Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

It’s like I’m back in jr high

Ah, memories of 2003! Haven't listened to this album all the way through in over 10 years, maybe over 15? Always preferred Andre's disc and today was no different, but both were refreshing today.

It's a classic, it's pretty varied, a little long

This was the second album I ever bought. I had to really turn the volume down on Last Call to make sure my parents couldn't overhear the lyrics. Overall it falls into all the usual double album pitfalls, bloated and too long. But this is a weird one. Its a Big Boi album and an Andre 3000 album, and a perfect showcase of why the pair need each other. The Speakerboxx side has some bangers, some great rapping, but also a lot of generic 2000s rap and some completely pointless skits. The Love Below is beautiful at times, and has 2 of the best pop songs of the 21st century on it, but also has some definite misses. I actually really love the jazzy breakbeat instrumental cover of My Favorite Things. I think maybe Speakerboxx is a 3.5 and The Love Below a 4, but together they feel like less than the sum of the parts. This isn't one of those cases where you can combine the two and make a really great album out of it though, the sides and songs are just too different. Fave Tracks: GhettoMusick, Bowtie, The Way You Move, The Rooster, Knowing, Reset, Last Call, Happy Valentine's Day, Prototype, Hey Ya!, Roses, Love In War, She's Alive, My Favorite Things, A Life In The Day of Benjamin Andre (Incomplete) 3.6/5

Couple of bangers spread across a double album. Ballsy to release a double able with distinctly different styles on each. Feeling generous. 4/5.

A surprisingly entertaining album given the length. The super diverse blend of funk, rap hip hop and pop actually kept my interest throughout the whole album. I think it was a very bold choice for them to release a double album, split cleanly down the middle to feature each artists half of the material , but the concept somehow worked. All the music is still related and feels cohesive but you did get somewhat refreshed transitioning from one album to the next, trying to detect different influences and changes in style. Some tracks suffered from some of the painful and sometimes cringy cliches of this genre that left it feeling a bit dated at times.

(80/100) --- (75/86)

It was evident that the band had a lot of fun making this eclectic sound. Highs and lows abound but it is worth a listen to from time to time.

i think this is two albums in one and i think the second ones better

Speakerboxxx: Decent lyrics for some of the songs. More melodic would be better. "Bowtie" has some decent rhythm and flow. The love below: "Hey Ya!" is really good of course! Lifts the score by a whole point by itself. "Roses" is almost as good and adds another half a point. 4,2/5

High school fun

This is a great split for these two talented artists. Both albums bring much storytelling and energy.

this was originally meant to be two solo albums, andre3000’s half is better

This is what I wish most Hip Hop was like honestly. It's adventurous, engaging, sonically varied. Really a lot of fun to listen to. I have to take off a star because it is _so_ long. About two hours and ten minutes. Discipline is an important part of artistry guys. Some editing would have done the world of good.

This blew my mind when it came out. The departure of Big Boi and Andre 3000 as they (well, Andre 3000…) started going in different directions. This was certainly an album of my younger years.

Imponerande

OutKast gave us an album who's concept is as sly as their word play. "It's not a double album, it's an album double." There's over 2 hours of material here worthy of a track-by-track summation and dissection, but I'm gonna keep it brief. For most of my OutKast fandom, I've been Camp Three Stacks. Absolutely nothing against Big Boi, Dre just had the playful lunacy, like a Bugs Bunny of hip hop. Yet within the last few years, I've shifted, my interests gravitating towards Big Boi's bars. Before this listen, I would have said I prefered The Love Below. Instead, I preferred Speakerboxxx. Maybe Big Boi really has been the secret sauce behind OutKast's success. This isn't really an either/or situation, since you're buying both albums; they're grouped together on your streaming service. And yet, comparison is impossible to resist, since the album is a demarcation of each performer's instincts and interests. Andre 3000's The Love Below gets the most airtime. It's the critical darling. It's weird, it's comical, it's sincere, and it's musically eclectic: lounge jazz numbers, pop rap, electronica, R&B, neosoul, spoken word pieces, all interspersed with inventive skits. It's very cool, it highlights 3000's creative individualism, and it's overlong and indulgent. It has more lows than Speakerboxxx, which are only emphasized by listening to both albums back-to-back. Andre pushes his vocals into ranges he just can't meet, especially on "She's Alive", a strange ode to his mother as a single parent. Andre's songs are thematically consistent, to the point that it's a little humdrum. I read a review that said "Andre 3000 made The Love Below to get laid". Perfect summation. And there's nothing wrong with that. Andre 3000 is clearly channeling Prince throughout the album, it's soaked in the music's DNA, but Prince wrote about so many other subjects while also writing about wanting/getting pussy. When one of the few songs on The Love Below that's NOT about falling in love (or wanting to fuck) is about the singer's mother, no matter how saccharine or sincere it is, it's hard not to make an intellectual Oedipal connection. But I'm not a Love Hater, this is still a great album. When comparing Singles, I have to give it to The Love Below's two hits, "Hey Ya!" and "Roses". The latter may have been the most popular song throughout my middle school and early high school life. "Hey Ya!" is still huge, especially when you're in the club and the DJ is trying to throw a bone to all the white girls. Despite "Hey Ya!"s oversaturation, listening to it in context of the album shows how much of an injection of energy it is, and sitting with it shows off it's less thought about qualities, like the squiggly warbly synth sound throughout the song. And the music video is still cool. HOWEVER, "The Way You Move" (feat. Sleepy Brown) is one of the definitive songs of the 00's, and at this point I'd rather hear that in any context before either "Hey Ya!" and "Roses". Speakerboxxx is incredible, but not without it's sins. The Bamboo interlude is cute, but does it need to be 2 minutes long? Does the album really need that many interludes at all? While The Love Below is musically eclectic, Speakerboxxx is lyrically and thematically eclectic. Not to say the Speakerboxxx's music is predictable. It zigzags all over the place. "GhettoMusick" launches with an electronica feel with heavy synths, then 45 seconds shifts into an electric organ. 1 min 15 seconds, you shift to a chill downtempo section with a longing soul singer crooning and various voices singing "Feeling Good, Feelin' Great". A strange tangent for 45 seconds? Nope, it's something like a 2nd chorus, or a repeated bridge. It's awesome and strange. Meanwhile, lyrically the song is something of an anthem, for partying, for celebrating music, for celebrating OutKast. This is followed by "Unhappy", my favorite song on the album, which talks about stoicism, creative productivity and a pursuit of happiness in dire situations, while also sharing seemingly autobiographical stories about Big Boi's parents disentegrating relationship due to stress and money troubles. The next song, "Bowtie" is full of imagery of decadence and wealth, set to a horn-led big band funk sound; the irony of juxtaposing this with "Unhappy" is not lost to me. The album bounces around these ideas--"The Way You Move" being a sexual dance song followed by "The Rooster" a song about being a single father, a song literally about "War" to a call to respond to existentialist (and literal) worries by going to "Church". If The Love Below is Andre 3000 chasing Prince's lineage, then Speakerboxxx is Big Boi chasing Parlaiment/Funkadelic's lineage. Anyway, neither album is perfect, and when combined the flaws are emphasized. And yet you get two of the best albums of the 2000's for one price, so who's bitching?

Braggadocious, gangsta, Southern hip hop contrasts with romantic, eclectic R&B. For a double album packaged in one, the contrast really works.

I preferred the first half (speakerbox) to the 2nd half. Some great tunes but also some filler let it down.

Absolutely incredible album. This albums covers a wide range of styles and genres, along with a handful of massive hits. Really, really good.

nobody does it like this anymore

Genre: Pop Rap / Neo-Soul Truly an instance where a double album is two completely separate musical ventures, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is a shining musical statement. Half southern hip hop, half clean, crisp, neo-soul, OutKast truly lays out all their chops possible on this self-indulgent, full-fledged party from start to finish. Big Boi’s half is nowhere near as strong as Andre 3000’s, but both serve their part in the grander scheme. Really solid tracks up and down the tracklist, albeit a bit cluttered and overlong. 4/5

Let’s be honest here, I like OutKast but they have 4 better albums than this. It’s not bad, in fact I enjoy the majority of it. Big Boi’s speakerboxxx is the better of the two solo albums but it’s Andre 3000 who has the bigger song cause if you don’t know OutKast from Ms. Jackson you sure as hell know them from Hey Ya. I’d probably give this 7 out of 10 so I’ll round up to a 4 out of 5 but I do think this is OutKast’s weakest LP…. Idlewild doesn’t count. Also truly a double LP with this essentially two solo albums but it’s tooooooooooo long.

It's hard to listen to this and not divide it up in to two albums, and even both of them agree that it is a double album consisting of two bodies of work. I've always liked Speakerboxxx a lot more than Then Love Below, just to get that out of the way. Speakerboxxx is a product of its era in terms of lyrical content, nothing really groundbreaking but Big Boi is a good rapper so it doesnt' really matter anyway. His flow is unique to him, with aggressive stops mid sentence and coming in on off beats. The beats are mostly great, with the notable exception of the Bamboo beat used in a couple tracks/interludes that's too primitive for the content. The features are all complementary, with my favorite ones being on "Reset"; I've been listening to that song for ages and it's still good. There isn't a ton of innovation on here beyond the fact that the Outkast style is already innovative. I would say that the big singles, "GhettoMusick", "The Way You Move", have the most interesting beats, breakdowns and raps even. My favorites are the aforementioned "Reset" and "Bust". The Love Below marks the beginning of Andre 3000 going from traditional if different rapper to the weird phenomenon he is today. The piano and acoustic guitars in a bunch of the tracks gives out that crossover appeal that made him really stand out by himself as an artist. I can't say I'm a huge fan; it's definitely a unique style but I'm not enough of an R&B or love song guy to want to listen to it often. I get they're not strictly love songs but the whole sub-album is about that. "Roses" is the most Outkast song on the whole album though I know Andre is on a few of the tracks on Speakerboxxx. If I never hear "Hey Ya" again it'll be too soon, though it was a banger for a long time. I had forgotten about the drum and bass style version of My Favorite Things - what a weird but cool track. Anyway! This is a good double; there is plenty of material and it's cool that we see a duo split themselves up and take over half an album. I like that they address the fact that they're still Outkast in various places on both discs and that they're still doing it the way they always have. They knew the critics and press would be all over the fact that it's two separate albums. Overall I'd like this more if it was cut down to about an hour and a half instead of more than two hours (most of which would be cut from the second disc), but I dont' regret listening to the whole thing. It's fun, and it was a nice nostalgia hit.

First hip-hop album I ever listened to in its entirety. I enjoyed it. I found the first one far more interesting than the second, but I liked both.

it’s a double album that stretches to 2 hours 14 minutes. you definitely feel it once you reach the last quarter. i think that’s partly due to the first album being tighter and honestly better overall. they do some cool things in the second one but they get more experimental and sometimes it doesn’t last as much as the first album that had great song after great song. still a very, very good listen though. it was funny to have Hey Ya! thrown in there just because it’s so well known and i didn’t recognize most of the other stuff. my favorite things was a crazy shout. overall will definitely listen to Speakerboxxx again but maybe not The Love Below

Less a double album and more two very separate LPs. Speakerboxx is a top quality hip hop lp, only limoted by its somewhat reduced sonic palette. The Love Below, on the other hand, is a beautiful, textured combination of jazzy sounds, but outside of three tracks (Hey Ya, Prototype and Roses) it's all a bit meandering and doesnt really grab me. Neither album is short, either. A perfect example of "would have made an incredible single album". Very low 4, because the highs are fantastic, but far between.

So much! Need to relisten

Álbum bem variado musicalmente. Me surpreendeu positivamente. QoA Adonis New.

4. first time not disliking this genre

Brilliant album with two equally enjoyable sides emphasising different styles and themes. Outkast's brand of progressive/southern Hip-Hop has always stood out to me as someone who tends to get bored with most Hip-Hop and its preoccupation with violence, beefs between rappers and repetitive looped samples. This album instead has beautiful instrumentation and immense variety from song to song. The music itself is streets ahead of what is typical of the genre and it interspersed with interludes that flesh out the story being told. Immensely relistenable and much deeper than the hits that got all the airplay. Top Track = Last Call, Ghettomusick & Hey Ya.

These guys are so creative, damn!

Not their best but there is so much here. One has to wonder if they could have just reconciled their differences and collaborate this could have been a truly classic album.

Really great and I'm really one for hip-hop/rap most of the time. A lot of diverse sounds with all the features in here.

Not my favourite OutKast (that's probably Stankonia), but still, a great stuff.

Damn! Always thought this was a good double album. I was wrong. It is a phenomenal double album. Always thought I preferred The Love Below. Now I am not sure... Speakerboxxx is so much fun! Just a great listen with fire grooves and great tunes.

8/10

7/10 Favourite: Hey Ya Least Favourite: Last Call

Another long album. I wrote this one back in August 2024. Here you go: Of all the double albums I’ve listened to, this one easily has the most disparity between the two sides of them all. Of course, the explanation for this is quite simple. Speakerboxxx and The Love Below are two separate albums. Outkast’s two members, Big Boi and André 3000, originally wanted to make solo albums, but their label advised them to make a new Outkast album. So, because these are effectively two albums, I will review them separately. First up is Big Boi’s Speakerboxxx, a more traditional hip-hop album in the vein of Outkast’s works before this. Honestly, I really like it. It’s a very consistent record. The writing is fun and the sound is even more fun. Big Boi’s rapping is thoroughly entertaining. Despite the fun, there’s still important things to be said here. For example, the back-to-back songs “War” and “Church” tackle politics and religion respectively. And yet somehow the balance between these and songs like “The Way You Move” just works! This one’s great. High 4/5. Now André 3000’s The Love Below is a bit more mixed in my opinion. This one shows André's desire to move beyond hip-hop and utilize influences from genres like jazz, pop, and soul. It’s also a bit of a concept album about love. I really like the ideas of this album, but I think the execution could’ve been a bit better. It’s still good though, don’t get me wrong. There are some amazing songs on here. Obviously, the highlight is Outkast’s most popular song, “Hey Ya!” That song is amazing. I do find it weird that it’s their most popular song, but it deserves the praise. Songs like “Prototype” and “Roses” are quite good as well. However, it goes on for a bit too long and kind of gets weak near the end. I just didn’t feel as passionate about it. I highly respect it and I sincerely hope that André is able to explore more musical styles throughout his career. However, I do like Speakerboxxx a bit more. I’d probably give The Love Below a high 3 or a low 4. Overall, as a combined package, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is pretty bloated and all over the place, but it’s a fun album that actually makes the disparity in sides work somehow. 4/5.

Interesting album, and a cool concept. The two visions blend super well, I might like the first part a little better, more cohesive, but also, Hey Ya is a smash if I ever heard one and with this double album it has a lot of diversity of sounds and that is picking my interest. It is however not a five, it is too long, and it is really weighed down by all of the interludes that reaaaally feel like filler tracks to keep the structures. Some are fun, but not all of them, and there are definetly one too many. That being said, it is powerful, smart, and a good listen.

So versatile, this album is going all kinds of places

Outcast was super popular at this time and this was a great album. They were getting tons of radio play everywhere, kind of a crossover hit. It's good stuff and I really enjoyed it back then and still like it. Not the kind of thing I would listen to all the time but still exceptional vocally and musically.

Above all else, I am a Big Boi defender. I think if there's one benefit to this split LP style, it's that Big Boi really gets to stretch his legs and flex his creative muscles even if his impulses are less eccentric. Big Boi might have my favorite deep cuts on the whole album; I hear "GhettoMusick" and I am immediately energized every time, and I love the way the horns on "The Rooster" tickle my brain. Speakerboxxx is just so much fun and really hints at what he'll do later with stone cold classics like "Shutterbugg". Meanwhile, of course Andre goes for Prince and lands in his own idiosyncratic universe that's always way jazzier than I remember it being (see: the cover of "My Favorite Things" I kind of love?). I always think I'll be put off by the longer excursions like "Prototype" and "Vibrate" but the former remains another of my favorite OutKast songs and the latter has a fantastic hook. It's hard not to be shadowed by the fact that humankind's global anthem "Hey Ya!", the most played song possibly ever, is on it, but you know what? I still think "Hey Ya!" is great. Both sides suffer from bloat, the fact that the two sides are so different from one another remains melancholy in a way few works match (the closest parallel I can think of is watching the White Stripes' Under Great White Northern Lights documentary), but all told I remain above all else impressed that this works at all.

Didn't know most of these songs going in. Had no idea this album was a double of solo albums. I've never listened to Big Boi's side, and it's catchy as hell. 5* Andre 3000's side was less good, but had a couple of bangers. Self-indulgent like many have said. Opposite of what I expected to like more going into this album. 3* I will never understand rap/hiphop interludes, -0.5* A rare case where I didn't mind this being 2hr+ long. 4* (rounded up from 3.5) Highlights: hey ya, roses, church, ghettomusick

Speakerboxxx 5/5, The Love Below 3/5. Exquisite production on the whole thing. I was surprised I didn't like The Love Below more, but the hits still hit.

really good

Classic. Although not my favorite OutKast still a generational album

Great album, but pretty long

Speakerboxx is a bunch of bangers. Love Below kinda hit or miss but Hey Ya/Roses back to back is classic and I appreciate that the halves are so different stylistically

Super, idealne zeby na imprezie lecialo w tle

02/10/2025 Apart from being so long, it was relatively enjoyable. Spotify listeners: 22.8 million

4.1 Super ambitious but maybe a bit too much to take in on one listen. Whenever I hear Hey Ya I get flashbacks to 2005 of the college bar in fairview (twisters) and pimps and hoes night.

Fuckin hell yeah this is gooooood shit. Speakerboxxx I think I liked more than the love below but they're both good. Special shout out to Church, Flip Flop Rock, and Reset.

93/1001 :: Outkast - Speakerboxxx / The Love Below Heard before? ✅ Would I revisit? ❌ Rating: 7.5 Listen before you die: Yes I’m sorry Miss Jackson but while there’s some real gems on here I’m not sure I’ll ever listen to this (whole) 2 hour and 15 minute sprawler again. Been a while since I listened to Outkast’s swan song. It’s an important album because it truly shows where 2 visionary rappers can take the genre. That said, if I’m picking sides I enjoy Big Boi’s Speakerboxxx slightly over Andre 3000s The Love Below. I especially love the Killer Mike features. The first time I ever heard Killer Mike was Stankonia but this was a strong reintroduction. The Love Below does have some bangers though. Obviously Hey Ya but also She’s Alive and Take Off Your Cool. Overall an important album but it could use a nip and a tuck.

Not my favorite OutKast album but great songs on this one.

This album kind of meanders. Otherwise, the highs are exceptionally high!

This double album needs a double review. Speakerboxxx Sick mix of slick lyrics and silky flow. Filthy beats. 4.4 outta 5 The Love Below Electric and eccentric sound. Andres flow just goes crazy, he's definitely a top 5 spitter all time. That being said I think both albums were a little too long and could have the fat trimmed. 4.4 outta 5

Speakerboxxx > The Love Below, but both are really great

I think I prefer speakerboxx over the love below but there are definitely some nostalgia hits on the latter.

Damn this album kinda long... ...what do you mean disc 1?!

I love so many songs on this: rubbery bass, horns, guitar funk, Prince and Parliament and so much more. But this is one where maybe a single disc would do. Culled and leaner, it would be nonstop classics.

It brings rap and pop into the new century, looking backward and forward. I did eventually yield to exhaustion: just too much goodness.

This is definitely longer than it needs to be, and at the two thirds mark, I was ready to give it a three on that basis. But it continued to win me over, and I think somewhere around Dracula's Wedding I tipped me over into four. Big Boi half good, Andre 3000 half better. (And I loved the version of My Favorite Things)

One of the first and only rap CDs I ever owned. As a kid I only listened to the hits, a lot of this sounded vaguely familiar but mostly new to me. Speakerboxxx is incredible from front to back and in my opinion superior of the two. The Love Below is a bit bloated but so out there you have to respect it, along with two of the biggest hits of the 2000s right in the middle, and "A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre" is a masterpiece.

Incredible album. Some all time hits. I wanted to like it a little more than I actually did upon relistening, but it’s obviously amazing.

Fundamentales y este, tal vez Skantonia sea mejor o al menos más sencillo de escuchar, su obra maestra. Ajenos a esa absurda guerra entre el rap de la coste oeste y el de la este, desde Atlanta sentaron cátedra. Me gusta más The love below, pero no quita para que Speakerboxxx sea de enorme calidad con auténticas gemas como la inicial GhettoMusick, Unhappy (que resuena a los inigualables Arrested Development),Bowtie (hola Janelle...) o ese pepinazo que fue The Way You Move. Lo de André en The love below es de otro nivel. ¿Qué son la titular, God o Love hater sino música de otro planeta? Happy Valentine's Day es más Clinton que Prince, que también (al igual que She Lives In My Lap). Spread otra marcianada, como Prototype o la genial Prototype. Hey ya es uno de los mejores temas de este siglo, Roses sigue esa línea, y otra de mnis favoritas es Take Off Your Cool.

7.5/10

Oon aina tykänny tän levyn ideasta missä eka levy Big Boin soundia ja toka sitten Andren. Lahjakkaita ja monipuolisia. Itse henkilökohtaisesti nautin ekasta levystä enemmän. Kokonaisuutena ihan liian pitkä. Ja omasta mielestä rakenne, missä olisi joka toinen Andreta ja joka toinen Big Boita olisi toiminut paremmin. Tällöin olisi pysynyt mielenkiinto yllä helpommin. Törkeen kovia raitoja silti. Kokonaosuutena 3,5, mutta luikautetaan neloseen koska tää vei mut yläasteajoille, kun kaverin huoneessa kuunneltiin Outkastia ja photoshoppailtiin.

Nautin! Oli tosi monipuolinen levy (pitkä tosin, mutta kerrankin ei haitannut) ja muutamaa isoa hittiä lukuunottamatta en ollu juuri kuullu näitä biisejä. Erityisesti ilahduin sound of music- coverista lopussa lol. Monenlaista sisältöä ja yllätyksiä. En osaa teknisesti sanoa mitään, mutta oli todella miellyttävä kokemus

OutKast’s 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘹𝘹𝘹/𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸 is the rare double album where each half feels like its own world. Big Boi’s 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘹𝘹𝘹 is a tight, funky hip-hop record that could stand proudly on its own, while André 3000’s 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸 pushes into pop, funk, and jazz with sheer brilliance. Together, they delivered two massive singles — 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘺 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘔𝘰𝘷𝘦 and the unstoppable 𝘏𝘦𝘺 𝘠𝘢!, a song so iconic it practically defined the decade. At over two hours, it runs long, but it remains one of the boldest and most creative albums of its era.

Such a classic listen. I love it.

You have to admire the scope of an album like this. Looking at how it came about, you also kind of have to hand it to whatever record label executive convinced Outkast to release these two albums under a single project. Though not everything on offer here works, there’s something here for everyone. I greatly enjoyed myself despite the gargantuan length. Flip Flop Rock was an awesome discovery for me that I’ll be revisiting a lot. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Not my personal favorite Outkast album (I personally prefer ATLiens or Aquemini) but their catalogue is just so solid and timeless that if you were to rank them worst to best, even the quote unquote "weakest" Outkast albums are still head and shoulders above a lot of other artist's work. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is still so wild, experimental, creative, and entertaining and is just another notch in the belt of one of the greatest discographies in the genre from the best duo Hip Hop has ever seen

Got it already.

I guess this is two albums two artists released as one? 7/10 for Speakerboxxx and Hey Ya off of The Love Below. Didn't much care for the rest

Who else makes hip hop like this? Nobody! It's just Outkast. I'm sure some people who are balls deep in underground hip hop will read that and start shouting the names of a dozen rappers who've pushed the boundaries of their medium, blended a wide range of genres, and created real art. Listen nerds, I'm not talking about some dude who made one mixtape in 1997 then jumped in front of a train and wasn't discovered until suburban teens started sharing his shit on Kazaa several years later. I mean mainstream, world-renowned hip hop artists who have taken the medium to a higher plane, then went number one twice over, went DIAMOND, and won a Grammy doing it. It's just Outkast. This album has so much to take in and think about, so many interesting ideas, so many weird left turns, so many unique soundscapes, so many....fucking...songs.... It's a little long, guys. The level of quality is pretty consistently remarkable, but it's definitely still a little bloated. Like, I don't need skits, man. No skits. Stop it with those. This thing is supposedly an album a piece for either member (cool idea, by the way) but it's really a double album each in terms of length. That's god damn crazy! I enjoyed it a whole lot, but I can't give it the 5 knowing how many times I looked at the list of songs I had left and went "god DAMN!"

They’re both underrated as rappers. And the production is great. If this was edited down to a single album I’d give it a 5. As a double (really two separate albums) it’s a solid 4. Hey Ya will continue making wedding reception dance floors pop off for the years to come, but if that’s all you know of OutKast you’re missing out.

I've enjoyed OutKast since 1998. I remember hearing "Rosa Parks" and just being blown away. Still one of the greatest hip hop songs ever in my opinion. I then went backwards and heard ATLiens, which became an all-time favorite of mine and probably what I think is their best album. When Speakerboxx/Love Below came out, the hype was unreal. But I remember it not grabbing me like other OutKast albums did. As a teenager I didn't think much of it. But looking back, and especially relistening with a critical ear, it's very clear tl;dr: like most double albums, it's too bloated and would have been much better had they taken the best of both albums. Now, I understand the reasoning between the double album concept and that they were essentially two creative visions brought together to improve sales rather than risk both artists releasing solo albums to potentially mixed interest, BUT I think Big Boi and Andre 3000 are at their best when they're working together. Speakerboxx feels more like an OutKast album but missing that Andre weirdness. Most of the best tracks do feature him anyway. I think despite this, Love Below is actually the better album. It's undeniably more creative, more full of risks, and more unique and feels like it's own thing. Not to mention it has what's probably the most popular OutKast song ever, and one we'll probably hear at every wedding for at least fifty years, "Hey Ya!" All in all, it was an enjoyable listen, which is saying a lot for something I had to put two hours into (it helps that I skipped the skits), but this totally didn't need to be a double album from two distinct artists. In a way, I think I was ultimately disappointed with this when it first released because it was supposed to be OutKast's final album and it isn't *quite* an OutKast album and it feels a little like we got robbed by what it could have been. Still, skip the slop and stick around for the bangers and I think you'll ultimately end up appreciating this one.

I love this album! I am familiar with it and I either owned it when I was younger or one of my friends did.

Two whole amazing albums in one

An album with two completely different artistic directions that only seem to intersect when it came their funk sound. Speakerboxxx was way more cohesive than the love below. The love below was a bit more artistic, poetic even. Between the two, I found Speakerboxxx more enjoyable. But overall, a good album.

Love the Speakerboxx tracks with brass instruments. Especially Bowtie, which I could listen to on repeat for ages. I’d give Speakerboxx a 5 if I could, and The Love Below would get a 3.5. The Love Below has a couple great songs (Dracula’s Wedding!) but a lot of it was too experimentally jazzy for me.

My parents in 2002 (probably): Oh wow a double Outkast album? Sweet! Me, 23 years later: UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH The Love Below is a 5 and Speakerboxx is a 2

Beautiful southern blues

This is a great album.

Good

Me costó escuchar un álbum tan largo. Hubiese preferido que sean dos álbums separados como pensaron publicar en un inicio. Pero aparte de la dificil experiencia de escucha por la duración, puedo decir que es un muy buen álbum. Me gustó mucho más la segunda parte "A Love Below" perteneciente a Andre 3000. El primer álbum está bien, tiene buenos momentos, pero tiene un enfoque más tradicional de rap y sampleo, clásico de Outkast. "A Love Below" se siente mucho más ecléctico, experimental, divertido. Cuando empezó esta segunda parte sentí que la escucha se hizo mucho menos pesada a pesar de la duración, porque los temas sorprenden en su variedad y calidad. Tiene momentos de humor, de romance y meditación de un tema a otro, mezcla jazz, r&b, rap, soul, funk, rock, electrónica... Todo de una manera sublime. Si el álbum hubiese sido solo "A Love Below" lo huebiese considerado un gran álbum.

I have had this album in my collection since it's release, but hadn't listened to it in more than a decade. It was fun to revisit, and I really like "Speakerboxx"... "The Love Below" not so much, so overall, I think I will give the album four stars overall.

Finally an album I wasn't already familiar with. Decent, I'll need to listen to it a few more times to fully digest it.

There’s a lot here that’s fun. Great beats and inventive hooks, but like most double albums it winds up being a bit self-indulgent and in need of some paring down. The length here is the biggest problem.

Fist listen all the way through. Very good.

I feel like i am reviewing two separate albums. Well i suppose i am actually. After listening i couldn't help imagining the best tracks from both being combined and just having one incredible record. There are certainly some songs that could be done away with in my view. I preferred Speakerboxx. I would have taken that and interspersed it with the hits from The Love Below along with some of the more imaginative, jazzy stuff. I get why that wasn't possible though. I dont think Andre 3000's side is poor, just a little unbalanced and at times the experimentation was a bit excessive and forced. Really liked A Life in the Day of Benjamin when he returns to his rapping roots. Speakerboxx is what i expect and love from Outkast. Although it does get weaker as it goes on. I really do think that this could have been whittled down to one long incredible album. As it is there is too much filler to give it more than an 8/10. Favourite tracks - GhettoMusick and Roses.

An introduction into hip hop for me. I enjoyed the groovy beats and topical lyrics.

Speakerboxxx came out of the gate swinging. High energy, aggressive, and funky. Phenomenal instrumentations accompany many of these tracks (which also applies to Love Below). I was surprised how much I was enjoying this album. As for Love Below, it just didn't carry the same strength that Speakerboxxx had, in my opinion. That's not to say it's bad; Hey Ya! and Roses especially are outstanding songs on Love Below. I can also respect a good concept album, with this focusing on love. Maybe my opinion will change with another listen, but this is where my first impression with this double album as a whole sits.

This is #day375 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… I have a little bit of bias creeping in with this one. This record, or rather "Hey Ya" (and "Ms. Jackson" from Stankonia, which I got on #day253), was part of my teenage years. But I'm not going to dig deep into that now. It's probably my first time listening to this album all the way through. I like the concept: releasing two solo records under the band's moniker is kind of fun. The two-plus hours of music pay off thanks to the variety of genres and styles: hip-hop, funk, jazz, electronics, psychedelia... Anyway, this is a 4 out of 5. Looking forward to #day376.

Speakerboxxx is a solid, focused hip hop record by Big Boi that gets better in its second half. After The Way You Move, my favorite tracks are Knowing, Flip Flop Rock, Reset and Last Call. Meanwhile, Andre 3000's goal seems to have been to make anything but a rap album. Which is insane to make a record without your best instrument, but it's an insane accomplishment. Apparently, Hey Ya was the product of Andre's first attempt at learning guitar. Though, not everything worked for me on The Love Below. But songs that did are Happy Valentine's Day, Behold a Lady, Pink and Blue, Love In War, and A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre.

Highly enjoyable, no idea how I haven’t heard this before. A few skippers, but at least 5 certified classics and a lot of other heaters. Liked the adventurous jazzy stuff and the rap/rnb double album thing.

I always have said I just don't like Outkast. The album grew on me for sure. It was way too long but as soon as "my favorite thing" got in I was like I GET IT NOW

One of their biggest hits and most divisive albums but a solid one

Was so happy to get this album! Hey Ya one of my favorite songs ever!

This is my favorite OutKast album. I know that's not kosher to say in the hip-hop world, but the concept is so creative and so well executed that I can't help it. Big Boi's Speakerboxxx is a more chart-ready evolution of the group's past work with hooks galore and great production. On the other hand, André 3000's The Love Below sees the artist go all out in every direction, indulging in all his psychedelic Prince fantasies. It may be more uneven than Speakerboxxx, but it's highs are way higher. So much to love here. Key tracks: GhettoMusick The Way You Move Prototype Hey Ya! Roses

Really good for me Fav song: Church (Speakerboxxx) / She Lives in My Lap or Hey Ya (The Love Below)

Stranger lyrics and themes than I thought, tight beats and impeccable vibes

Cool

This album for it being 2 hours and 15 minutes is actually pretty good. It can get repetitive and boring at times but still has some bangers considering this is an Outkast album so I expect no less from them. I think it format is really unique as both discs act as separate albums by Big Boi and Andre 3000 so I say it wins on the unique scale. But the music is also pretty good as well Favorite Tracks: GhettoMusik, The Way You Move, Bust, War, Church, Flip Flop Rock, She Lives in My Lap, Hey Ya! Rating: 4/5

Superb album. A little disjointed at times and wish this had more collaborations instead two solo albums

This is what happens when you let two of the greatest hip-hop artists of the 2000s go absolutely hog wild. Not all of it works for me, and I do prefer Andre 3000's contributions, but I can see why it deserves the nod.

Весьма оригинальный альбом. Но Speakerboxxx всё равно лучше, чем у Андрэ 3000

Beautiful chaos. I love OutKast, and while I may not fully understand the genius of this project, I recognize just how important OutKast is to hip hop and music in general.

Really good! Takes me back

I’m not a fan of this genre, but I listened to this album and it was good. 4

Two powerhouses making a masterpiece 4 stars cause OutKast is amazing but does not deserve multiple albums on this list

Surprising that I liked Speakerboxxx more than The Love Below but still holds onto the 4

Damn that's a long album!! Really enjoyable though

Can feel a bit long but overall did not seem like a bad album. Low 4/5.

Yeah, this is a good album, but in all honesty with 2+ hours of music is there much of a chance that a good group can't put out a good album? Double hip hop albums should be outlawed. 4/5

Very fun album. Interesting shift of genre in the last few songs

A truly excellent and ground-breaking album, but it's definitely got a bit of bloat on it. If a couple of tracks were cut from each album it'd be a very easy five, as it stands, it's somewhere a touch below that.

Rejudged this after years of absence. Really solid. A high 4.

This was my first listen to the whole double album. It’s really fun, for a while — but it’s a bit long and starts to drag about 1/2 way through the second side. Production & creativity are top notch. The flows are spotless and varied — influences from Jazz R&B psychedelia— super funny! I’ll listen again But this double album gets to be overindulgent at points. After awhile the fixation on gIrls and relationships gets boring. And, though it’s funny, sometimes they’re trying too hard for the laugh line. It’s a little forced. The time investment means I wouldn’t spin it all the way through immediately after playing it. It’s a 4.

1. Intro - N/A The intros and interludes will not be ranked on this album for obvious reasons. 2. GhettoMusick - 8 Fun song the change from soft to slow at first felt very out of place for me but by the time you listen through to the whole track it makes sense. The rap is very solid as is the chorus which you will unconsciously find yourself belting out at times. 3. Unhappy - 10 Beautiful vocals on the chorus. The verses are exactly the style of rap we've come to love with Outkast over the years. The only reason the song isn't a 10 is because the instruments are a smidge too loud in parts and can overpower the vocals. Instrumentally the bass is excellent and the track is just absolutely a wonderful listen. 4. Bowtie (feat. Sleepy Brown & Jazze Pha) - 9 Another very fun song. A wonderfully balanced mix between singing and rapping, chorus and voice. Beat is amazing and the rhythm is incredibly smooth. Best song out of the opening three. 5. The Way You Move (feat. Sleepy Brown) - 10 I love the way this song moves. This is just an amazing song that encompasses where the genre was going around that era. 90s rap had some harder stuff in it, but a lot of it was born out of pop-style tracks which themselves still had that 80s disco flair to them. This was more what defined R&B in the 00s. You got a sound that's like the vocals of Boys 2 Men while getting that classic rap verse that defined groups/duos like Ill Al Skratch. Just fantastic. A track to put on repeat. 6. The Rooster - 8 Another great track. Just classic Outkast. The flow and the beat are excellent and really help the song change between the fast flowing raps and the melodic bridges & chorus really well. 7. Bust (feat. Killer Mike) - 7 A pass over track. Signing is good, rap is good, beat is great, instrumentals are solid but there's nothing out of this world about the track. 8. War - 9 First minute is excellent and left on an island once the song actually moves into the actual rap but that rap is exquisite. Phenomenal short tack. 9. Church - 10 Rap is amazing but the beat and the chorus, particularly and especially the chorus on this track are unreal. Incredibly well written song. 10. Bamboo (Interlude) - N/A 11. Tomb of the Boom (feat. Konkrete, Big Gipp & Ludacris) - 6 Rap is a different tone than the rest of the album and it doesn't work well here. Beat is alright but change of rappers and tones makes the track feel consistently off the mark. Too many cooks on this track. 12. E-Mac (Interlude) - N/A 13. Knowing - 8 Dirty beat on this but a solid track overall. Signing is quality, rap is very good, and the intermingling of voices is done so well to make the track an enjoyable sound overall. 14. Flip Flop Rock (feat. Killer Mike & JAY-Z) - 9 Strong from Outkast. The rap is quick and great with a beat that's absolutely fantastic sounding. I was a little bit hesitant about Jay-Z's part but he adds exactly the kind of supporting vocals that add a great volume to the track. Solid stuff. 15. Interlude - N/A 16. Reset (feat. Khujo Goodie & Cee-Lo) - 8 Good flow to the song with very good raps in it but overall the beat and rhythm are what carry this song to excellence. 17. D-Boi (Interlude) - N/A 18. Last Call (feat. Slimm Calhoun, Lil' Jon, The EastSide Boyz & Mello) - 6 The chorus is solid on the track but the verses don't sound great at all and that really leaves you with a sense of disappointment. 19. Bowtie (Postlude) - N/A 20. The Love Below (Intro) - N/A 21. Love Hater - 4 An extremely out of place track. Vocals are absolutely overpowered by instruments that sound like they are being played without a clear direction. Overall, the track is not really sounding like it should be on the album at all. 22. God (Interlude) - N/A 23. Happy Valentine's Day - 6 The rap in the second half of the song is fantastic but the opening is incredibly weak. Still, overall it's not a bad song. 24. Spread - 6 Pass over track. Not much to it and I'm not one that really cares for the imagery of the track. The change in tone of what The Love Below entails to what was on Speakerboxxx is not one I enjoy. 25. Where Are My Panties - N/A Speaking track so no rating. 26. Prototype - 7 Better song. Singing on the track is nice as is the beat and overall sound. 27. She Lives in My Lap (feat. Rosario Dawson) - 3 It's just a non-sense of a track overall. Signing isn't impressive on it, instrumentals are bang on average, and it's a track I could do without listening to again. 28. Hey Ya! - 10 This is just a great track. Instrumentally it's absolutely genius and vocally it's just as good. Amazing track to dance to that will easily be stuck in your head. 29. Roses - 6 The chorus is atrocious but the verses are very good. Instrumentally the song is good as well but I can't get past the horrendous lyrics in the chorus. 30. Good Day, Good Sir (Interlude) - N/A 31. Behold a Lady - 9 The bass on this is really enjoyable and the lyrics are just as fun. The verses are really really great too creating a magnificent track. 32. Pink & Blue - 8 Solid song with an AMAZING chorus on it. Just a great smooth track with absolutely enjoyable lyrics. 33. Love In War - 9 Vocals are amazing overtop of a solid beat and really overall enjoyable structure to the song. 34. She's Alive - 5 The monologues are a bit annoying as is the change in octave on the vocals at the very end of the track. Beat is good but the rest of the song is too poor for me to enjoy it. 35. Dracula's Wedding (feat. Kelis) - 9 Lighter song but it works so well. Vocals are almost therapeutic on this track and overall which you could easily overlook it, it's a solid piece of music. 36. The Letter - N/A 37. My Favourite Things - 1 I hate Christmas. 38. Take Off Your Cool (feat. Norah Jones) - 8 Lovely song with some soothing vocals. Bit of a standalone as it's more just acoustic guitar with the vocals but it works well as a wind down track on what has been a long double album. 39. Vibrate - 6 It's not a bad song. The beat is okay and I like the idea of it. It's just a little too repetitive and long. 40. A Life In The Day of Benjamin Andre (Incomplete) - 7 The rap in this is great but instrumentally it's a bit lost. The clapping in it is good but I have no idea what the point of the background sounds are for. Average Rating: 7.31 Adjusted to a 5-Point Scale: 3.65 Round-Up: 4 Stars

This really does sound like two albums, and I think the strongest songs on each of them are the ones that sound like they belong on the other one/manage to combine the two sounds more cohesively. I think this would have been 5 stars if they had found a way to make the whole album flow together more. I like the Andre 3000 side slightly more than the Big Boi side, but both made for fun listens.

Speakerboxxx : Overall a great hip hop album, made me want to dance but also spoke up against political and social issues (racism, war in iraq). Great features (Jay-Z, Killer Mike). The Love Below : ABSOLUTELY IMMACULATE ??? definitely a 5 star album, should’ve been released solo and it would’ve gained my heart. even the interludes are incredible, the transitions are goated. overall it’s a great album, with a lot of artistic and innovative tracks, but it’s way too long for me to give it 5 stars. if they were two separate albums, the love below would’ve definitely be one of my fav albums ever.

Monumental release! Would have been good albums by themselves. But put out together these to lps complement each other well. Super fluid hip hop record followed by a super creative funk, jazz, soul album referencing each other is fun to listen too. Banger singles on both discs. Hey ya, the way you move, roses - damn! But also many of the lesser know tracks are great. I enjoy e.g. unhappy, the rooster and happy valentine's day. These two hours never drag. Really respect this achievement!

I fully expected to like the André 3000 half more, but that turned out not to be the case. There’s a lot of good material here, but it’s a bit too long, especially “The Love Below” half.

Not my taste in Music, but a lot of pleasant songs

Was dreading the 2hr length, but honestly this album is an absolute feat and includes a wide variety of styles, sounds, tempos, vocals, and instruments that hold up very well 22 years later. Incredibly ahead of its time. I can see how it probably inspired the likes of Doechii and Thundercat that we see as big names today. 4 for musicality, performance, and originality.

I'm a little surprised that this album makes the cut: the hits are huge and were inescapable, but I'd never actually listened to the album. An album that's two fucking hours long. Well, Speakerboxx actually bangs. A lot of energy without wearing out its welcome by changing its sound and form. Sounds of its time but not really dated? Really good stuff! Good features to keep it moving, feels like An Album. The Love Below has even MORE shit going on, where not all of it sticks, but also feels like An Album. Shockingly, the "experimentation" for lack of a better word feels more dated here than it does on Big Boi's half, which is weird cuz I always felt like Andre was the outre one. Anyway, good stuff, but this shoulda been two separate albums - too much playing on the Outkast name and too little thinking about how different these two pieces are. Two fucking hours, man.

Was worried when I saw it was a 2 hour double album but it didn't drag too much which is a plus straight off. Never been into outcast enough to know too much about them so didn't realise this era was two solo albums stitched together. I think Bigbois was nearly exactly what I've wanted from outcast, more focus on rapping but with still slightly quirky and interesting. I approve of two features from Killer Mike too. Andres was a bit too experimental for me and given this was released in 2003 it isn't that shocking he's making jazz flute albums now. That said, Hey Ya and Roses are brilliant and nobody else could make them. I think a single album contributed with 80% BB would have been the best, id give bigbois a 4.5. and Andres a 3 so we'll say 4.

2 albums hey..... Interesting approach. I didn't realise it was 2 solo albums until after I'd listened but I definitely preferred Big Bois speakerboxxx to the love below. The love below felt a bit disjointed and harder to follow, but maybe I was just fatigued after already listening for an hour! They being said, I think Andre 3000 is a better rapper than big boi and the two singles from the love below are better then anything on speakerboxxx. I think Roses is almost as good as hey ya, certainly heard it less. 2 hours is too long though!

It's hard to call this a perfect album due to how long it is, but it still kinda feels perfect to me. Its so ambitious in a way I can't really explain. It's almost like a hip hop version of "The Wall" (eh maybe not, idk). Like many, I definitely prefer "The Love Below" over "Speakerboxxx" though Big Boi's stuff is still really great even as a stand alone album. But yea, Andre is the real star of the show. "Hey Ya" is a generational pop song, easily one of the greatest of the decade. "Roses" is my personal favorite Outkast song and "Happy Valentine's Day" is also fantastic. Now that I've listened to the full album again I can say for sure that I think "Stankonia" is their best album but this is still an incredible record that is deserving of all of the praise its received. Forget Idlewild. This was Outkast's final album. Favorite track: Roses

OutKast production is definitely on show on many of these songs. I like also the "grandness" of it which is missed in modern hip hop, the interludes add more of a thematic feeling. Surprisingly I like Speakerboxx more than The Love Below, I think there's more soulful productions with catch choruses. But overall way too long

I didn't know what to expect as I'm not a big fan of rap. Nevertheless, I have quite liked this album, it's been a really nice surprise.

Now I gotta make a sub list of all albums where each guy does a thing

Nice one, funky, groovy

An old favorite!

This was a solid hip hop album! A little on the long side but it was more like two albums in one which was kind of cool. Obviously Hey Ya! Is the biggest track on here but there were some other bangers in there too. The hip hop/jazz version of My Favorite Things was a highlight for me. Highly recommend!

Favorite Track: My Favorite Things

I'm very conflicted in this. I'm not sure if such a thing exists as too many good songs on one album, but if anything is suffering from that dilemma, it's this. If this was just an hour long of the best songs this would be an easy 10/10 for me, as it's got a collection of many of the best songs from the group, but like I said, it just takes a while to get through, and the album really starts to feel its length, not because the music is bad, but because it is a commitment to sit down and listen to it in one go. Great album, two really amazing albums on their own, but smushed together they kind of lose a bit of what makes each CD so unique, and kind of suffers from its own success in the end

Definetly OutKasts best album. They are undeniably the best rap duo in history, their chemistry is so perfect. Some of my favorite rap out there and I'll be coming back to this album again

Blast from the past! I had (might even still have) this on CD! Fun! Cracking album. So many tunes … and many choons

4.4

The kids love this album. Kinda in the rap vein. The last half of the album was done by Andre 3000

This is a mammoth undertaking to listen to in one sitting. I am a big OutKast fan but I can confidently say this is their weakest. I think Speakerboxxx probably more consistent, the Love Below has some high highs and some bits that weren’t fantastic. Definitely an interesting and worthy album still, but by their standards this is a 4.

In 2003, I thought this album was the peak of hiphop creativity and wondered if anything would ever be as creative. I may have been mostly correct.

2000s hip hop. Double album. First disk Southern hop hop, second psychedelic, pop, funk, electro, and jazz. Very varied and creative, tons of different influences. Long. Very playful.

ooh my first repeat artist, album 26 overall. this is pretty much two albums just stapled together but it's certainly an important part of the Outkast discography. Speakerboxxx is a good enough pop rap album, but ofc i'm team The Love Below deserves to be one of the 1001? eh i can't make that strong of a case but it has Hey Ya and that counts for something i think

white boys hip hop

That's a bit much, but I liked it okay.

4.5 I mean, any double album is a bit overstuffed, but this is a bit easier to get through since there's the clean delineation and it's basically just two solo albums back to back. Man, OutKast was just the coolest. The biggest band in the world at this moment in time. This album contains probably 3 of my most listened to songs of all time. Overall, Big Boi's album is probably more consistent. Just a super fun, catchy. funky Southern rap album with awesome features. And Andre's half is more experimental and navel-gazey, but has really high highs. Like, there's inexplicably an electronic jazz cover of "My Favorite Things" with no vocals, and it absolutely slaps. One of my favorite songs from his half! It's OutKast! This album has Hey Ya! on it!

yeah yeah yeah I know. It is still Too Long when viewed as presented.

This album has GOT THE FUNK!!!!

I think around the time I started to actively listen to more rap (Houston scene/Chopped n Screwed) I think a lot more Atlanta rap started to bleed into the mix without me realizing it. I never took the time to listen to this album in its entirety and I don't think >75% of people who've heard Hey Ya have either. A lot of the rap and hiphop that followed this era is apparent in this one and I would like to listen to it again soon - although considering its length (the main detractor) I may eat it in more individual chunks.

long ass album and I am embarrassed to admit I was playing the snake game the entire time I was listening. really enjoyed the album. I have been in a super duper folksy indie phase so it was nice to switch things up with this. I also totally see where the flute album came from, the instrument parts of this were enjoyable. also André 3000's bday was 2 days ago. happy bday André!

Still don’t understand why aquemini isn’t on this list. This album is good, but it doesn’t make sense to have this in over aquemini

Overall: 8/10 For anyone who doesn't know, this is a double album where esch half focuses on one member of the duo. The first half is Big Boi's time to shine, with the music being pure hip hop in the style of Outkast's previous work. The Big Boi half is pretty great in my opinion. It's a really solid hip hop album and I love all of the different guest spots (especially Killer Mike). Big Boi has always sort of been in Andre's shadow, but he's just as important to the success of Outkast in my opinion. If I was just rating Speakerboxxx then this would likely get a 9/10 from me. Criminally underrated. The Love Below is Andre 3000 deciding he doesn't want to be a rapper anymore, and it's more R&B/Rock/Soul oriented. Very eclectic and lots of variety. It's experimental for Outkast and it's self indulgent and overbloated with ideas. I enjoy most of what's going on and I appreciate that Andre wanted to do something different, but I enjoy Speakerboxxx more. Overall, I think this messy double album is probably in the middle of my Outkast album rankings. They have better stuff and they have worse stuff. I would never recommend it as the first Outkast album anybody listens to but it's something I think any fan of the duo would enjoy. It's interesting to see what both members bring to the table. Fav Song (Speakerboxxx): Church Least Fav Song(Speakerboxxx): Knowing Fav Song: (The Love Below): Happy Valentine's Day Least Fav Song: (The Love Below): Prototype

For an album to actively captivate me for the entire 2hr 15min, this album must mean… something. I didn’t even mind it being double length. Great samples, great drums, the rap flowed so well. Great product

So long, and that was the main problem with the album. However, what a bloody good album, just so polished with great hits (who doesn't love Hey Ya!) and great interlude tracks. Mad respect to OutKast.

I loved this! It was really fun to listen to. I’ll admit I was flagging a bit towards the end because it is longgg but overall I had a really good time with this one.

More thorough revisit to come.

Speakerboxxx is fine, but Love Below is great. Balances out to a 4

Surprised me 4,

There are double albums, and then there’s “Speakerboxx/The Love Below,” which is actually a 2-for-1 album. It was a sneaky way for Big Boi and André 3000 to make solo albums without their upsetting fans. They basically each did their own thing but billed the album as an Outkast double feature. Album #1 is Big Boi’s “Speakerboxxx,” an excellent rap album. I love Big Boi’s bouncy, rubber ball flow. It’s a great fit for these funk-infused, southern rap beats. “The Way You Move” is a classic. “Bust,” featuring Killer Mike, is an awesome hard rap banger. And “Last Call” is an anthem that I totally forgot about but is so good. That song deserves classic status. I feel like not enough people know about it. Album #2 is André 3000’s “The Love Below,” a weirdo, jazz-funk fantasia that is so insistent on not taking itself seriously that it nearly becomes a comedy album at times. The music is beautifully produced, but the tone is mostly pretty goofy. It’s definitely a good time, but I do find myself shaking my head and rolling my eyes as often as I laugh, particularly during the silly interludes. The song where this style really gels together for me is “Roses.” It’s a ‘fuck you’ anthem with a funky beat, an irresistible hook, and a singalong chorus that features the words ‘poo-poo.’ It’s as ridiculous as it is ridiculously catchy. Oh, and this album has “Hey Ya!” If you told me that “Hey Ya!” was the One Song You Need to Hear Before You Die, I’d say, “Yeah that’s a good choice.” Like everyone else on planet Earth when this song came out, I was absolutely rocked by this song, and I still am every time I hear it. It’s one of those magic pop songs that unites generations. The style is a little bit retro, a little bit hip-hop, polished enough for pop radio, but still eccentric enough to be an Outkast song. A few years ago, I was at a wedding, and the DJ insanely played “Hey Ya!” just as the salad course was being served. I looked at my wife and said, “No way can ‘Hey Ya!’ play to an empty dance floor.” It felt sacrilegious. So I pushed my salad aside, stood up, and my wife and I danced to the entire song while everyone else at the wedding watched. We were the only ones out there. But I knew we were doing the right thing. Everyone else was wrong for sitting. If you hear this song, you have to move. There’s just no other option. Both albums are a 4.5 in my book.

OutKast is a universal band; their sound is so welcoming and approachable and yet still immensely cool. This is a concept that I think about often as I feel like most musicians can be bundled into one of those categories- approachable, or cool. It's hard to be both, and OutKast does it. I had a revelation when I saw the classic video of Obadiah Parker covering "Hey Ya" from this album, with an acoustic guitar-driven arrangement in what appeared to be a small open mic performance. Hearing that version really opened up my mind to the depth of OutKast's music... yes, they can write silly tracks like "Roses", with one of the silliest chorus lyrics you'll ever hear on a radio, but when they want to they will make a song like "Hey Ya" and it will hit you in all the feels. In my personal favorite songs of all time list, "Hey Ya" might come in the top ~25. It's beautiful, contemplative, and sad, and it is wrapped in such a wonderfully melancholic chord progression that fills the song nicely with these back-and-forth major/minor switches. Contrasting that, there's the kick-clap uptempo drumbeat that makes you feel like dancing and grooving in a song about relationship struggles. How cool is that? On the surface, a silly song to dance to, but underneath it covers relationship struggles like separation, staying together for the sake of tradition, and the dynamic of happiness in a long term relationship. There are definitely some weaker songs on this album that keep it from being a 5/5 for me. "Tomb of the Boom" feels particularly like a low effort song- same with "Flip Flop Rock". They both sound like they were some kind of favor in order to feature other artists on the album, and don't really have that larger-than-life sound that you come to expect from OutKast. This is a strong 4/5 for me and is enjoyable throughout.

While it lacks the cohesion necessary to really solidify it as a 5, the sheer amount of bangers on this double album make it impossible to ignore.

wow a very long album! (i have learnt it is actually two albums) wow they were horny too! also loved the trap sound of music remix

L'album est très bon pour la moitié que j'ai écoutée. J'aurais aimé écouter plus mais IL FALLAIT APPRENDRE LE COURS D'ALEXEI. Vous savez dans la vie y a pas de bonne ou de mauvaise situation. Enfin si y a devoir préparer le partiel de brassard. Il va nous enc**er

Je suis rentré direct dans l'album mais je me suis très vite ressorti, et puis après l'interlude bambou je suis rerentré (le feat avec Jay-Z palala). Par contre un double album c'est trop long j'ai pas écouté le deuxième.

Oh man what a classic album! I remember when this first came out and how popular hey ya and roses was! All the album and the fact that it was a double album was pretty awesome and I remember thinking how cool it was they split it up the way they did!

Two for the price of one. Only had time to listen to it once but I listened to it before. Way better than I remember. Each song is a bop and the interludes really build the mood. I loved watching class of 3000 growing up so connecting with Andre through music with more mature themes is awesome. If I had a fraction of the drip this album exudes I’d probably be drowning in it.

Should have been two brilliant separate albums instead of a single release.

too long but interesting

Yeah I have this CD, lot of content, some great. The end of OutKast? It’s really 2 separate albums. Always interesting.

Based on very little, I went into this expecting to not care at all for Speakerboxxx and really enjoy The Love Below. But Speakerboxxx is great - fun, funky, catchy. I really loved Bowtie and The Rooster. The Love Below is all together weirder than Speakerboxxx, maybe with higher highs, just inconsistent. A single Outkast album culled from the best bits of both (taking out all the interludes for a start) would have been an improvement I think, but I recognise that this was hugely influential exactly how it is. Enjoyed far, far more than I expected. 4/5

Good but too long

This isn’t an album, it’s an experience. A long experience, but an experience nonetheless. Andre 3000 and Big Boi are true artists. So many features and so many different styles. Great storytelling on the tracks, picking out all of the samples other artists have used was a lot of fun, and even the skits aren’t that bad. And then you have the three massive radio hits from this album. Hey Ya might be one of the best and is one of the biggest songs of the decade (also check out Obadiah Parker’s cover for a folk-pop take on it, so good). I Like The Way You Move is such a jam and Big Boi’s first verse is a treasure. I have distinct memories of listening to Roses on the radio on the way to an 8th grade Rec League baseball game and spending my night on the bench trying remember if roses really do smell like poo-poo-ooh. Metaphors weren’t my thing. The only thing keeping this at a four is the length, but I also don’t think you can cut anything out.

If I was a kid buying CD's with their pocket change, this would be the deal of a lifetime. As someone who's reviewing one album a day for 4-years, I could use a little less content. This listen was the opposite of what I thought it would for me. I thought I might like one or two songs of Big Boi's, and the overall vibe of Andre 3000's. Turns out it was the opposite. I really got into Speakerboxx. For someone who doesn't like rap, it was really approachable, and all of the features in 2003 were a lot of fun. On the other hand, The Love Below really lost me. Every song was super repetitive and not in a good way. That being said, "Roses" is fun, and "Hey Ya!" is one of the greatest songs of all time. Overall I liked it, but what a weird way to packaged these albums together. It's like one of those combo movie DVD's you would find in a bin at the grocery store.

I now understand why this isn’t seen as a “true” OutKast albums and instead two solo albums. Interesting sounds on both, but the magic of the group wasn’t there like on other projects.

Really enjoyed getting to hear their distinctive voices as artists.

talent and swag

A true hip hop classic, real artists at work ✌️

More two albums than a double album, a lot of very good songs on each, but separate they don’t reach to heights of together. Still enjoyable but not their best.

Much better than I imagined. New this album and some of the songs, but never gave it a shot. Had preconceived notions. Hardly skipped any songs, even given the length of over 2 hours. Close to calling it a 5, as it has a lot of replay value. Production top notch 4.5

This is a GREAT album. Rock and pop/rap combined. This is so fun. So many highlights. It's LONG for sure (40 songs; 2 hours and 15 minutes) , but it doesn't feel long and it doesn't get boring. Great job. The hooks are soooooo catchy. The back half of CD2 doesn't have my favorite songs, but it's still entertaining. "My Favorite Things" cover is GREAT and "Hey Ya!" is a classic. Liked Songs: "GhettoMusik" ,"Bowtie" , "The Way You Move" , "The Rooster" , "Tomb of the Boom" , "Knowing" , "Last Call" , "The Love Below (Intro)" , "Love Hater" , "Happy Valentine's Day" , "Hey Ya!" , "Roses" , "My Favorite Things" , "Take Off Your Cool"

Always loved the Andre 3000 part more. Although GhettoMusick on Big Bois album is defintely the best track. 4/5

I remember being like 9 years old playing indoor soccer at Soccer Heaven and hearing Hey Ya! on the speakers. Damn that was a cool song to play to. Even now, I think the acoustic guitar sounds cool with rap -- and tons of folks have copied that down the line (looking at you Shwayze). You gotta hand it to Andre and Big Boi. They went all out for this - 40 song double album with a great amount of range and fusion. I think we can agree that some of this isn't worth keeping on (a handful of the first disc e.g. Bust, GhettoMusick, a bit less on the second). But hey, they featured everybody (Norah fucking Jones) and everything here and most of it worked, so thats cool. In my head, this becomes a perfect album if they cut this down to the best 20 songs and make a deluxe version of the album for superfans. 2 hours is too damn long and rarely ever works. The hits here are truly timeless and the deeper cuts are interesting enough to keep on/warrant spinning the entire album (I liked War, The Love Below). I always dug that Outkast wasn't afraid to go super high tempo

First things first: too long. Give 45 mins to each of these guys and I’d be happy. That said, gotta give props to the creativity and production on this record. To my surprise I liked Big Boi’s entry more than Andre’s… fully expected it to be the other way around. Not my favorite album from the duo but still worthy of a round up. 3.5/5

Already listened ❤️ Love below > but speakerboxxx still solid Bangers

Should’ve been just one OutKast album, minus all the skits and unnecessary fat … but whatever. Still a classic.

Good

Really long but an enjoyable album. Honestly the second half is better than the first

If it were not for the diversity of this album, it would have been very boring

Whew! Long as hell but some real catchy songs. Love Below was better.

3.5

The Big Boi disc is much much better. The two singles on Andre's are the best songs here and absolute classics, but outside of those his half is pretty patchy and overlong. Big Boi 4.5 Andre 3.

Balala

Pretty good! I like the different sounds and beats from old school to modern.

This was a strange listen. Going into it I had positive thoughts about the singles from these albums, but listening to it, I must have had access to these albums at some point. Maybe ripped from someone at work in the 00s? I knew all the dumb interludes and most of the songs, but I have no memory of choosing to listen to this in the past. As for actual review, I likes this. It was too long, exacerbated by the interludes, but it was a fun listen. I think I preferred any given Andre 3000 song over any gven Big Boi song just because I respect how weird they are, but overall I think I liked the Big Boi album better, it was more consistent and less wearing. All that said, holy crap that was long, I almost skipped this today just because of the length.

This is a long album which usually puts me off, but I like this one quite a bit. I think as an album I like Speakerboxx a touch better than The Love Below, it’s a bit more cohesive, but the hits on TLB are probably a little more listenable. I own this one which seems to boost my ratings on most of these, I’m going to give this a 3.5+ and round up to 4 stars.

Really good, one of the best and most interesting hip hop albums I've listened to

This is one of those albums that just keeps getting better the deeper you go — and honestly, some of the best tracks never even hit the radio. Everyone remembers “Hey Ya!” and “The Way You Move,” but it's the deeper cuts that really show how ahead of their time Outkast was. The guest features are stacked: Jay-Z, Lil Jon, Ludacris — the early 2000s rap dream team — and each brings a different kind of energy that makes this double album feel like two unique worlds that somehow still work perfectly together. It even edges out Stankonia for me. Favorite song: Church

It’s basically two solo albums put together, but even so they are both pretty great. Speakerboxxx is consistent and soulful. The Love Below is jazzy and really creative. Who would have expected a breakbeat version of My Favorite Things. I don’t think this is quite as good as Stankonia. Favorites were GhettoMusick, Bow tie, The Way You Move, Bust, Church, Last Call, Hey Ya!, Roses, and Dracula’s Wedding.

BANGS

Big album Diverse in numbers

I had a great time with album today - some very fun, silly and pretty horny lyrics (which is exactly how I like my hiphop!) Its a bit too long (I tend to get a bit grumpy with anything over 1 hour on this list) and it was a little hit and miss particularly in The Love Below, but I enjoyed the move away from the ganster style rap that has mostly been represented on this list so far. Hey Ya! and Roses are classics! I'm, just bein honest - uh-oh!

I enjoyed the majority of this in spite of its feature film length. God into spread into where are my panties gave me a real chuckle

OuKast is an undeniable Atlanta hip-hop power duo. A double solo album to follow up easy 5⭐️ Stankonia is a weird decision but one that paid off. Both Speakerboxxx and The Love Below are stuffed with bangers and clearly demonstrate what each member brings to the mix to make OutKast so damn good. More than 20 years later and still in high rotation! 4⭐️

I don't know if this is how the story went but here's what I always imagined happening. Big Boi and 3k had just been together too long. They decided to give the other creative control for their half of the album. Speakerboxxx is half hearted and boring minus the way you move. The love below goes off, Andre 3000 has finally gotten in his spaceship and been given the flexibility to fly away. The first half of the album is a 3 star at best and the back half is 5 star with a bullet. It's a four overall.

Two completely different albums in one, funny idea and certainly one way to do an album as a duo. Speakerboxxx is a pretty nice listen but feels a bit like a worse Stankonia to me. The Love Below is where the real magic happens, lots of inspiration being taken from Jazz, R&B, Funk etc. Incredibly varied and interesting to listen to, even if there are some wacky lyrics and skits throughout.

While I don't listen to them as often now, Outkast is really one of the most important groups in my life - in fact, they were the first "Band" that I was ever fully obsessed with. They had such a colorful discography, and while at first, I avoided this album with the impression that it was some bloated mess (sort of still is lol), I've grown to realize over the years that it's a key piece of the Outkast constellation. When I zoom out and look at Outkast's discography and why it's so incredible, eclectic, and unique, this album's importance makes itself evident, despite it usually ranking below other classics like 'ATliens', 'Aquemini', and 'Stankonia' for me. With this album, you're just getting two very solid discs that so effectively spotlight both artists' strengths in these semi-vacuums, but also some of their weaknesses. First is Big Boi. While often overshadowed, I've always found him to be so incredibly smooth and genuinely quite unconventional with his flow at times. And I enjoy a good chunk of his solo work post-Outkast as well, especially his 2010 debut 'Sir Lucious Left Foot'. His disc here is sort of a precursor to that album - it has some of the best bling-era and early 2000s rap songs of all time, packed with a lot of that southern Atlanta flare. 'The Way You Move' is relentlessly catchy and smooth, 'GhettoMusick' is such a kickass opener with such an earworm chorus, 'Flip Flop Rock' has one of my favorite Outkast beats with those sour guitar tones (+ a JayZ verse at this time!). 'War', while a common subject matter in 2003, is such an effective commentary on the precarious situation of the time (incredible beat switch too). Also, no one talks about 'Unhappy' but that song in particular got me through some difficult times back in the day - so blissful. So yeah 'Speakerboxxx' is just your perfect hip-hop music of the 2000s - not experimental for the time or anything, but just doing the sounds of this time more than justice. It's also very easy to fill up a playlist with these songs. Then there is Andre's side, which I was more indifferent towards at first, but I've grown to love it a bit more recently. I mean Andre's obsession with love and his affinity for eccentric and oddball, over-the-top theatric artists like Prince is very clear with the music and writing here, you even get a Prince cover with 'She Lives in My Lap' - a great cover honestly with one of his best vocal performances. The whole thing plays out like a Broadway musical to me, 'Love Hater' being a perfect intro for this. 'Happy Valentine's Day' is one of the few songs that has Andre rapping on here, but even with that aside it's one of the strongest songs on the disc - I love the arpeggiated synth and the refrain that send the song off. The two standouts are in the middle with 'Hey Ya!', (which doesn't need to be talked about - it's just classic), and 'Roses' which is a perfect display of Andre's sense of humor, and yeah it's also super catchy. The next run of songs, while fun at times (say for maybe 'Pink & Blue' which I really don't like), are mostly forgettable. Luckily the disc closes off strong with a duet with Norah Jones on 'Take Off Your Cool' and one of Andre's best rapping performances on 'A Life In The Day of Benjamin Andre', displaying the rapper's knack for storytelling once more, though in a more mature manner. At one point I would've said that I can only appreciate this album from a distance, picking out a select few songs to put on repeat. Nowadays, I can say that Big Boi's side has certainly grown on me a lot more, and Andre's side is far less self-indulgent than I had initially made it out to be. I think more than anything, I now see it more for the double-album masterpiece it is. It really is insane that an album like this exists in the midst of the very repetitive and, at times, bland early bling-era hip-hop scene. I just can't, at my current age, hate on an album that's oozing with this much character and life. Music like that just doesn't come around that often.

Speakerboxx - great album Standout songs: Bust Church Flip Flop Rock The Love - not as good, but still liked it Standout songs: Happy Valentines Day Prototype Vibrate

That was a lot of music. Fortunately, it was a lot of good music!

Tough one to rate for me. If I could make it about an hour or so, it's easily a 4* album. But there's a lot of filler and some less good songs. 3.5* and I think I'm rounding up because of Hey Ya! It's just fun and I always enjoy listening to it.

Listened to the whole thing while painting our hallway. It is very long. Some top tier music on here. Some filler. So much creativity on display that it remains undeniable.

This album made my day. So many great beats, funny, touching moments and surprises throughout

Much better than I expected. It was a true journey through different musical genres, all mixed into a high-quality hip hop epic! The album has its low points, but it's worth listening to! And also... it has the 2000s classic "Hey Ya!" 4 stars.

Rambunctious and bold, if uneven. 3.8

4/5 damn this is long

Roses really smell like poo poo poo

Classic album. OutKast are legends & I wish I could slide this a 4.5 Unfortunately, some songs didn’t age great for me and I just couldn’t find myself liking as much as I used to (very few still) so this is not a 5 star but still an absolute classic anyone wanting to get into music or hip hop should give a listen. Perhaps the greatest double album ever

Banger, maar 4 sterren voor mn tijd

There must be one selection of every genre in this album. It's much weirder than the famous singles would lead you to believe. I had fun with it overall. Good listening

Just amazing. A shuffle of music from soul to hip hop. Powerful. 4/5

Basically two albums in one, but great mix of styles. It could have been one very good album with a bit less ego and a bit more ruthless editing from the lads. Nonetheless it's an enjoyable record, if you treat it as two individual albums

Fun upbeat album

Greatness. So many amazing tracks I forgot about.

En partant, j'adore Outkast. Grands pionniers du son "atlanta" du hip hop. Cet album ce n'est pas leurs meilleur, je peux déjà dire qu'Aquamini, Stankonia et ATLiens sont supérieurs.. Le concept de faire un album centré sur chacun des deux membres est intéressant sur papier mais résultat est un peu gonflé, c'est long, comme bien des albums doubles. C'est quand même un album très généreux que tu peux très bien écouté en deux parties. La partie Speakerboxx sonne comme un album de hip hop traditionnel, The Love Below d'Andre 3000 est plus intéressant, il y a aussi les hits Roses suivi de Hey Ya!. Il n'y a pas vraiment d'équivalents sur Speakerboxx. J'écouterais surment cet album plus souvent si c'étais une expérience plus concise mais j'apprécie tout de monde l'effort. Je ne peux donner 5 étoiles parce que comme dit plus haut, il y a des 5 dans la discographie de Outkast mais ce n'est pas celui-ci

This album just sounds so good. The production, the mixing, all of it, immaculate. One of my favorite moments is when the (can you feel that b.a.s.s.) bass comes in on The Way You Move. I've never listened to this in full before but always loved the hits and I think Hey Ya! is one of the greatest songs of the last 20 - wait how is this album over 20 years old already, what the hell? Okay, one of the greatest songs of the last 25 years, then. Or of all time. I need more time with it before deciding if it's a 5. When I have more time I'll listen through again, but it's a high 4 for now.

Don't love all of Speakerbox, but LB is solid.

Good album

yes yes yes

Hey Ya! ITs a fun album. Lots of songs. Vots of assorted hip hop styles. Great album

not all the way through but first side is some cool stuff, mostly mid, second side is super cool, I like spread the most. Really like the often vulgar and inappropriate feeling lyrics over smooth tracks, its a cool juxtaposition

Not their best but still good

Great blend of hip hop, funk, jazz, electro-pop and more. This is a very interesting and listenable album. I can see why it's rated so high.

Good lord, this is a long album - but I like Outkast and particularly how they incorporate horns/swing sounds into their music. I also like that Andre 3000 is one of the only rappers I can recognize by their voice!

Really good. I think The Love Below has the top individual songs (“Roses,” “Hey Ya!”) but Speakerboxxx is more consistently enjoyable for me. Distill these two down into a single album with their best ~50 minutes and it’d be 5 stars.

Phenomenal! 2 completely different sides. One is hiphop energy and the other is slow groove. Well done.

Before going in I thought I'd enjoy The Love Below more but it is in fact the opposite!

I wasn't totally sold on this initially, but it grew on me. I like The Love Below more than Speakerboxxx but both halves are really good. I can't give this a higher rating because it's so long, but it is very good. 3.75/5

An aughts classic

so hype so fun

The production on this album is absolutely stellar. Blends different genres and sounds. Some of my fave tracks: DISC 1 - GhettoMusick - The Way You Move - Bust with Killer Mike's amazing verse - War - Church (mostly for the instrumentals) - Knowing - Flip Flop Rock (love the way Andre goes off) - Reset DISC 2 - The Love Below (Intro) (what a fucking fantastic intro onggggg) - Love Hater - Happy Valentine's Day (the bridge is immaculate) - Prototype - She Lives In My Lap - Roses (banger) - Pink & Blue (holy shit) - Love In War - Dracula's Wedding The features are also sublime; it elevates the features to be on this record rather than them elevating the record... if that makes sense.

First disc - liked 6 songs. GhettoMusick is a banger. Second disc - liked 6 songs but wasn't paying attention in the middle section.

Long ass album, 40 songs jesus christ. Not 2pac-nas level but damn was impressive

Muy sorprendido. Pensé que escuchando casi dos horas y media de rap iba a hacer que me quisiera matar, pero nada de eso. Lo disfruté muchísimo y trae unos arreglazos espectaculares.

if you like speakerboxxx check out big boi's first proper solo album.

Hip hop so good even white people can bop to it

Very enjoyable album, or really two albums because the two discs are completely different. The length is tricky but not too tedious because the second disc is so different than the first. I heard this album once many years ago and I didn't remember that Andre's part (The Love Below) isn't even a rap album, like at all. Speakerboxxx is a good solid rap record but I really enjoyed the variety and creativity on Love Below, and of course it has the biggest highlight in Hey Ya! Favorites: Bowtie, Hey Ya!, Roses, Love in War

É um classico porem acho bem cansativo e muito longo

Great album. I loved the disc 2 better than the 1st disc though.

Pretty amazing

Really fun, great vibes, will listen again!

Despite having owned this on CD when it released in 2003, I never listened to the whole double album in its entirety. I’ll say right off the bat that albums like this make me wish I had more time to listen. This one is large enough and interesting enough that it could definitely benefit from multiple listens. There’s a lot to digest here. There are quite a few musically and lyrically interesting ideas to parse, and I’d love to spend some more time with it. This is definitely outside the realm of my usual favorites, but there was a lot that I enjoyed. Very progressive and jazzy, blending elements of numerous genres in a unique and groundbreaking way.

You can follow, or lead like Commander Picard etc. I loved the love below, would listen again.

High Quality

Just try not to vibe to it

In addition to the bangers, I loved all the songs I hadn’t heard before. Lots of hard work and genius in this group. Love the unique flow style, especially the frenetic energy.

Make sure you listen to this as two albums. It’s over two hours long if you go back to back and you WILL wear yourself out. Treating it on that criteria though I would say Speakerboxxx is the stronger album of the two, my personal favourite track being ‘Church’. Seemingly a funkier side with a more upbeat groove. The Love below I enjoyed less, and I found it’s interludes less amusing and more grating. This has the BIG Outkast hits that everyone had heard and it obviously gets points for that, but as an album it is the weaker of the two.

Speakerbox is unironically a 10 but the love below falls off. Still a great album overall 8/10

Favorite Track: Roses

album duplo de big boi e andre 3000 hey ya faz parte do album album de hiphop mais vendido dos eua nao eh muito meu estilo de musica mas gostei bastante 4/5

still kicks ass.. too long tho. from the era of lots of rap "skits"

should be a 5 but there are swings and misses and things that pull you out of it could i write poetry to this? y

Another otherwise great (mostly) Hip-Hop album dragged down by skits. Clocking in at over two hours, this is a serious time commitment. Some judicious editing would keep the listener from feeling that the time wasn't wasted on pointless interludes. Otherwise, it's pretty awesome.

Right in the nostalgia. So much creativity across this thing. Only gripes are the numerous interludes and overall length could have used some trimming. Still, some great tracks throughout.

downloaded 3,4,5,7,8,11,16,18&19.

I didn't listen the whole album XD it ain't my style, but I think it's pretty good,

Cool instrumentals and food for thought messages. Liked second half more

God is a woman, Andre3000 said it himself. This being essentially 2 albums, one by Big Boi and one by Andre3000 was really interesting. The first half is very much of the more traditional Hip Hop whereas the second half is a little bit more experimental but thats just how their styles were. The songs were great, the interludes were fun, and of course the two huge songs off of this album are classics. But it did leave me with a question (that I did zero research to find the answer) how did they do this album live? did they do it in its entirety? was their portion of their concerts over 2 hours long? many questions

Classic

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is longer than most films these days. Each disc could be its own independent album--and in fact, I treated this as such because each had their distinct styles. I was concerned because, well, can Outkast have an original, unrepetitive 2 hours and 15 minutes? I'm happy to report that Speakerboxxx and The Love Below are varied despite their long length. And damn so many of these songs SLAP 21 years later! I think what makes this album so different is the variety of genres. It's hip hop, but it's soul and jazz and a hell of a lot of fun. Also, I noticed a lot of Prince inspiration, and that should mean a lot coming from a Prince aficionado. At times André 3000 used a very Prince-esque voice, and I knew it had to be intentional.

7/10

Pretty good. Lots of hits but hate the dumb skits.

i wonder if interlude #6167475 will make this album more interesting

When I first got this album, I listened to The Love Below far more than Speakerboxxx-it feels more coherent and has a better arc as a (stand alone) album. It was nice to do a deeper dive into Speakerboxxx. Both albums have a lot of great stuff on them, but also filler that could be trimmed-I feel like it’s a good example of why these two work so well together (and not as well as stand alone artists). Still, the tracks that are good are really really good, and the filler has good stuff in it.

I had forgotten how fun and ultimately weird this album is. Kinda like the White Album, I’m conflicted about how it should be shorter or if it’s just right. I do think it could be shorter but I also wouldn’t cut anything. Pretty great.

Hey Ya is a masterpiece. I remember the first time I heard the song (on the radio in my mother’s van with her and my sister). I remember how huge it was. It was a topic of conversation for at least a couple of weeks while it was growing in popularity. I remember a friend of mine not knowing what it was, going out to his car to listen in a restaurant parking lot (ah, the good ol’ days), and liking it. OutKast is a great group. Andre has always seemed like the most interesting one. With his flute playing? I listened to that album. It was pretty good. I actually think, overall, Speakerboxxx is the stronger album here. Who knew! I was tempted to knock this down a star for being two hours long, but I think an overall 4 is fair. There’s some filler I could do without, but a ton of great stuff.

Solid listen, many interesting tracks with samples, or jazz melodies. I don’t like his voice too much actually now that I think of it, but hey it’s only a 2 hour 15 min long album. 3.5

Love Below is creativity pushed to the max, and Speakerboxx is a fun time

Wow that was long

De Basül hets ahgseit: 2 Stunde album - big boss. Und wills so lang gange isch bini ned konstant vom Ahfang bis am Schluss konzentriert drah blibe. Aber das woni ghört han het mer richtig guet gfalle und han das Album schomal zwüsche-glaageret zums mal nomal fürezhole und nomal inezlose. Für Jede Advent gits en puento rapido Schöne J.C. Geburi eu allne <3

uiuiui jetzt packeds eifach d'hip hop perlene us eis vo de wenige outkast albe woni noni glost han… intressants konzept mit de kombi vo 2 soloalbe, en wildi und fast chli langi achterbahn wo eim zwüscheziitlich fast chli trümmlig wird (wüki nume fast) aber ah vereinzelte kurve trifft mer en bekannte banger ah, judihui da hebi gern d'händ id luft de big boi hed mi usnahmswiis mal meh überzügt als de andré 3k, bravo grosse bueb und bravo andré drüütusig für s'lustigste interlude woni jemals ghört ha (good day, good sir) chund minere meinig allerdings nöd ah "ATLiens", "Aquemini" und "Stankonia" ane (alli 5*) und bechund daher nur vier gschüttleti polaroids über aber cha mer öpper glich chli zucker uslehne?

Somehow this album doesn’t really get boring over its 2+ hour runtime. Part of that is the fact it’s actually 2 albums combined, but also it’s just insanely inventive and unique. Speakerboxxx is a really solid hip hop album with some amazing instrumentation. The Love Below is hard to define and kinda fucking weird, but enjoyable. Definitely the less consistent of the 2 but has the best single tracks. Hey Ya is probably up there with my all time fave songs.

First and foremost, this album is too long. But it is really good. I think i like Speakerboxx more than The Love Below. That southern hip hop style from big boy is so good. And Andres jazzy side is good too, just a different mood to listen to

Playing this from CD is so superior to streaming on sonos. Super funky - slightly lyrically dubious and not to be played in front of the kids.

Amazing in many parts but really two albums, not one. There is one five star album in here and two 3.75 albums.

Five stars for Speakerboxx, which is a dang near perfect piece of art. Two and a half stars for The Love Below, which is a tedious slog with a couple of gems on it. Rounding up to four stars because it's Outkast, and their classic Stankonia (an easy five star album) isn't on this list.

this was interesting. two solo albums smashed together under the outkast brand. both were enjoyable but the format really detracted here. the transition between big boi's album and andre's album was jarring even though i knew to expect it. it was also incredibly long, coming in at just under 2 hours 15 minutes.

I know you like to think your shit done stink and this doesn’t

Hey Ya! Listen to this!

I know it's long but more of a good thing is a good thing.

“Skimming” the album to solidify my opinions took 30 min and there in lies the key issue keeping this album from the top. It’s really long. Is that a deal breaker? No, but the lengthier the album, the higher the level must be raised to keep a higher rating. I have rated a 3+ hour album (Ella Fitzgerald’s The Gershwin Songbook) five stars. But the level for that length has to be consistently elite. 40 songs are a bunch and not enough are elite. I like every song on this double album at least. That’s an accomplishment right there. Big Boi and Andre 3000 are both very talented. I think there are more excellent songs than just Hey Ya! and The Way You Move. Compared against hip hop, this album is as precedent setting as any other. It deserves to be held high.

Closest to a 5 star album I’ve listened to so far on this list.

I liked the music, no dull moments. It is long though.

A revolutionary concept for an album at its time, and could only be pulled off by this eclectic duo known as Outkast. Before this record, we knew Outkast as a funky, smooth southern Hip Hop feel, but this release allowed them to showcase their individuality while retaining their harmony as a duo. The sounds are, to this day, distinct and sets itself apart. The cadence of both Big Boi and Andre will never be replicated and they know how to keep the attention of the listener. This record is an absolute classic in the timeline of Hip Hop and it's no surprise that it has stood the test of time after two decades.

Great groupd and great album. This came out when I was 15 and I still remember a lot of the music videos on MTV. Multiple songs are on my playlists to this day. Seeing it as todays album make me smile widely and listen through it yet again.

01) Intro - / 02) GhettoMusick - 8,0 03) Unhappy - 9,0 04) Bowtie - 8,0 05) The Way You Move - 10,0 06) The Rooster - 8,5 07) Bust - 8,0 08) War - 7,5 09) Church - 8,0 10) Bamboo (Interlude) - / 11) Tomb of the Boom - 7,5 12) E-Mac (Interlude) - / 13) Knowing - 7,5 14) Flip Flop Rock - 8,0 15) Interlude - / 16) Reset - 8,5 17) D-Boi (Interlude) - / 18) Last Call - 8,0 19) Bowtie (Postlude) - / 20) The Love Below (Intro) - / 21) Love Hater - 7,5 22) God (Interlude) - / 23) Happy Valentine's Day - 7,0 24) Spread - 7,0 25) Where Are My Panties? (Interlude) - / 26) Prototype - 8,5 27) She Lives in My Lap - 8,0 28) Hey Ya! - 10,0 29) Roses - 10,0 30) Good Day, Good Sir (Interlude) - / 31) Behold a Lady - 7,5 32) Pink & Blue - 7,0 33) Love in War - 7,5 34) She's Alive - 7,0 35) Dracula's Wedding - 7,5 36) The Letter - / 37) My Favorite Things - 6,5 38) Take Off Your Cool - 7,0 39) Vibrate - 7,5 40) A Life in the Day of Benjamin André (Incomplete) - 7,5 TOTAL: 7,91 (79/100) Current ranking: 139/368 Although "The Love Below" has two of my favorite songs on this double album, I ended up liking "Speakerboxxx" a lot more. For me, "Roses" is definitely the best out of the 40 songs on the album(s). Even though I hate double albums, knowing that these are essentially two solo albums justifies that fact. Although it was not easy to listen to OutKast for 135 minutes, this is a solid four stars.

Tough one to rate. It's a double album and it's LONG (2 hours 15 minutes). I think consolidating some of the filler down and just having one album would've been a great idea. There are some awesome songs on here (including maybe the best song of the 2000s in Hey Ya!) but there are 40 to choose from. 7/10 (3.5/5)