>JUST like my cousins in
>north cackalacky. it’s really
yeah, I dig these outkast interludes with females on them just to hear them talk, that sht is too funny when this is the only place you'll hear it. I like these simple, spontaneous skits, but that aren't just some other so-called emcee babbling about how tough a thug, cold a pimp or righteous a god he is.
>CALL BEFORE I COME – Nigga
>quit being so god damn
>selfish! what to say
>except this is Definitively reminiscent
>of something of off diamonds
>& pearls/symbol album. it’s
>so FUCKING DOPE! okay,
man, dre's really blossomed since southernplayalistic. dude is fearless with it, and big boi keping up in his own way. see, this is what I love about 'kast, no matter how eccentric the beats get they'll ground them with an unexpected guest (the ladies brought it but I feel like song could've been even tighter concept-wise with someone nicer) and the bass is ever-present. I see the prince in it, the way he decorates/doodles at the ends of each line, like on, say 'cream'.
>B.O.B – since we all love
>this song, I don’t need
>to review it. yes
>I do. let me
>just say that the church
>organ/bass combination is THE SHIT!
I dig that little intro before the beats drops, tight like 'mellow, my man'. see, the more I hear this song the less it impresses me and the more it impresses me. because if you strip it down to just the beat like start of big boi's verse, I feel like this is something jermaine dupri or maybe dallas could've cooked up, or will shortly. but, aside from having the rhymes, earthtone don't rest until they've worked out every crevice and corner of the sound. like fire says, it's in the climax, mad scientist combinations of programming and live keys and guitar sounds like prince's sott-batman years, but with ill cutting over it.
>XPLOSION – B Real is real
>mad at somebody! his
>label, xxl, he’s pissed.
>I figured out the feeling
>this album gives me.!!!!!!
I like how outkast pair with an initially bewildering tourist on their joints, raekwon and b-real, but they both rip their parts well. man, I feel like earthtone could have laced tupac SO lovely when he finally returned to his revolutionary roots, tupac could have added some fire to this and 'gasolene dreams' for real. but this is the sht that convinces you this is dre's album, why's he got to mess with his vocals everytime.
>GOOD HAIR (interlude) – I love
>this interlude most of all.
like the spanish music on the background too - BREAK..
>WE LUV DEEZ HOEZ – Very
>Dr. Dre/Chronic 92. The
>only thing missing from this
>song is Nate Dogg.
yeah, one of those joints that prolly sounds much nicer when you've blown your brains with some decent mary..a simple hook for a simple song but big gipp takes the belt. haha, gipp always has me laughing, sounding like an old-ass wino that thinks he's flyest, like somebody just woke him up to, literally, spit his verse.
>HUMBLE MUMBLE – AW SHIT!
>This is what I’m talking
>about man! this is
>that Stuff that makes an
>album CLASSIC. first of
>all, the intro to the
>song where dre is doing
>his star wars jungle intro
>is so cute.
now, this is my shit! 'what's your loco motive?' best songs on outkast tend to have a little intro to them, like they know how hot their sht is and they wanna take you by the hand and lead you it it first, instead of just dropping/fading in the beat. but, dunno, if I'd heard this beat as some unknown indie instrumental - has me thinking of ancient nintendo before andre comes in. yeah, like this is where I thought jungle brothers would be today before they derailed. but dungeon always pull it off, the bass is always live and erykah's in need of an exorcist come the end. and that's deep too: 'humble as a mumble in a jungle of shouts and screams..' says a lot with little, we've got to stay re-rooting our dreams.
>??????? – I love THE music
>on this interlude. why
>couldn’t they have extended this
>to 10 minutes? it’s
>the bomb! I love
>this song/interlude! I love
>it!
this is another one of those cuts, that's changed just by the fact that it's outkast flowing over it, wouldn't be the same if it was kool keith or method man or del. with all dre's questions and the interlude before and the pouring sounds is this meant to be an anti-drink announcment. length is good - nice.
>RED VELVET –Only real men use
>metaphors. This song is
>so DOPE! (I hate
>that word but I have
>no other way to explain
>it) they downplay the
>whole bling bling attitude that
>is prevalent on almost every
>rap album within the last
>five years. this track
this is where I see what jeflee says, even just one unexpected instrument on a track can't hurt, several if combined right make all the difference in the world. in this case, I'm feeling dre's daablings with camille-like speeds this time around, and little spooky-electric bit is fitting. but I like how they say it, it's not so much about death to all the fakers as, if you must floss 'consider your surroundings'.
>CRUISIN IN THE ATL – cute
>(break!) I like the
>corniness of this interlude.
>it’s like a fake nate
>dogg. are they dissing
>nate dogg?
ah, I love this interlude - like some mid-eighties sunshine..but, yeah, kinda reminds me of that 'summertime in the lbc' song from a while ago.
>GANGSTA SHIT – Oh yeah!
>pass me dem thangs lets’
>get em! I feel
>like blasting somebody cause the
>distorted vocals and the bass
>guitar make a nigga violent!
it's the return of billy ocean..man, this cut has a whole lot of growing to do right now, prolly better heard in a shmoky ride perhaps but t-mo's the only one that really did anything for me on this one, cool to just hear andre rap his verse straight too without resorting to singing/effects, don't really recall him on outkast's 'gangsta' joints in the past.
>TOILET TISHA- okay, this is probably
>my favorite song this year.
"I swear that bootsy, prince, sly, george, jimi and me were channeled onto this song" - haha, fire your shit best be white hot when we eventually get to hear it. but this cut is bananas, proly needs to be heard with fat acoustics or on fat headphones, nothing in between, cause I hear it at the base of my brain rather than in the bones. to be honest I haven't really listened to the dramatics going on in the background or what tisha's story is - this would work as an instrumental, or with just sleepy on it. but it's a beautiful thing that outkast dedicate as much of their thought/material towards addressing female issues.
>SLUM BEAUTIFUL – (CeeLo4Life) – driving
>I plum crazy! second
>favorite song on the album.
> okay for real, ya’ll
>can’t handle the glare.
the mix is beautiful. outkast need to work with prince on something because they've got what he needs and he's the man that can take them beyond stankonia, out of the south, out of america, outer space. cee-lo's got the same thing dre's got but different, each verse can be lengthy or condensed yet carefree, that effort-less energy, emceeing from a completely different degree. and dre's fully submerged in stank now, back to the future of funk.
>STANKLOVE – oh sleepy! oh sleepy!
>oh sleepy! oh sleepy!
>ohkay, this is competing with
>toilet tisha, on the REAL!
backing vocals are the sht, like something silver surfer would surf to - another one for the nervous system, preceded by a chronic mental steam cleanse which I haven't had. nah, I need to listen to this cut in the prone position with some herb burning. but they didn't need to fck with rube's vocals too. but, man, I'm mourning the jacking of my copy of 'the vinyl room', seems this album no longer exists anywhere. damn.
damn, this album's over too soon. but I must say, in a sense I hope they've cleansed their system enough to take it back to some hip-hopping next time around. it's kinda the same as the roots, wouldn't give up any of their albums for anything but it'd be cool if they explored 'illadelph' contours a little further. cause I feel like the making of 'stankonia' was prolly as much about selecting which tracks they'd use as much as anything, so they went with staaanklooove - but I'm holding out for 'wheels of steel II' also.
I'd still archive it, fire - nice review.
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seize your time! - marley/wailers
does krs represent heaven? hell, yeah - krs1
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