Stankonia

Outkast

album cover

Putting the Stank Right on Ya

The funky genre-blind freshness of Outkast's Stankonia grew out of a conscious decision. When singer and conceptualist André 3000 (André Benjamin) and the rapper and sound sleuth Big Boi (Antwan Patton) began work on this, the most critically lauded release of 2000, they stopped listening to hip-hop. "That music was starting to sound real comfortable," Benjamin explained. "There wasn't any adventure to it."

Stankonia took care of that. Stretching outside of hip-hop for its vocabulary (as well as its samples), Outkast created a mind-boggling intergalactic amalgam, a place where old soul and new street rhymes mix together, becoming highly concentrated. Stankonia isn't just for hip-hop heads—it engages the whole wide world. It's got hippie music interludes and singer-songwriter stanzas. It talks poignantly about unintended pregnancy ("Ms. Jackson") and corporate greed ("Gasoline Dreams"). It delves into electronica (the jungle "B.O.B."), but also has room for a drum machine samba ("Humble Mumble"). Its explosive rhythms and character-actor vocals sync up in spasms of gonzo invention that are appealing, whether Outkast aims for the far future or trips back to update '70s P-Funk with the lewdly winking "I'll Call Before I Come."

Though Outkast has had a bigger hit since (Speakerboxxx/The Love Below), musicians are still grappling with Stankonia—which, like Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life and a handful of other records, manages to not simply define a moment in pop history, but look far beyond it.

Genre: R&B
Released: 2000, LaFace/Arista
Key Tracks: "B.O.B," "Gasoline Dreams," "Ms. Jackson"
Catalog Choice: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below; Aquimini
Next Stop: Goodie Mob: Soul Food
After That: Prince: 3121
Book Pages: 569–570

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About 1,000 Recordings

Celebrate the joy, the revelation, the mystery, the fun, the sheer shivers-up-the-spine pleasure of great music.

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