Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

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.

Highlight Song/s: War, Tomb of the Boom, Last Call, She Lives in My Lap and My Favorite Things This album is quite long; it being 135 minutes long. It was a bit difficult to get through. I like how the album is structured with the intros of both discs and the interludes with all of it being spread among the rap tracks. My favourite of all probably is the first 3 tracks of disc 2 with the jazzy instrumentation, even if one of them is a interlude. Now some things I don't like. Disc 1 had too many soul choruses, I was pretty over it by the end of the first disc. The track 'Reset' had what sounds like someone eating a bag of chips which bothered me a lot, which was kind of surprising. I don't think this is a bad album, I believe it's just that I really don't think the OutKasts are for me.

great

Double album so going into I knew it'd be long. Wasn't my style so it felt as long as I expected. But I enjoyed a lot of it. I could handle it better in bits and pieces and appreciate different styles and a few appearances of rappers I'd hear of later

Lots of creativity, catchy beats and different upbeat moods on this one. Insanely long and not one of my favorites from them though

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.

Standout tracks: Unhappy, Knowing It might be because I just listened to the whole double album in one go but The Love Below was way less interesting than Speakerboxxx in general. Unsure if as an album/double album it would go on a "1001 to hear before you die"

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

3/4

I think there's a lot to love about this album (or rather, albums). It's a lot to swallow for sure with 40 songs and 2 full albums with different vibes. Speakerboxxx was definitely my preferred portion. The Love Below was also great, but not quite as consistent. I can appreciate a good rap album. The songs were catchy and the flow was great. I just think the length of it makes it difficult to get through, and, while there are definitely some great songs on this album, there are definitely a good amount of mediocre ones.

Jesus Christ, I usually listen to several albums a day outside of my daily album but I had to find time all throughout the day for this one due to its sheer length. Built off of one solo album by both Big Boi and Andre 3000 put together into one really long album, this is arguably Outkast’s most well regarded album. So I’ll split my review in two as well Speakerboxxx: Big Boi’s half of the album is a progressive hip hop sound. Overall I enjoyed this half of the album but I found that it was a sound I wasn’t wholly fond of being that I’m not exactly a hip hop guy in my music. But I really liked “The Rooster” and “Knowing”. Other than that I felt that this half of the album was too long especially considering the length of the entire record. I award this half of the album a 3/5 or so, due to it not being a sound I love but still being pretty good. The Love Below: Andre 3000’s half of the album largely departs from the hip hop sound of Big Boi’s part in favor of a soul, pop, and jazzy sound that I enjoy significantly more. I found myself enjoying much more of this one and not just because of the excellent “Hey Ya!”, but “Love Hater”, “Prototype”, “Roses”, and “Love In War” were all tracks I found myself enjoying quite a bit. But again this half of the album is around 80 minutes long which is kind of excessive for a regular album and I do believe is too long especially adding on the length of Speakerboxxx as well. Overall I’d give this part of the album a light 4/5 Overall: As you may have guessed if you read my review I found this album far too long, 2+ hours was too much, while I enjoyed much of it I found myself wanting the album to end fairly frequently due to the sheer length. This is not to say I didn’t like the sound of the music, I did especially The Love Below but I will likely never sit through the entire record ever again, and because of that I will give this album a 3/5 but be aware it’s closer to a 3.5/5

Two albums in one day? Feels like cheating, but okay... I've heard OutKast's other albums, but I never got around to this one because I didn't quite like them enough to want to listen to two hours of them. So basically, I only knew "Hey Ya" off this album, which led me to assume that The Love Below was the main draw of this album. As it turns out, I was wrong; Speakerboxxx is actually great! Production sounds so cool, and I fall more in love every time I hear those horns. Also, it turns out that I've almost certainly also heard "I Love the Way You Move" and just never realized it (are we *sure* the hook there isn't sampled from somewhere? It feels like it should have always existed!) It's maybe a bit long, but still an easy 4. As for The Love Below: It's fine, I guess? Everything sounds fairly nice, but the songs lack memorability outside of the aforementioned "Hey Ya". I was feeling like it was starting to drag well before it even finished. Honestly, it's probably a 2? So that averages out to a 3 for the whole album, obviously.

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

What do they put in these songs. They're like crack.

Pues me ha sorprendido para bien por todo el mix de estilos que tiene No suelo escuchar mucho rap así que me esperaba un album basicamente de eso y NO Con temas de jazz y D&B ya me ha super ganado Le pongo un 7/10 en escala wow

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!

Not my cup of tea!

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

It's funny how out of place Hey Ya! is amongst the other songs in this double album. Maybe it's just how popular it has gotten since, but it just seems way more poppy than everything else. My Favorite Things was a fun surprise. Also this album is over two hours long!

This album is a solid 5, even though it's not OutKast's best album. These guys are geniuses.

Their worst album.

What an album. The runtime is a bit intimidating, but the amount of variety and storytelling on display more than makes up for it. Competently made, good instrumentals and vocal work. 'Hey Ya!' is hard to top. I really liked the rendition of 'My Favorite Things'.

Shouldn't this count as two albums?. I preferred "Speakerboxxx" over "The Love Below". The latter is too poppy for me. I wish this album had "Ms. Jackson" on it. Hopefully, I get a fantastic album this week. 3 stars for "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below".

This album has GOT THE FUNK!!!!

Intro n/a GhettoMusick 3.2 Unhappy 3.3 Bowtie 3 The Way You Move 3.1 The Rooster 3.4 Bust 3.2 War 3 Church 3.1 Bamboo (Interlude) 2.7 Tomb of the Boom 3 E-Mac (Interlude) n/a Knowing 3.2 Flip Flop Rock 3.2 Interlude n/a Reset 3.1 D-Boi (Interlude) n/a Last Call 2.8 Bowtie (Postlude) n/a The Love Below (Intro) n/a Love Hater 3.4 God (Interlude) 3.2 Happy Valentine's Day 3.3 Spread 2.4 Where Are My Panties? (Interlude) n/a Prototype 3 She Lives in My Lap 3.1 Hey Ya! 3.8 Roses 3.3 Good Day, Good Sir (interlude) n/a Behold a Lady 3 Pink & Blue 3 Love in War 3.1 She's Alive 3.3 Dracula's Wedding 3.1 The Letter n/a My Favorite Things 3.3 Take Off Your Cool 3.4 Vibrate 3.3 A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre (Incomplete) 2.8 Score: 3.132258065

An overrated, splintered, bloated mess.

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.

This is so fantastic from front to back. I'm not usually a fan of albums over 1hr but this is just so good

Musically is very interesting. It is too long though. The hits are music jewels.

it's okay - not my thing. very long but cool album to have on : 3,5 stars

Worlds longest album but solid

This isn't really a double album as 2 single solo albums. The first is the usual dull formulaic gangster rap shit; just more Stankonia. The second is a slight improvement, more melodic, more singing, more listenable, same shit lyrics. And still, on both albums, the same tedious attempts at amusing 'sketches'. This was a real slog to get through. Over 2 hours. If it wasn't such a drag I would have considered 2 stars. But even though about 15 minutes is listenable, it's not nearly enough to drag it out of the bin. First album - 1 Second album - 1½ Overall 1 So with Stankonia and this, Outkast drop 2 steaming turds..No more, please?

Decent

Pretty good

THE HORNS. THE GROOVE. Also I feel silly but I didn’t realize I Like the Way You Move was OutKast. Love it!

It is a fun album, a bit longer than necessary. Like all art, knowing when to stop is part of the job. This would have been a much better album if the cuts were made to make one incredibly strong album. The double album just screams "self-produced vanity project". An objective producer could have tightened it up a bit.

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

Cover is whatever. 1. Into. 2. Funky. Fun. Good song. Maybe great. 3. Funny. Also sad. Also good song. 4. Good song. Entertaining. 5. Radio hit. Still good. Lyrics are not 💯 but close. 6. Good song. 7. Ok. I'm no gangsta, but a cool song. 8. Ok. 9. Music is interesting. I kinda like it. energetic throughout 10. Interlude. Cute kids. 11. Ok. 12. Interlude. It is what it is. 13. Meh. 14. Great song. Great lyrics. Great beat tempo. Probably didn't need JAY-Z. 15. Interlude. This one's kinda stupid. 16. Meh. On second listen, I like it. Mellow. 17. Interlude. It is 18. Upbeat and fun. Better than ok. 19. Postlude. 20. Into. Ok. 21. Ok. Just gott fun, I guess. 22. Interlude. For over two minutes. FYI, he's a cool guy. Never cheated. Except that one time (and probably every time). Sweet bitches, am I right? LOL. 23. Funky, fun. This shit is funny. 24. Whatever. 25. His play or something. And you is a ho, bitch. Is this supposed to be serious? 26. Also, whatever. Does Andre know he's fucking hilarious? 27. LOL. Ok. 28. Radio hit. Great song. Oddly, doesn't fit the album because it's not absurd. 29. Also great. Also, like the previous song, like Andre put down the pipe (or picked it up) and wrote a song that wasn't entirely "huh?" Taking a look at the credits, Big Boi clearly tempers Andre's weirdness. And can make his. 30. Interlude. He's being intentionally funny, I know this now. 31. The opening to The Love Below is weird and there's too much of it before getting to "good" music. I don't know if Andre knew this, but Big Boi definitely did. This is a pretty good song but a bit flat. 32. Whats. 33. Not bad but not great. 34. Again, I don't think Andre is the hit maker. This is whatever. 35. Weird topic, if course, but a good song. 36. Letter. Whatevs. 37. Jazzy. Classical . But seems like filler. 38. Norah Jones! Good song. Maybe great. 39. Chill. I can read a book while this plays. So... 40. Whatever. OVERALL: Big Boi might be more grounded than Andre 3000. Speakerboxxx half has ok songs. With one great song. The Love Below half has great songs interspersed with whatever shit. Making this an average album.

Boring

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 thought The Love Below section was better than Speakerboxx, but while there were a few songs that I enjoyed, overall neither were really my jam. While I don't mind an occasional skit or interlude, there were a bit too many for my tastes.　

good for background listening

Me enamoró

A two-hour double hip-hop album—Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was always going to be a love-it-or-hate-it experience for me. I went in curious and open-minded, but I knew this would be a serious time commitment. This is truly an album of two halves. The Speakerboxxx side delivers a lively, confident set of energetic hip-hop tracks. While some lyrics feel a bit dated, the overall production is vibrant and punchy. The clear standout is "I Love the Way You Move"—an absolute banger that still hits hard. It's a perfect reminder of why OutKast made such a mark in their prime. Then comes The Love Below. Honestly, the first eight tracks were a struggle—slow, dated, and lacking anything catchy or engaging. But just as I was ready to write it off, it pivots into two phenomenal tracks: "Hey Ya!" and "Roses". These songs completely change the momentum and show André 3000's flair for genre-bending brilliance. Side two is saved—barely—but it took a long detour to get there. In conclusion, I loved moments of this album. There’s greatness here, but it’s buried under too much filler. Trim about ten tracks, and this could easily be a 5/5. As it stands, it’s a fascinating but flawed listen. Favorite Tracks: I Love the Way You Move, Hey Ya!, Roses Least Favorite: Love Hater was a low point, the interludes were unnecessary, and most of the first nine tracks on The Love Below could have been cut. Album Artwork: Not exactly wall-worthy, but it reflects the bold, dual-natured concept of the album.

The Rooster Dracula’s Wedding

"Hey Ya" was inescapable, and for good reason. Probably the funkiest track since prime-Prince. But hard to ignore the fact there's a lot of filler here. Would a single album featuring more combined efforts have worked as well - hard to say, but I can't say I'd want to listen to all 2+hours back-to-back again.

An over two-hour album is ambitious as hell and insane lol could have used some editing, but wow what a time capsule

This would be an incredible album if it were 1/4 the length. Some absolutely iconic tunes between some absolute shite.

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

Ridiculously long album. Lots of different styles. Pretty cool to listen to. Didn't realize these were the "hey ya!" Guys. Enjoyed it.

Way to Long ang bloated

Ok, I’m putting my foot down. No fucking album, in this universe, should ever, EVER, be close to two fucking hours. I’m sick and fucking tired of double albums as is. And of course it’s a rap/hip-hop album too, my favorite genre. That’s sarcasm if you can’t tell. You know, I’ve gotten Stankonia prior to this. I actually enjoyed it, but I had one big criticism; it was a little too long. This album basically looked at this critique, said “lol”, and doubled down on the length, literally. Ok, I know, I’m harping a little much about the length, but here’s my other problem. There are good songs on this album, but I had to wade through a lot of the other stuff to get to it. I mean, The Way You Move and Hey Ya are iconic and stuff like Church, Prototype, and Roses are really good, but that’s like a handful of songs. On a normal album, a collection of songs like that would be great, but here’s there just drops in the ocean. Everything else just padded the experience. No album should be an endurance test. My mind was starting to wane before Speakerboxxx ended. It’s yet another double album that fatigued me. Look, maybe this whole thing is on me. I have a feeling that if you don’t like rap or hip-hop, this album will do nothing to fix that. And like I said, there are good songs. In this streaming era, you can just pick the songs you like and save them, which is great. But as a whole package, I hated this and considering that I kinda like OutKast, that really sucks. *by the way, if I had to pick, I liked The Love Below over Speakerboxxx. It was more r&b in some places, and overall the tracks were better in my opinion. Favorite track: The Way You More for Speakerboxxx, Hey Ya for The Love Below Other hits: Roses, Church, Bust, Prototype, Happy Valentine’s Day, My Favorite Things

Did this have to be a double album? Other than that it’s the best of Outkast

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.

Реально удивили. Про рэп вспоминают на этих альбомах нечасто - и это явный плюс. К тому же, есть нестандартные треки и довольно интересные. В общем, 5 баллов из 10 за оригинальность.

Favorite song, Speakerboxxx: church. The love below: Hey ya Overall score: 4.8/10

Didn’t finish it. Not for me 🤷🏻‍♀️

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

Preferred the second half to the first, some good tracks. A very long album though, basically 2 albums.

First half was okay. The second half was the better more memorable listen

Good hip-hop, but c'mon....two hours?

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

C'est non.

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!

Hip Hop isn't normally my thing but I find myself liking a lot of the songs on this album. Good beats and good lyrics. However, the album was 3X longer than it needed to be. I'm also not a fan of how explicit it can be. I won't ever be giving this a relisten

sou fã do André 3000 . acho que vale 5 estrelas, referência estética / pop

Rap ain't my stuff, but I can appreciate the artistry of something like this. However, I'm afraid not much else.

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.

Bow tie and The Rooster were the top two songs, outside of Hey Ya which is obviously their no.1 song. Album is well produced and flows together well however it was too long for me and felt like a lot of the songs were filler/repetitive. 6/10

Speakerboxxx: Very busy sounding. Some great tracks, but overall to me it sounds like an overload of sounds sometimes. Favorite Track: Reset with Khujo Goodie and Cee-Lo. The Love Below: Has some classic tracks, like Hey Ya and Roses, but has too many tracks I would skip. Favorite Track: Roses Overall: damn long album, with some great tracks, but doesn't come close to the earlier Outkast albums for me. Speakerboxx 3 stars Love Below 2.5 stars

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

In retrospect Speakerboxxx is the superior album but I'll never forget the first time I heard Hey Ya! Easily still a 5/5 album 2 decades later, a lot of the songs still feel fresh and even the skits are hilarious. Standouts: Ghettomusick, Bowtie, The Way You Move, Hey Ya!, Roses

I haven't listened to this album since grad school. "Speakerboxxx" drags on forever and the songs are middling aside from "The Way You Move", while "The Love Below" is the superior of the two discs as a humorous homage to Parliament-Funkadelic. The 00s production values on "Speakerboxxx" also sound dated.

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

Would have been 4/5 for speakerboxx alone but despite aa on sprawling album the Love Below holds it back (despite som standout moments). Sounds like what it is two separate albums presented ad one to maintain the Outkast brand going a little longer. Ideally would have been 3.5/5 but just not quite strong enough for a 4 as a cohesive album.

Unnecessarily long. Did nothing for me, but I had forgotten about “The Way You Move”, which I always liked, so it gains it an extra star.

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

4 for Speakerboxxx, 2 for Love Below

I'd never listened to the whole of either of them....and didn't like either of them equally. I'm sending Hey Ya a special 5 all on its own because it's one of my all time favorite songs...but the rest gets a 2.

I'm not sure whether to rate this as one (bloated, occasionally self-indulgent, with flashes of brilliance) album or two albums, the first of which is interesting and fun and the second of which has one absolute classic but is otherwise kind of dull. I guess that all works out to a 3.

its difficult to average the scores of these two pretty different albums

Remember so many of the songs on this album from days in middle school (?). Don't remember Rosario Dawson being featured on one of them. Overall enjoyable and nostalgic but also a bit longer than I remember, which of course makes sense being a double album.

I think this is one I'll have to come back to. Hits and misses, but I do appreciate the eclectic and experimental nature of it all.

Way too long to listen to all of it. I like some songs, and think they're good, but not really my thing.

9/10 This is my jam Insightful lyrics with groovy, funky uplifting beats/rhythms. Can make you cry and dance at the same time. A top tier album.

I liked it, has some bangers but its too long for me and some songs just didnt hit

Fav: Church Least Fav: Where Are My Panties The correct opinion is Speakerboxxx > The Love Below (but they’re both good in their own ways)

Mögulega eina hip hop platan sem ég keypti þegar hún var nýkomin út, og hlustaði svo á í drasl. Afar góð og hressandi, og þótt ég sé meira á André línunni þá er Speakerboxx alveg frábær líka. Hér er fullt hús og áfram gakk.

Good but too long

I mean, duh

didnt finish finish another time

This is a hip-hop classic that showcases probably some of the best work by these two hip-hop legends!

I have finally finished it.. not bad at all. Most songs are interesting, and I appreciate the artists’ efforts to marry two albums. Nevertheless, I still believe there is an optimal length for albums, even though experimental albums like this might require a much longer time to make the magic happen. I understand this is a fermenting process but it is really too long for anyone. No matter how good the music is, I can’t be naturally focused for this long. When I need to tell myself to keep paying attention, I think that’s the turning point. Music wise, very good, it’s a four star album and a three star album. They do complement each other very well. And it’s commercially successful with some big hits. Overall it’s still a four star album, but I deduce 1 star because of the terrible speaker box ad-lib.

OutKast albums are always solid and to go out on a double album where each member gets to really showcase themselves as both a primary and secondary is like a love letter to fans. It’s long but it’s good. Obviously some huge hits but it’s also just got really good lesser known songs. You can tell real talent when you gen the shit you’ve never heard of goes hard and is musically dope as well. Double albums should only exist if you can really fucking bring it and they’ve nailed it.

So, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. It’s a long album obviously. Over 2 hours is certainly a lot, but I think it’s actually fair especially for this to treat it as two distinct albums. That said, it’s just over an hour per ‘album’ which makes it sound a bit better. Doesn’t help that we got it on a Monday instead of a Friday, but it is what it is. That being said, this album has it all. Two distinct sounds that mesh and meld. Two lyrical styles that play well together. I didn’t listen to a single song I wanted to skip. No skit made me feel like this album was cheesy. This album slaps from beginning to end and I can’t wait to listen to it again. The amount of samples, hits, cultural mainstays, and callbacks on this album are insane. Five star album for sure. I’m glad we got this album - I’ve never listened to a full OutKast album, and am glad I had the opportunity to hear it.

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.

First impression: it's long. A double album, basically containing two entire separate albums, both being more than an hour each. It seems quite the undertaking. I like Outkast, especially their early work so I'm definitely aware of what I should expect from it, but still. There's a reason I've been avoiding this one. Love the hits on this thing, I've heard a few of the other songs too, but I fear this might end up being too much Outkast for one day. For the sake of the format I gotta treat this as one single album, and rate it based on the full package. Intro Speakerboxxx allows Big Boi to show the audience that he's not just the sidekick of the group. Taking charge of his own record lets him distance himself from "the other guy in Outkast" expectation which I've always felt is reductive for a guy with as much talent as Big Boi. Excited to see what this one brings to the table. As an intro it does what it's supposed to, but not much more. GhettoMusick Oh jeez, this sounds extremely dated. The production just screams early 2000's. Really picks up after the excellent sample. Pretty dynamic, love the chorus. Great energy. Good. 4/5 Unhappy Love the smooth funkiness here. Fantastic vocal melody. Really catchy. Good. 4/5 Bowtie I like the RNB inclusions. The first rap verse is really bouncy and fun, the second one is also very charismatic. Don't love the chorus. Has some dated production choices, like the cartoonish voices in the background. The horns are a bit obnoxious. Fine. 3/5 The Way You Move Has some old school feel to the flow on top of the beat. Classic sounding chorus. The soulful rnb verse is a great inclusion. A classy fun dancy track with tons of charisma. Good. 4/5 The Rooster The intro is kinda corny. Has great energy, but lacks that patented Outkast catchiness which makes their hits work so well. The beat gets a bit much after a while. Fine. 3/5 Bust Very interesting beat. Love the rock influences with the electric guitar. Rhythmic first verse. I love Killer Mike's delivery, really agressive and hard, not sure about his verse's quality (it's fine), but his voice and energy really fits on the beat. Decent. 3.5/5 War Very interesting switchup, was gonna write this up as a fairly standard Outkast track prior to that. I guess a song literally called 'War' has to be political, decent commentary. Decent. 3.5/5 Church Not a fan of the beat. It's kinda irritating. Don't care muxh for the religious messaging. Feels preachy. Delivery is pretty good, and I like the female vocals. Average. 2.5/5 Bamboo Cute, but kinda pointless Tomb of the Boom The features offer a bit of a different attitude which freshens up the sound a bit. It hits pretty well, has some rhyhtmic qualities that feel worthwile, though the beat seems a bit dated. It's harsh to call it an average track, but it's not too far of. If it wasn't for the variation within the individual performances the track wouldn't feel that special. Fine. 3/5 E-Mac Interlude time. It's thematic I guess. Knowing Interesting beat. The distorted vocals work really well against the strange effects of the instrumental. Love the vocal mix, no matter who's performing it sounds crisp and clear. The verses are quite interesting, cool rhyme schemes and a lot of charisma. Feel like the hook lacks a bit of punch, feels a bit matter of fact. Decent. 3.5/5 Flip Flop Rock Did not expect to heat Jay-Z of all people on this album. Love the implementation of the guitar sample. Explosive first verse, feels really intricate and difficult to perform. I'm quite the RTJ fan so I'm generally happy to hear Killer Mike on a track, pleasant inclusion. Jay-Z rarely dissapoints, delivering another solid feature. Great hook. Good. 4/5 Interlude Eeeeeh. Can't say this feels essential to the album experience. Gives me nothing. Reset Smooth, I think the female vocals really add to the sweet RnB feel of the vocals. Love the intricate production, feels really detailed. The Cee-Lo feature does mothibg for me, feels a bit flat. The hook is pretty great. Good. 4/5 D-Boi It exists. Last Call Lil Jon is one of my guilty pleasures, he's just so ridiculously over the top that I can't help smiling whenever he shows up on a track. The first verse is sadly pretty weak. The hook is peak, love the adlibs. Overall the track lacks a bit of punch, feels extremely dated as well. Fine. 3/5 Bowtie (Postlude) What is there even to say about this The Low Below (Intro) Andre 3000, the maestro. Definitely one of the finest creative minds of his generation, finally gets to show what he can do outside the hip-hop sphere. Always been the more charismatic half of the dynamic duo that is Outkast, Andre has always tried to push the boundaries of what their sound could be. Here he gets his chance, perhaps proving what everyone already knows, that he's a man of many talents. Theatrical, musical inspired intro which really feels like the start of an entirely different experience from what we just heard on Speakerboxxx. Distances itself far away from the sound of the first half, conciously making the decision to sound completely different. Love Hater Very jazzy, moments of noise and abrasiveness which contrasts to the smooth vocals. Definitely not as accesible as previous works. Love the bass. The lyrics are quite quirky with a hint of shock factor to them. Fun piano. Good. 4/5 God It's silly, it's dumb, it's tongue in cheek. Sets up some expectations for what's coming up. Happy Valentine's Day Doesn't work for me. Has a lot of humour, but it just isn't my style. It's decently cool and charismatic, but feels like the attitude clashes with the concept. There's a conflict of interest between the serious and the unserious which causes it to feel a bit confused. Did not like. 2/5 Spread Indulgent. Feels a bit uncomfortable. The horniness is neither sexy or humorous, just comes across as awkward. Too graphic and weird. Did not like. 2/5 Where Are My Panties Awkward, I didn't need to hear that. Prototype The funkiness is well appreciated. The vocals have a bit of soul to them. Prince pastiche? Cool guitar solo. Floaty and rich but a bit repetitive. Decent. 3.5/5 She Lives In My Lap Really dynamic instrumental. The background effects have great interplay with the guitars. Stylish chorus. Great choices when it comes to the melodies, the different vocal passages have great synergy with each other. Great. 4.5/5 Hey Ya It's a difficult song to talk about. Timeless in a way. Ubiquitous with the era, and an absolute earworm. Has gotten plenty of praise as a dance song, which while being extremely catchy also contains a self awareness that is rarely seen in songs of its ilk. The lyrical content is actually meaningful while not being necessary for one to enjoy the song. "Y'all don't wanna hear me, you just want to dance" is unironically some of the greatest single lines of song lyrics ever. The charisma and confidence it takes to pull of a track like this is genuinely admirable. Yes it's a bit overplayed, but come on. It's Hey Ya. Iconic in every single way. An absolute generational banger. Ice cold. 5/5 Roses Who the hell is Caroline and why is she catching strays? Also that piano riff rocks. Such a catchy track. There's just so many moments that are a blast to sing along to. Oddly specific at times, which is really funny. It's a bit dumb and derogative, but just tongue in cheek enough to work. Fantastic. 5/5 Good Day, Good Sir Not funny at all. Doesn't work Behold A Lady Don't have much to say. Dissapointingly average. I can't say there's much I like about this track. Especially dislike the dated instrumental. Did not like. 2/5 Pink And Blue Nothing special. There are some vocal moments that are worth listening to, but the lyrics feel kinda cringe worthy at times. Instrumentally it's a bit boring, though the violins add a bit of dynamism to the otherwise stale composition. Fine. 3/5 Love In War Dated electronics. Cliche. Feels a bit empty. There's a lot of unfilled space in the track where the instrumental gets too much focus. Would be fine if the instrumental had any sort of depth to it, sadly it doesn't. Only saved by Andre's infectious likability as a performer. Average. 2.5/5 She's Alive Boring as all hell. Decent sentiment, but there's absolutely no reason to make it this painful a listen. Waste of time. 1/5 Dracula's Wedding I miss you Big Boi. Please come back. Indulgent, pretentious, boring. A song with such a kick ass title has no right to be this bland. Did not like. 2/5 The Letter Uuuuuuuuuugh My Favorite Things I think the instrumental has a lot going for it. Interesting use of the sample. Love the electronics combined with the jazzy piano and bass. Relly weird and abrasive. Decent. 3.5/5. Take Off Your Cool Did not expect an acoustic jam after the craziness that was the previous song. Nora Jones has a great voice. Love Andre's contribution to this more stripped back track despite how brief it is. Shows a bit if a different side of him as an artist. Decent. 3.5/5 Vibrate I don't have much to say. The instrumental has a pretty cool experimental vibe to it, but it's a bit of an energy sink. Makes me feel exhausted. Average. 2.5/5 A Life In The Day Of Benjamin Andre Fitter, Happier, More Productive type intro. The lyrics feel very thoughtful, tells a great story. The beat is kinda disturbing, I enjoy the atmosphere it creates. Fine. 3/5 That was quite the doozy. Honestly gotta say I'm a bit disappointed by that. After the quality expressed by these two as a duo, I thought we'd at least get something a bit more cohesive from them as individuals. Even if it's technically two albums in one, each side feels very bloated, barely containing enough quality material for half the runtime. Dated, weak songwriting and overindulgent pretentiousness litter this album making it feel not only disjointed, but also incredibly boring. Outkast need each other to bring the best out of one another. Big Boi needs Andre's dynamism and charisma, and Andre needs Big Bois consistency and groundedness. It ends up with Big Boi having to fill the void with features and Andre spiralling into unchecked, unfocused experimental efforts that just end up lacking in any form of accessibility or entertainment factor. Yes the tracklist does contain some bangers, but those are the exception rather than the norm. The norm being a constant barrage of just average to fine tracks that are forgotten the same day. There are some great performances in here, both Big Boi and Andre are super talented and it does come through, even as producers they create memorable moments, but it isn't enough sadly. Oh and the skits suck, like skits usually do. Was honestly expecting this to be at least a 4, based on my enjoyment of their previous work, but it ends up being a generous 3. It's a bit of an inconsistent mess. I think I'll just stick to the hits on this one. Fave track. Hey Ya (predictably) Least fave track. She's Alive

Started to listen - but Pink Floyd just released Live at Pompeii. Bye!

I can't give this a two from oure nostalgia alone but, damn this is loooonnnnggggg with a ton of songs that could have been cut. I get the whole concept isba double album so it's going to be longer but ea h album could have been shaved down by several.songs to make this palatable. Speakerboxxx is a slog to get through other than a few songs. The love below is a fun listen with an eclectic mix of songs and styles. Speakerboxxx gets a 2 and Love Below gets a 4 to give us a solid 3.

This album is 2 hours and 15 minutes long. Usually when I listen to albums this long I start to get bored. But, this one breaks the cycle. This album is innovative, unique, and combines elements from many genres. It’s funky and fun. I also think the album cover matches the vibe of the music.

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.

This album was released before 2025 so it's shit

Years ago I would have said The Love Below hands down, but there's a lot of filler. I might even be a Speakerboxxx man these days.

Really enjoyed getting to hear their distinctive voices as artists.

just finished speakerboxxx really great album I enjoyed all but like one song, which wasn't even that bad fr. now I gotta wait like an hour to listen to the love below I cant listen to an album with one earbud. haven’t even finished the love below yet but holy shit what an album. speakerboxxx is nothing to overlook but the love below is just so amazing. sir 3k explores a few different genres throughout the second side and executed them all masterfully. there’s basically no misses. amazing album

I owned this on CD and clearly never listened to it all the way through as it's a little not great outside the hits

The fifth best Outkast album. Good but too much filler.

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.

Fun but overall pretty bland

I’ve been down this road before. Andre 3000 is such an intriguing person that my mind when listening to these guys is probably more open than it is with other groups. The problem is, is every time I listen, I’m disappointed. Outlast heavily rely on their hits to propel them into stardom. There is a huge disconnect between those hits and everything else. The first half of this album is like an experimental Parliament album but it doesn’t work. The feel is there but it’s just flat. There’s swearing and sampling and decent beats but even that can’t carry this album. It’s passable, just not Dr.Dre the Chronic…

Sind paar Klassiker drauf (z. B. Hey Ya), aber auf die Dinger find ich es auch ein bisschen nervig. ;-)

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

meh

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"

liked songs: The Love Below (Intro), Love Hater, Prototype, Hey Ya!, Good Day, Good Sir (Interlude), My Favorite Things, Take Off Your Cool I got whiplash when Speakerboxxx ended and The Love Below started. Not a big fan of the offering from Big Boi, but I have to say I'm impressed with André 3000's half. There's some crazy range and really interesting songs (not to mention Hey Ya!). Speakerboxxx: 1.5 The Love Below: almost a 4 Average: 3

Listened to this one before. It’s way too long if I remember right.

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

Speakerboxxx 1. Intro / 5 Just an intro nothing special 2. Ghetto music / 6 Pretty cool, Interesting changes, Not something i would listen to though 3. Unhappy / 6 Muaa 4. Bowtie / 6.5 Pretty cool, still nothing very special 5. The way you move / 6.75 Smooth, cool, nothing that would make me write back home tho 6. The rooster / 7 Interesting, nice flow, almost makes the playlist 7. Bust / 7.25 This just makes the playlist, Interesting mix of rap, guitar vocals 8. War / 7 Another interetsing mix, don't really like the flow 9. Church / 7.25 Groovy, could make for a good house remix, you can hear the gospel/praise influence 10. Bamboo (interlude) / 5 For what it's worth 11. Tomb of the Boom / 4.5 Simply not so good 12. E-Mac (interlude) / 6 For what it's worth 13. Knowing / 7.5 Nice beat/flow, love the vocals 14. Flip Flop Rock / 7.25 Pretty cool, makes the playlist 15. Interlude / 6 For what it's worth 16. Reset / 7.5 Smooth R&B, mellow vocals and rap 17. D-Boi (nterlude) / 6 For what it's worth 18. Last call / 5.5 Muaa. just average 19. Bowtie (Postlude) / 7 Cool for what it's worth The love below 1. Intro / 2.

Only had time to listen to Speakerboxxx, but it was lit.

This - was - amazing. I don't typically listen to rap/hip-hop, but oh my goodness that might need to change. I have been exposed to more through this site than I ever would have on my own, and aside from one mediocre (to me, and likely just because it's out of context to its release date) experience and one album skipped because an insane Nazi was the recording artist (Ye know the one), they have all been spectacular. This release showed the different styles of the guys in OutKast, without excluding the other's influence from shining through. The melding of the lyrical artist with the producing artist combined with the distinct styles of rap and genre bending - chef's kiss. I am currently listening to the rest of their catalog because I was so blown away by this release. I kind of feel bad about how much I discounted them due to Hey Ya! being so overplayed when released - but it felt 'right' where it was in the pack of tracks on display here.

Interesting double album. Fun history about why that is. Both albums have their bangers, but then they have quite a few songs where it's just there. You can feel the vibes, but not always straight through. Can't deny Hey Ya, Roses, or The Way You Move......but also that's a lot of filler. Stays solid 3, maybe 3.5.

3 Songs that are pretty good, but also a lot of shrapnel on here. Crazy that this is a 2h long record.

Couldn’t get into it. I’m sorry Ms Jackson

I enjoy most of it, but it's just too much music for it to be getting a higher score than three stars. Cut the album in half and you'll have a four star album, closing in on five. Overall I enjoy The Love Below more than Speakerboxxx and I generally enjoy the more experimental material over the more traditional hip hop material.

LOOONG album, oh my gosh. Here we go, though! I've been having more fun with The Love Below than Speakerboxxx. She Lives in My Lap was really, really good. Hey Ya! of course is a masterpiece. She's Alive also is really good. There were some really groovy tracks on side one, too, though, that I could definitely get down to. I'm not quite finished with the album yet. As of right now, on She's Alive, I'd give the album a 2 or 3. I'd give it a 2.5, but can't do that hahahha. It's not all my type of music. I can see myself going back to a couple of songs, but no way would I go through the full album again. Just a LOT of music that doesn't necessarily resonate with me all that deeply. I will have to listen to some more Outkast though; hopefully their other albums are shorter and more condensed! We'll see! On My Favorite Things now, and very excited for the Norah Jones track!! Meh. Halfway through the last track, bye.

I have not listened to a lot of Outkast, until today. They are undeniably a very talented and influential duo and I enjoyed listening to this. However, they should have released this as 2 albums. For a single release it is too long and self-indulgent. A lot is good, but there is a lot that doesn't need to be here. There is probably a really great 45 minute album in here somewhere.

One of the best albums of all time, love below is amazing

Little bit of a mixed bag, & a little long, but overall still enjoyable.

Not for me and that's all I'm gonna say about that.

Overly long and tedious

How the fuck have I not listened to this? Hey Ya has been in my life for 2 decades and I never considered listening to the album it was on? I gotta believe I tried and it just didn't resonate and I blocked it out. In any case, this album, mostly the Love Below side, really makes me love Outkast and in particular Andre3000. I complained about Kendrick not expressing any kind of joy....welp here's the antidote. This dude is a fucking star and obviously LOVES music (Prince in particular). Some of the influences are too apparent at times, but 90% it works well and they put their own stamp on it. A lot of this album just sounds like a blast. This is speculation but on Behold a Lady when he says "clap clap" I bet it was a direction to whoever was on the drum machine and he just liked how it sounded. I saw the album was 2 hours and was immediately annoyed, threw it on and didn't once wish it would stop. It seemed like each time a song was in a rut they make a chord change, the song ends, a new instrument layers in etc. and it keeps your interest. 40 songs and 2+ hours obviously there are some misses, but strangely here it adds to the charm. A lot of good clean fun. Roses and Hey Ya are all time great songs. I gave Stankonia 4 and I like this one so much more so gotta go 5. Impressed! LFG Outkast.

Great contrast to the highly skilled but dour Kendrick Lamar. OutKast is a burst of raw joy. Usually goofiness would be antithetical to being cool - but somehow they pull it off. Their oddness never feels like a put-on, rather just an unintentional but maybe even necessary side-effect of their creativity, like sparks off of a flame. Of course they could have clipped some of the many skits and intros/preludes, but when the style is this intentionally maximalist and over the top, less wouldn't necessarily be more. Loved the Rooster, Knowing, and many of the other deep cuts I'd never really explored - but can I say something maybe controversial? Hey Ya is best pop song of this century.

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

The highs are high, the lows are weird, and there’s plainly way too much in here. 2 hours 15 minutes is a joke album length and they know it. I love the random bullshit OutKast tried and I’m glad they tried it even if it didn’t always land. Some fun ones on here I’d never heard before, and the hits are so fucking good (even my mom still loves Hey Ya). I want to add though, they play the chorus on Roses probably 8 times in a row, which is at least 4 times too many. Kinda a microcosm of the album: INDULGENT. But still pretty fun

Man this was LONG, but they sure cover some ground stylistically. I think I prefer the first disc more overall - specifically The Way You Move and Rooster. On the second disc - that cover of My Favorite Things is pretty fun and the final track too. Hey Ya! and Roses on the second disc have just been played so so much - hard for me to appreciate those. Probably need a little more time with this one.

Forty tracks, really? This was like watching a very long full 15 rounds of boxing, where 95% of the time the fighters spent dancing around, hugging, and throwing empty punches. A couple (literally) of knock out punches were landed. Rounding up because they were heavy hitters. 2.5/5

Just too damned long. There were elements here and there that were enjoyable and sometimes even whimsical, but the overkill on stupid interludes made it challenging to get into. Speakerborrre.

Man, I wanted to like this more than I did. Solid but just too much here. Edit down to the best rather than putting errthing in there. IMO Stankonia is a better album so hopefully we see that show up.

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

Own it, love it, immediate 5 stars!!

Some real 4* tracks in there (and deserves more credit than just the few hits - you know who you are - which get played ad nauseum) but no album imo needs to be over 2 hours long - notable mention to the way you move and ofc was v entertained by the sound of music rework

Too many interludes. 'Hey Ya' still amazing tho, and I like 'Roses' too

I hate to be one of those….but I started out thinking ya I like this. But as it dragged on, and man it does at 40 bloody tracks, I was just….enough already. Even half the tracks would have been overkill. Everything you guys burp out ain’t a gem man, just ain’t.

👎🏻

Tynan recommended this album to me

Why doesn’t this shit let me rate by .5? Good album I liked it more than any of the other albums we listened to. That song with Kelis is legit a 10/10

Some bangers, but a lot of misses.

long album jesus i loOoOve da way u mooove solid, back loaded

Fuckin' aye this album is too long. To demonstrate how little I know about hip hip, I thought OutKast was a rapper's name, not a group. Trim this from 40 songs to about 12-15 and it's probably the best rap album of the aught's. As is, these guys are ridiculously talented. The first disc is nothing but bangers.

This is a LONG ASS album oh my!!! There are some certified BANGERS in this one, but idk the length of this was a lot. I like that it told a story at least?

Too long

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.

I dont listen to rap albums much. Engaging project though. Enjoyed the second half more. - GhettoMusick - Unhappy - Church - Knowing - Flip Flop Rock - Love Hater - God (Interlude) - Happy Valentine’s Day - Spread - Roses - She’s Alive - Take Your Cool Off

Good

Way too many songs and therefore way too long album at over 2 hours. But the good songs are really good.

Would be a 4 if it wasn’t 135 minutes long. Some bangers on here for sure

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

This has enough great songs to make up a 5 star album in it, but it also has over an hour of stuff that is not that. I just cannot do double albums like this it's too much. So self indulgent. I'm being harsh but as an album I cannot rate this well, however in it like I said there is a lot of special songs.

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

I can understand the appeal of this album. I did prefer The Love Below (second half) over Speakerboxxx. This really touches on a lot of genres and is more accessible than I would have expected. Honestly the length is probably the biggest drawback in my eyes, but nonetheless, I could see listening to this again.

This is the album that made me understand why double albums can be a good thing. Production, wordplay, atmosphere, all on point

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

What an absolute behemoth of an album (this generator needs to give me a break with these double LPs). I was enjoying it until Hey Ya! — after that, it was somewhat of a struggle to listen all the way to the end. While it has some bangers there are just too many unnecessary tracks here.

3.5

I like Outkast for sure, but not sure I need 2 hours of it. Hitting Play, let's see... It's moving fast! Already on track 3 and wondering how a song called "Unhappy" can have such a happy vibe? OK, damn. Two hours of this is actually just right.

Nope

Double album with a very wide range. I enjoyed The Love Below more

Complete

Voor een lang album alsnog engaging en entertaining. Weinig nodig om te zeggen over Outkast, vm wel de eerste keer dat ik een album volledig luister. Lastig raten, aan de ene kant veel interessante elementen, aan de andere kant misschien ook door de lengte en vele nummers veel mindere of forgettable nummers. 7/10

Still not impressed

☀︎finalement c’est vraiment pas si pire que ça, je préfère écouter ça que Fear Of A Black Planet ☀︎pas fini (c’était quand même 2h14min)

This was a marathon I never trained for—and didn’t even want to run. With all the hype around this album, this definitely wasn’t my first attempt. Speakerboxxx starts off okay, but somewhere around "Tomb of the Boom" I start questioning my life choices. That track? A sonic black hole. The Love Below has its moments, but by the end, I feel like I’ve aged five years. It’s like musical yoga: some stretches feel good, most just leave me sore and confused.

There are few decent tracks. But only a few and I’m not going back to get the names. But why 2 CD length? and so long?? Was studio space having a BOGO deal?

It's still weird to me that they stitched two solo albums together and called it an Outkast album. It's a really long album that highlights why they are better together then apart. The Andre 3000 half gets really boring after Hey Ya.

Wow. Over 2 hours long for one good song? Hey Ya is fine and the Andre 3000 half is a bit better than Big Boi but the whole album is not for me at all and this might take the cake for way too long. Neither half is good and they don’t work together.

Coming back to this one due to length

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.

not my cup of tea

Everyone has that friend. He's kinda funny at times, but overall he's a dick and he's got super strong political and religious beliefs that he's always going on about. Eventually, you decide that on the whole you'd prefer not to hang around him all the time. I sorta feel like that with this album. There are some BANGERS on here for sure, but there's also like 30 tracks that are unlistenable.

Kept checking to see how much of the album(s) I had left to go...not because it wasn't any good, but because why do I need to listen to this for 2 hours??? If you just combined the best songs from the two, you'd probably have a 4 Star Album on your hands, but this dragged on too long.

There's really not a lot here that appeals to me. Sure it was influential I bet, and I immediately recognized Hey Ya! with 1.5 billion listens. "My Favorite Things" was really an interesting take on that jazz song too that was enjoyable but overall a 2 for me.

A number of fantastic grooves on this album. Disc 1 was a better listen than disc 2. The album is way too long. 3 stars.

3.5

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.

I just didn't care. It's really too long, it's hit and miss with the songs and the production. I was really unimpressed. There's better, earlier OutKast that fits on one album.

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

3 or 4 five star songs. Overall great double album. Maybe a touch too long 3.75

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.

Before this album I only knew OutKast from their two hits. I was pleasantly surprised by this album. It’s a double album and it also feels like two different albums, probably why they chose two names. I liked “The Love Below” more. The interludes are funny but sometimes also distracting, overall a good album and one to revisit one day. Favourite songs: - The way you move - Spread - Hey Ya!

sounds like what you think it would judging by the cover

Not my jam

Well, turns out The Future didn't actually end up sounding like quite what we thought it'd sound like back in '02. But what we thought it'd sound like still occasionally sounds cool. Like with so many double LPs: there's certainly a fantastic 45 minutes of music in here somewhere. As it is though, this is just way. Too. Much. They threw literally everything AND the kitchen sink at this, and then decided to grab some lampshades and wear them as hats, if memory serves (but after 2+ hours of basically ADHD-turned-music, how could it possibly?).

ваще мясо, оч хорошач группа. джаз-рэп, на первом месте именно джаз, потому что очень много мелодик, гармонических ходов, ахуитильный тембр солиста и кайфовая ударка

is their whole discography on this list jesus christ

BANGS

Big Boi and Andre 3000's break-up record. 2 separate albums lumped in to one because Outkast were one of the biggest acts at that time, and the name sold. And boy did it sell, still in the top 3 selling Hip Hop albums of all time. Big Boi's album is by far his best solo work. GhettoMusick is a banger, Bowtie & The Way You move likewise. War, Church are interesting. Flip Flop Rock is great, although almost ruined by Jay Z being an arsehole as he tends to be. Overall, a strong Southern hip-hop album following on somewhat naturally form Outkast's previous releases (but never quite reaching the level of the first 3 albums in particular for me). Probably a 4.25* album for me. Andre 3000's album is truly iconic - this came out in 2003! Easy to see the influence it had on artists like Frank Ocean, Tyler the Creator to name but a few. Happy Valentine's Day, Spread are great. Where are my panties is actually a fairly entertaining dialogue. Prototype is strong effort, Hey Ya is one of the greatest songs out there, Roses is cool albeit a bit grating. The run from Behold a Lady to Love in War (passing by Pink & Blue) is pure brilliance. Dracula's Wedding is nice too, as is the cover of My Favourite things. Take Off Your Cool is truly beautiful. Has been on repeat since I first listened to the album a month ago. Vibrate is a good listen on the topic of masturbation (I think...). Overall, André 3000 channels his heartbreaks and experiences in love into an amazing record about love. Probably 4.5* for me. Overall, I am going to give a 5*. In 2h15m of music, there really is a level of consistency that would be hard to find on any other hip-hop album. In a way, this was the perfect way for Outkast to end - quit, while you are ahead.

What an absolute treat. Other than Hey-Ya, I haven’t heard this in 20 years. I’m even more impressed than I was at the time. Love BigBoi’s dirty south mastery and flow on album one. Only downside is some skits that drag. And then Andre, creative genius savant that he is comes through with an eclecticism and originality that’s just stunning—some juvenilia aside. And bops galore. OutKast individually and together are truly gifted originators. Five stars

as much long this album is , I can tell that both Big Boi and 3K had VERY different visions and was really the split after this that followed you can hear in the music. it's a jarring different move from the group before the split and I can't really can't get down with either side of the 2LP all that well like their previous albums.

Too much album on this album. Things I liked: Jazzy instrumentals Awesome unique flow on the vocal style Great collaborations with noticeable voices The hits are hits for a reason. Disliked: The interludes were obnoxious and add nothing to the album for me Saying Speakerboxxx at the end of so many songs on the first half was a weird choice. Not enough catchy songs. Nothing grabbed me. 2.5/5

Speakerbox 4 Love below 3

Big album Diverse in numbers

perfect album to me!! andre 3000 is corny in a way that makes me want to get naked, which might push his side of the album above big boi’s. it’s an impressive feat.

This is one of those albums I never owned but became really familiar with over time since it always seemed like someone nearby was playing it. Overall, it’s a cool album with an interesting concept, each MC takes their own disc in a unique direction, giving a taste of their individual styles. Unfortunately, like a lot of albums I’ve heard over the years, this one has lost some of its appeal just from being overplayed in the past.

swag.

This album was WAY TO LONG! I love the song Hey Ya! and I like a bit of Hip Hop, but this album outstayed its welcome.

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!

Genre bending and outlast defining album

Speakerboxx: 8/10 The Love Below: 6/10 Speakerboxx felt pretty consistently good, while TLB had very high highs and very low lows.

Speakerboxx ist fast unhörbar, The Love Below hat 3-4 gute Nummern, der Rest ist so naja. Es gibt bessere Outkast Alben…

I liked the songs "GhettoMusick" and "Hey Ya!"

Maybe a little too long, maybe a little out of focus once in a while. But the bangers..... Amazing album.

Nfm

Look I got through like nearly 2 hours of this in 4/5 car journeys and I just can’t I’m afraid. I just don’t understand how it never ends. Speakerboxxx was very solid and probably scrapes a 4 on its own. Love below had some real highs but it just wouldn’t end. Overall I can’t give this a fair crack in one day but a good 3. It’s a shame because I wanted to finish it but by the end I was ready for everything to end. Would return in future maybe on a transatlantic flight to finish it

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

I know that I enjoyed the hell out of Stankonia as album #64 on my journey, and I wasn't alone in my sentiment. The album received critical acclaim and racked up multiple awards. So much was the success of Stankonia and Outkast in general that when André 3000 wanted to pursue a solo career and create an album more focused on jazz and pop, the group's label, Arista Records, wanted to pull the plug on it because they felt it would be a bad career move for him. But André still wanted to make his own record, thus, the next best thing was to package it with Big Boi's finished solo record and sell them together under the Outkast moniker. That's how we ended up with Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. This double album is simply two solo albums placed side-by-side; there's no beating around the bush about it. Sure, Big Boi and André 3000 contributed additional vocals and co-production credits for each other's records, and both records have multiple interlude tracks that are pointless and, at worst, come off as self-indulgent. Other than that, these are two separate albums from two gentlemen who may belong to the same group but are experiencing creative differences. As such, I can't discuss Speakerboxxx/The Love Below without discussing each disc separately. Let's start with Speakerboxxx, Big Boi's solo record. This one is a Southern progressive hip-hop record with Parliament-Funkadelic vibes, and it very much reflects how consistent Big Boi had been in his songwriting. There are bangers upon bangers throughout this side - "GhettoMusick", "Bowtie", "The Way You Move", "The Rooster", "War", "Church", "Knowing", and the list goes on. We also get some incredible guest features, including the team-up of Konkrete, Big Gipp and Ludacris on "Tomb of the Boom", Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz on "Last Call", and not one but TWO Killer Mike features on "Bust" and "Flip Flop Rock" with Jay-Z. Honestly, I would have been content with Speakerboxxx on its own as it built upon Big Boi's previous successes to have a great, if not perfect, solo album. But then we have The Love Below, André 3000's record. In embracing jazz and experimental music with a more sensual side, André just comes off like Prince. After opening up the record with a Frank Sinatra style intro into the noise-rock meets lounge swing of "Love Hater", André proceeds to run through multiple sex jams in the pursuit of love after his fallout with Erykah Badu, a point which he makes on closing track "A Life in the Day of Benjamin André (Incomplete)". For sure, there are bangers to be found here, including "Happy Valentine's Day", "Roses", "Dracula's Wedding" with Kelis, and especially "Hey Ya!" as the group's biggest single. Not to mention, two of André's greatest soul tracks are placed back-to-back in "Prototype" and "She Lives in My Lap" with Rosario Dawson, and I also dug the laid-back dub-jazz trip of "Vibrate". But not every experiment on The Love Below is a success, even if they came from interesting ideas. The horniness goes awry in the back-to-back "Spread" and "Where Are My Panties", and I did not care much for the falsetto-sung "She's Alive" about single motherhood. I didn't feel Norah Jones was much of a presence on the short acoustic tune "Take Off Your Cool". Finally, while it was neat hearing a drum-and-bass rendition of "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music, it didn't need to go on for five minutes. At the end of the day, both Speakerboxxx and The Love Below are solid albums that would have done fine on their own, though I'll admit I preferred the consistent quality of the former. The problem is that their label forced the two to come together as a double album, and the experience as a whole ends up bloated. Go through each record separately and make what you will, but the industry machinations behind the scenes cannot be ignored here.

Preferred speaker box to love below, obviously hey ya is a classic and roses is great and the album in general was very good but I expected love below to have more poppy tunes and to be more accessible. Still good but long run time to get through it all

Suffers from the same problem most double albums have, would have been far better with some serious editing 3.5*

Meh

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⭐️

Not my genre

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.

Very innovative especially for a rap album from 2003. Pretty interesting at the start but it really really dragged on

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

some iconic songs but kinda mid

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

Too few enjoyable songs to validate the 135 minute run-time. I relished the sound of traffic when the album was finally over. (The second album was the better of the two.)

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.

#528.Speakerboxx is a solid 4, but The Love Below is a weak 3. I guess that averages to 3.5, but I'm going to round down because fuck it. 3/5: half good

This was fun, I forgot some songs on this album. Different sort of rap

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.

10/10 duh

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

I like hip hop/ rap music this was welcomed. I also like Outkasts most popular songs, I didnt realise they had this many sounds or had these other sounds. I liked the album but something I probably wouldn't listen to again.

Long but enjoyable. Some legitimate hits.

Speakerboxx - 4/5, the Love Below 3/5

Roses really smell like poo poo poo

Waaaaaay too long, could have made two albums out of this. The music was overall okay with a few hits, but I feel like the length made it worse. Choose a few great hits and make an album with those, reuse the rest for another album

Roses smell like poo poo lol. Outcast bring a nice sexy tone to rap. With creative beats and lyrics about love, this album stands out to me. And there are some killer features in this album too. It's a bit long for my liking, but still a solid album.

This album has some great songs. However, of all the Outkast albums to choose for this list, this is one of only two I would have NOT chosen. Its way too bloated. If it were just the best 45 mins of songs, this could have been great. Also this it the album where Outkast was basically already broken up, and its just a solo BigBoi album stitched together with a solo Andre 3000 album.

I wouldn’t listen to any track on this apart from hey ya

i’m not a big hip hop listener but this was an interesting experience! i definitely like the love below more with the genre fusion stuff, but i definitely didn’t hate speakerboxxx either. this only counting as one album is kind of cheating though, especially since i just happened to get this on saturday in the evening after enabling weekend albums <.<

This is the 61st album I’m rating. I’ve listened to a couple of songs off the album but never the whole thing. Adding to my Playlist - GhettoMusick, Unhappy, Bowtie, The Way You Move, The Rooster, Bust, War, Church, Tomb of the Boom, Knowing, Flip Flop Rock, Reset, Last Call, The Love Below (Intro), Love Hater, Happy Valentine’s Day, Spread, Prototype, She Lives in my Lap, Hey Ya!, Behold a Lady, Pink & Blue, Love in War, She’s Alive, My Favorite Things, Take Off Your Cool, Vibrate, and A Life in the Day of Benjamin André (Incomplete). Not Adding to my Playlist - Intro, Bamboo (Interlude), E-Mac (Interlude), Interlude, Bowtie (Postlude), God (Interlude), Where Are My Panties? (Interlude), Good Day, Good Sir (Interlude), and The Letter. Already Added to my Playlist - Roses and Dracula’s Wedding. Bowtie (Postlude) - This sounds weirdly good but it’s too short. Speakerboxxx if it was just that would be one of my favorite albums of all time. Those interludes are terrible though I’m glad that trend died out. A Life in the Day of Benjamin André (Incomplete) - Pretty good song and album. I’d probably say this is worse than Speakerboxxx though. It also suffers the same problem of terrible interludes. All in all I liked 30/40 of the songs. This was hurt by those terrible interludes but the album as a whole was great.

The beats are very 90s style, but overall too long. The beats get annoying after a while, but I get it was kind of new at the time. I listened to it pretty quietly so I did not pay attention to the lyrics. Only song I really knew was Hey-Ya lol I liked the second half much better.

This album could definitely use some editing down- it has a lot of hits and jams, but also a lot of filler songs and a few too many skits. The hits are definitely good, but some of the b sides really better capture Outkast's sound. Overall- decent album

One of my favorite albums!

What do you do if you are a critically acclaimed hip hop duo suffering from musical differences? You go off and record an album each, and then put both of them out as a double album under your joint name and hope that nobody notices. This is a real curate’s egg of an album. Parts of it are excellent - I was particularly taken with André 3000’s (I wonder if his mum calls him that) up tempo jazz version of Favourite Things, and of course the sublime ‘Hey Ya!’. However, for every inspired line about shaking it like a Polaroid picture, there is one about how roses smell like poo poo. If you cut out the utterly cringeworthy skits and picked the best tracks from both discs, you would have an absolute classic. As it stands, it’s at least an hour and a half too long.

Of course I knew Hey Ya! from this album, but not the rest. I know other projects that Andre did or contributed to, so I was expecting to prefer his part than Big Boi's one... And that was actually the contrary. The first part is really good, solid beats, solid flow, not boring one second. The Andre 3000 part is way more chill. Too chill, there are not so many songs that keep you awake in the midst of all this mellow, down tempo songs. Could have been way better, imho.

I always found this a very disappointing OutKast release. A couple of radio hits wrapped in an endless stream of fillers. Maybe I just can’t be bothered to give it a proper chance, but feels like an unbelievable leap in quality from their peak albums

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

In true White Album fashion, this is a sprawling, genre-hopping behemoth - complete with a jittery breakbeat take on Coltrane - somehow with *even* less collaboration between its members than the Beatles managed to scrape together. The high points are undeniable, but man, songs like She's Alive are going straight to my musical blacklist. Listen to it once, throw your favourite tracks into a playlist, then put it back on the shelf as the repurposed dust collecter it's now become.

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

Geht so

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

5/5. It was hard to get into this previously, I am not sure why, maybe it was the length and the genre of music I didn't find myself listening to often. As I have explored more genres, this definitely stands out as a great collection of songs. It's crazy how many are just great and no skips. The first half is a solid southern rap album with great production. And it is very clear where Andre's side starts, as he falls into a dream like experience of bumping bass and airy and smooth instrumentation. I can see the Prince influence but there is also a lot of experimentation going on with sounds and his vocals. Plus Andre's lyrics really go into the complexity of love as well as male and female toxicity in relationships and why many fail because of societal standards and norms. It's hard to narrow down exactly which one is better but honestly, they work well together as a full album. Best Song: Hey Ya!, GhettoMusick, Church, Spread, The Way You Move

Listen, I can't lie. I saw the length of this album and I'm not even going to try. There is absolutely no fucking call for that, I don't have TWO HOURS just to throw away like that. Sorry Outkast. Maybe next time.

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

Une concentration intense de tout ce que le meilleur du hip hop et de la pop des années 2000 avaient à offrir. Des prods toujours interessantes, du fuck-all n'importe quoi vraiment l'fun sur le deuxieme disque. Un peu long des fois peut-être. Le premier disque est beaucoup plus soul que dans mes souvenirs. Clairement un disque que je vais ré-écouter plus souvent.

En cuisine, j'aime à peu près tous les plats, tous les aliments. Je suis ouvert à toutes les saveurs. En musique, c'est différent: mon ouverture n'est pas aussi grande; mon oreille aime certains types de sons plus que d'autres. OutKast n'est pas dans ma palette de goûts, mais j'ai eu l'impression que c'était un excellent album pour une personne qui aime cette musique. Je pense même que les fans doivent être du genre trop enthousiastes et parler de «génie». C'est généreux et foisonnant d'idées, comme si on visite l'atelier de l'artiste. À l'auditeur de faire sa sélection; le groupe ne veut rien jeter, veut tout montrer. À partir de la pièce «Church», mon intérêt a quintuplé. Ça demanderait une cinquantaine d'écoute pour faire le tour!! Du costaud.

Speakerboxxx : Prod crap qui vieilli mal. Church, c'était le summum des fréquences désagréables. Flip Flop Rock c'était aussi bon que du Linkin Park. À mi-chemin, j'ai pris le temps de calculer qu'il fallait attendre 1h25 avant d'entendre Hey Ya!. The Love Below : Dès que ça part, on comprend qu'on est entre meilleures mains avec André 3000. C'est wild, éclaté, ça part dans tous les sens en restant cohérent. Suffit de regarder la pochette pour avoir une idée avec lequel des deux t'as le goût de faire le party. 5 étoiles pour Love Below, 1 pour Speakerboxxx ou 4 étoiles pour Love Below et 2 pour Speakerboxxx pour une triste moyenne de 3 dans les deux cas.

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.

Lets get the first part out of the way. This is and should be two albums, and I spread the listening over a few days. It's too long to listen to in one sitting. That said, it was more enjoyable than I expected. I'm not a fan of Outkast for the most, but the Big Boi songs that leaned heavily into R&B were good, and I enjoyed the Andre 3000 songs more than I expected. Particularly the Jazz-heavier songs and the ones that were not heavily misogynist (which were too many).

Great concept with some solid bangers but didn't enjoy listening to it through the day very much

Big Boi vs 3000, 2 solo albums in a deathmatch. Honestly, I think Speakerboxxx slaps more, but Love Below has more hits. I was thinking 4.5, but this is such an epic collection and undertaking that I'm just going to bump it up to 5.

# 424 : I still don't like Rap and being Over 2 Hours, couldn't possibly listen to the whole thing, but it's got Hey Ya! On it :-) apart from that it's too long, monotonous, mundane, not very enjoyable. 290 on Rollingstone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and 2004 Grammy Album of the year...still don't know how.

There’s some great songs in here, but this is WAY too long with way too many not-great songs.

Usually, double albums are a total drag and just serve as an ego trip for the artist. That's not the case at all here. Speakerboxxx and The Love Below are two different albums that, somehow, go together rather well. Big Boi really kills it on Speakerboxxx with his more southern rap style. Andre 3000 answers back with a more pop/funk oriented second half. Neither album needs any skips. A match made in heaven.

That was a lot to get through. Most wasn't anything I was interested in, but the highlights are enough to bring this up to a 2.5

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

way too long, way too self indulgent, a couple of bangers though. You could make a great album by cherry picking from the 2 sides but at 2hr 15 min this is a slog to get through.

Good album