Stankonia
OutKast
2000
Album Summary
Stankonia is the fourth studio album by American hip hop duo OutKast. It was released on October 31, 2000, by LaFace Records. The album was recorded in the duo's recently purchased Atlanta recording facility Stankonia Studios, which allowed for fewer time and recording constraints, and featured production work from Earthtone III (a production team consisting of Outkast and Mr. DJ) and Organized Noize. For the follow-up to their 1998 album Aquemini, the duo worked to create an expansive and experimental musical aesthetic, incorporating a diverse array of styles including funk, rave music, psychedelia, gospel, and rock within a Dirty South-oriented hip hop context. During the recording sessions, André 3000 began moving beyond traditional rapping in favor of a more melodic vocal style, an approach to which Big Boi and several other producers were initially unaccustomed. Lyrically, the duo touched upon a wide range of subject matter, including sexuality, politics, misogyny, African-American culture, parenthood, and introspection. Stankonia featured appearances from a variety of local musicians discovered by the group while they were visiting clubs in their native city of Atlanta, Georgia. Stankonia received universal acclaim from music critics upon its release, and has since been regarded by many to be one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, selling over 530,000 copies the first week. It produced three singles: "B.O.B", "Ms. Jackson", and "So Fresh, So Clean"; "Ms. Jackson" became the group's first single to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. At the 2001 Grammy Awards, OutKast won Best Rap Album for Stankonia and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Ms. Jackson". In 2003, the album was ranked number 359 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, 361 in a 2012 revision, and 64 in a 2020 reboot of the list. A re-issue of the album for its 20th anniversary with previously unreleased remixes was released on October 30, 2020.
WikipediaOutkast’s masterpiece and still the best rap album of this century. Broad and deep in scope, dense but accessible across its almost 75-minute running time (which for once isn't a second too long for an LP). Musically drawing on rock, jazz, blues and soul, Sly Stone, George Clinton, Hendrix, Electric Miles; it's all in there and you can hear these influences coalesce into something unique, urgent, exciting, transcendental and totally stoned but in the best way.
Im back. The website has given me some eh albums so i took a break. So now we have a timeless classic to look back on. Stankonia, in my opinion, is Outkast's most 'Outkast' album. Combining their southern rap expertise with the electronic, then-modern 2000s feel. It's probably because of the production handed onto Earthtones III. But along with this feel comes with the vibes this album brings. There are like 8 skits on here, making the album feel bloated but in reality it goes by prefty fast. The features feel so natural too, rappers likr Mike or Gangsta Boo just spit their verses like they were born to. And in my opinion, while Aquemini is 100% a better album, songs like B.O.B., Ms. Jackson, & So Fresh So Clean are some of the best songs they have made due to the energy André & Big Boi bring to the table. Both GOATS. 9/10 As of July 18th, 2021 Best Tracks: Gasoline Dreams, So Fresh So Clean, Ms. Jackson, Spaghetti Junction, I'll Call B4 U Cum, B.O.B., Xplosion, We Luv Deez Hoes, Humble Mumble, Red Velvet, Gangsta Shit, Toilet Tisha, Stankonia (Stanklove). The skits are alr too. Worst Track: Snappin' n Trappin'. Very Clunky imo. Still good but I can't listen to it without getting a headache.
Certified. Legendary. Status. It really doesn't get much better than this. It's innovative and creative and manages to alternate between fun and meaningful without giving the listener whiplash. "Stankonia" Is a masterwork of the genre and deserves its place on Mt. Olympus in the pantheon of the greatest albums ever made.
ANOTHER FUCKIGN 90S/2000S ALBUM ARE YPU KIDDING ME. OH MY GODDD this albums a 10 im just putting that on the table asap. its not because its consistent, cuz it aint. its probly my most inconsistent 10, but like..the sheer amount of ideas here overflowing thru every track is just overwhelming. i can never rly hate it. except 4 we luv deez hoes the chorus on that song is grating. also that guest verse on xplosion is fucking botdf-quality but with none of the charm. how!!!!! other th an that this is amazing. ms jackson has a rly interesting beat with choruses where everything just CLICKS. the verses feel chaotic and weird but then the chorus hits and it all just makes sense!!! b.o.b. is really cool too. but its a top 100 singvle on this site so who cares about it. the real shit: ill call before i come. very pretty song :) gangsta shit goes way harder than i expected btw. its one of the less original creative songs on this album but it doesnt matter cuz it fuckin goes/ the interludes are lame though
Not as bad as some rap I've heard from around the time, kinda catchy in places, cool mix of pop and rap, and fuck the chorus in ms jackson is gonna stay in my head for weeks now, but fuck.... no one needs an album that's 1hr 17min. lots of filler, interludes that add nothing, a couple of long plodding songs... would make an absolutely stellar 45min album though.
I was expecting big things based on Ms. Jackson alone (Ms. Jackson is a 5). Maybe it was the unnecessary interludes. Maybe overall it was just too obnoxious. Or maybe it's because the God awful updated Rolling Stone 500 Greatest albums list has this baby at number sixty freaking four. Seems high. Which is something you might want to be while listening to this.
Outkast showing how to be funny, serious, straightforward and weird as hell all in the space of one album. Love it.
Intro—by no means the most memorable skit on an album laden with great ones (Kim and Cookie just jumped straight to the top of my favourites list)—sums up a couple of Stankonia’s virtues. To start, “bounce”—from the depths of the earth’s core, to the farthest reaches of space, to the Cadillac rolling down the street blasting the hottest new sound. This is a fizzy, bubbly, gloopy, rubbery, soft-play Adventureland of bounce. Next, that’s a harmonium and backwards tabla you can hear. In other words, this is insanely ambitious. Like, 1999 ambitious, There's A Riot Going On ambitious, Blonde on Blonde ambitious. Whether or not Big Boi and Andre intended to change the face/interface of rap and pop, they did. For me, at least. After this, nothing was the same. Correction: after Ms Jackson, nothing was the same. That beat—featuring, ahoy! backwards congas—blew my natural mind. I can still feel my 12-year-old brain struggling to contain the rush of endorphins when that wrong-way-round k - k - ku - k, k - k - ku - k loop starts. (Can you believe this is the first time I’ve realised how perfect it is that a song about bittersweet regret uses a backwards beat. It's literally the sound of turning back time.) So how did pop and rap become inseparable after Ms. Jackson? The best way I can explain it isn't great, but it goes something like this: Outkast set themselves the Prince-ly goal of recording literally every idea they’d ever had, carved out a galactic-sized sonic space for their exploration, then covered so much ground in the process that once they were done no one could claim a new sound without it feeling like Outkast got there first. The breadth of their exploration also goes some way to explaining Stankonia’s curious amorality, which swings from the criminally retrograde (Snappin’ & Trappin’) to politically fired-up (B.O.B.) to socially conscious (Toilet Tisha, Humble Mumble) to sexually chivalrous (I’ll Call B4 I Cum) to borderline misogynistic (We Luve Deez Hoez) without reconciling the differences. Forget the big picture, that'll take care of itself. But back to that intro. What it doesn’t tell us is anything about Big Boi and Dre as rappers. Now, as much as I like Big Boi (and I think Speakerboxxx is to The Love Below what Plastic Ono Band is to McCartney), I become deaf to everything around me when I know a 3000 verse is coming. That only happens with three or four rappers. I don’t know what gives someone that power, but he has it. “You can plan a pretty picnic but you can’t predict the weather.” What other rapper could come up with that? What folksinger? Then there’s the “knee / pad […] be / sad […]" rhyme scheme, his verses on Xplosion and Gangster Shit that make the guests preceding him vanish into obsolescence, and “Speeches only reaches those who already know about it / This is how we go about it.” Perhaps I'm too influenced by Stakonia's turn-of-the-century release when I say I hear it as the final proof of hip hop as the most progressive and inventive music of the last 30+ years. But just consider the differences between this and Mama Said Knock You Out or Fear of a Black Planet. Ten years in real time, light years musically. Finally, having said too much about Ms Jackson, a word on B.O.B. First, it’s actually the better song. Second, most MCs would die trying to rap over that beat. And third, it could end at 2:35 and still be one of the greatest rap songs ever. But then the guitar solo starts, followed by the scratches and cuts. Then the beat changes. The guitar becomes a riff. Andre counts in the gospel choir—1, 2, 3—who regale us with a chorus—“Power music electric revival”—to usher in this (alleged) new age of music. And, just to underscore what talented motherfuckers they are, they finish it off with a squiggly P-Funk synth they absolutely didn’t need to include. Then again, they didn't need to include three-quarters of what's here. That's masterpieces for you. They succeed in spite of their irregularities. Maybe because of them.
Wild, sprawling and exuberant, this is relentlessly original music, that fuses funk, rock and hip-hop, with a smattering of soul. So many engaging and satisfying beats and tempos and textures. The extracrurricular snippets don't add much necessarily, but they fade out to longer/stronger songs and vibes later on in the record. The artier and genre-mixing it gets, the better it is, which is how music transcends its time – see "So Fresh, So Clean," "Mrs. Jackson" and the amazing closer, "Stanklove." Hip-hop's Radiohead seems about right to this indie rock fan.
Long and a little bloated. When this album hits, it really hits though. Favorite tracks: "Bombs Over Baghdad", "We Luv Deez Hoez", "Snappin' and Trappin'"
Maybe my favorite hip hop album of all time. So innovative and ahead of its time. Bangers on bangers. Best track: B.O.B
Misstänker att jag inte får många chanser att sätta 5or så jag bjuder på denna. Bra album bra pågar.
One of my favourite albums. Not keen on the skits and a lot of it is incomprehensible to me but ...
Haiku Tuesday: Outkast and Big Boi A duo for the ages play this one more time!
Yeah, already understand 3 tracks in why it's on the 1001 - awesome hiphop flows with all kinds of other genres plugged in for visits. Just has that "seminal" feel to it. No doubt Gorillaz was hip to this duo as Dan started building his albums.
Full of bonks, i personally not to fond of the song about a pregnant minor end thier own life but that might just be me. I am a fan of the 30 seconds of "cum" noises at the start its an interesting listen espically with the big hot men repeating the word bounce. But whole thing skeng
Its hard for this to come right after MBDTF because this is better so should probably get above a 5 somehow but thats not how this works
Such a great album. Not my favourite OutKast album but still hard to find real fault.
Sick album. Awesome beats, lyrics, production, legacy, influence. Ticks all the boxes. 9/10
Absolute classic album. Remember buying this on CD at Uni and it not sounding like the sort of hip hop I was used to. So many good tracks on here.
Bangers all around, clearly a very influential album. Heavy at times, but even at those times, really fun to listen to. Capturing some real humanity with sick beats, varied sound, rooted in funk, soul, hip hop, electronic.
Stone cold classic. Amazing beats, poignant varied lyrics, absolute bops.
I had forgotten how much I love Stankonia. It’s amazing how frantic and up beat it is, but at the same time functions as chill background music.
second outkast album for me (but this one's older), i liked the other one well enough but it was way too long. really liking this first song 'gasoline dreams'. okay this album's going to be a 5 lol. it's amazing so far. snappin & trappin sounding a bit disjointed, but i kinda like it anyway. killer mike was awesome i love you killer mike. okay i'm done, fave songs: gasoline dreams, so fresh so clean, B.O.B. great album, i'm giving it a second listen rn, snappin & trappin just clicked for me so that's cool.
The best southern hip hop album of all time. Every track crushes the beats, the rhymes, and the production. Andre 3000 and Big Boi are on fire creatively and they know it. B.O.B. is the kind of song rappers dream of writing. As close to hip hop perfection as it gets.
Of course I already listened to this one, but I am not (grieving) to listen to it again. What a crazy album, it deserves a 5 based on B.O.B alone, but personally I'm hovering a 4.2 to 4.6 rating. Such a creative album though, I'll give it a 5 because I want it to be recognized as one of the greats.
This album starts out on an absolute tear, with Snappin & Trappin being the first song that I don't think of as an absolute classic. Honestly, though, every song on this album is good. For the most part, you could drop this album today and it would be just as impactful as it was when it was release. It's aged much better than most early 00s hip-hop 5/5
This is a great album! BOB is one of my all time favorite rap songs. Not a fan of the Interlude tracks.
It makes sense they had to virtually split up after this, they had become too powerful
Not sure what I need to say here, but all of the songs on this album are hiphop anthems. Outkast deserve their status as GOATs of hiphop and this album is one of their best works.
The best hip-hop music to come out of Atlanta. Beats, Boasts, and Bars.
Literally broke ground for southern hip hop. Bops for days, for weeks, for years.
My favourite album ever. I even enjoy the skits on it. So creative that a lot of it doesnt sound dated yet. So many good percussion led songs. Love it from start to finish
Classic album. I’d do 4.5 if I could just bc it’s not perfect. Hard to do better than OutKast
YESSSSS! Oh how I miss these hip hop albums which are pure story telling with the crazy interludes. This was teenage Grace's absolute JAM, thank God for friends from Cov in school always bringing the edge and the grit into my middle class privileged life! This is a prime example of a classic hip hop album of the early noughties and I love it so much! Exciting innovative sounds, catchy hooks, lightning raps, bouncy beats, hard-hitting lyrics, important topics, it's got everything for me. When you listen, you can tell exactly what era it's from (although I was listening to this well after it came out as I was 8 at that point haha, the album is timeless!) I wouldn't change the album and it definitely belongs on this list!
Snappy and melodious tracks namely in 'So Fresh, So Clean' and 'Ms. Jackson', 'Stankonia' is an obvious favorite with important contributions to hip-hop. Unapologetically OutKast, this album shines through its thoughtful beats, which in tandem with soulful rap, renders it one of the best OutKast albums. Fun, memorable, and clever; OutKast remains a treasured hip-hop sensation.
Easy five. Never realised how much influence Childish Gambino takes from this, especially on Awaken My Love. Cee Lo has popped up as a feature on heaaapps of the hip hop albums on here, man was prolific. Killer Mike on Strappin & Trappin takes the feature crown on this one though. Humble Mumble is a huge track as well. Impossible not to mention Ms Jackson, up there with the greatest songs of all time.
I do, of course, love Ms. Jackson and the other hits from OutKast, but I never listened to the full album! This was excellent listening.
Ja kan ik niet anders dan certified classic noemen, geweldige bangers die nog lang gaan meegaan...maar zit ook wel wat filler in en had gerust een halfuur korter mogen zijn
Snappin and trappin is a hard skip But the rest of the album slaps so i round up to 5 stars
It’s very obvious to me when I peaked based on the current music I owned at the time.
Wow. Two classics two days in a row. This is easily five years ahead of any other hip hop album in 2000. The messed up productions with reversed snares and all manner of odd going on. Andre and Big Boi both delivering classic bars on every track. The fact it killed East and West dealer than the bullets that hit Tupac and Biggie, because the only correct answer was South. Take Gasoline Dreams, BOB, Miss Jackson and So Fresh So Clean. Each is so different to the last and each is a great song. It's got a Killer Mike feature a decade before the world caught up with him!
This is my favorite OutKast album. I listened to this so much back in the day that it almost sounds like a greatest hits compilation to me now. Especially those first 3 songs! It's like a three punch combo ending on an uppercut. Though I love the bursting-at-the-seams creativity of Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, this album is the absolute peak of Big Boi and Andre 3000 working together fluidly. Two things I love about OutKast: 1) their uncanny ability to cover such an incredibly wide range of emotions/subjects (and somehow blend it all together in a way that feels natural and smooth), and 2) their fearlessness in simply being themselves. Perhaps it is being outside of the East Coast/West Coast scenes that allowed them/forced them to sort of go all out in terms of forging their own unique identity? Whatever the reason, I am thankful they put it out there.
They really have something unique and special. Not as good as Speakerboxx/The Live Below but close and still top notch.
Ég keypti (óvart) censoraða útgáfu af þessari plötu í Prag 2001. Mjög fyndði að heyra alvöru útgáfurnar af öllum lögunum. Ekki það að hún er jafn mikið dúndur með og án allra ljótu orðanna. Fullt hús.
mega geil. hallo? dachte ich mag das nicht hab erstmal genervt aufgestöhnt aber hey....der spaß ist scheiße geil. würde ich noch öfter hören honestly.
A really innovative album that still sounds fresh. A bridge between 90s gansta rap and current rap.
I've listened to this album a bunch of times, I think this is the weakest of outkasts albums, but even then this album is still a solid fucking 9 which means it gets the ole 5/5 score.
Monólogos da Intro. So Fresh, So Clean tem coisas boas. Ms Jackson é famosa. I'll Call B4 I Cum tem uns samples interessantes. Bombs Over Bagdad tem uma frase final interessante. Começo Xplosion! We Lu Deez Hoez é excelente e tem um wahwahwah ótimo.
Bangers On Bangers Bet On Big Boy Bosses Of Bounce Better Off Blazed Bump On your Boombox Bass On Board Bring Out the Booties Broadcast Over Borders Big Ol' Beats Best Of the Best 5 drop top 'lacs 🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗
Wowza this things is nuts. Everything about this album is so creative and funky and wonky but it just works so well. The beats Go. So. Goddamn. Hard. It feels like you’re in a hip hop carnival there’s just so many crazy things going on. Andre and Big Boi are incredible lyricists and rappers. I think I could listen to Andre rap about anything all day. I’m absolutely blown away by this album. 10/10
Yes!! This is basically the record that got me into hip-hop so I have a lot of love for it. Sure, there a couple of misses and the skits aren't always great, but there are so many incredible high points on this album to make up for it. Kicking off with so much energy with Gasoline Dreams and then the cooler-than-a-polar-bear's-toenails So Fresh So Clean; Ms. Jackson and B.O.B are two of the best hip-hop singles of all time; Humble Mumble has one of the best beat switches of all time; ?, Red Velvet and the closer are all incredible yet overlooked tracks. Just an absolutely fire record
What an overwhelming album. A wild fusion of hip-hop and funk that sounds like nothing else. And it’s a big album too. The chorus of “Gasoline Dreams” is incredible - such a hard beat, such a catchy hook. “So Fresh, So Clean” and “Ms. Jackson” are fantastic - insanely catchy songs that have reached a higher level in the culture (and still sound great after 1000 listens). Jeez, “B.O.B.” moves at such a breakneck speed. The music morphs and changes throughout while André 3000 and Big Boi spit rapid-fire. And those are just the major tracks. There’s a ton of inventive music here from hard-hitting rap to more playful and goofy songs. A weird, eccentric, awesome album.
Well. This is gold and timeless. While OutKast are critically lauded and also popular, I feel they do not receive the same kind of acclaim some of their peers get (I guess in a way they live up to their name heh). Yet here they are with this masterpiece of a record that is consistently fun and pop, while being true to their hip hop roots. I don't think I can say more than other, more articulate reviewers have, but this is a top record.
Synd att jag inte är så förtjust i hippetihopp, men jag fattar ju att det här är bra. Förmodligen riktigt bra.