Stankonia

Outkast’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.

Zwalony

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.

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.

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.

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.

Power Music Electric Revival

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.

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.

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.

Outkast showing how to be funny, serious, straightforward and weird as hell all in the space of one album. Love it.

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

Stone cold hip-hop classic

👍

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'"

Misogyny and the music isn't great.

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

Maybe my favorite hip hop album of all time. So innovative and ahead of its time. Bangers on bangers. Best track: B.O.B

Too many skits. But it’s still amazing.

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.

As Marge Simpson’s psychologist would say: it’s a rich tapestry. Great tracks mixed with some not so. ‘Snapping & Trappin’ painful drum track- skipped. Outkast always a mix of serious and taking the piss. I like the interludes in albums, but there could’ve been some tracks dropped from this lengthy album that goes for ever. Forever ever?

OutKast’s sound is distinct and instantly recognizable. Their flow and lyrical constructions are refreshing. I could do without the misogyny and gangster-ish stuff (I didn’t keep track of the tracks), and I certainly would prefer not to hear CeeLo’s voice. But overall these feel like minor speed bumps. I want to listen to more OutKast. I have Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, but I never really got into it. I guess I need to go back earlier in their catalogue.

Excellent rap album by the best rap duo of all time. This album varies stylistically in many ways and it’s good from front to back. This album has several interludes that break up the flow and in my opinion don’t add much. This album is good but I’d OutKast’s 3rd or 4th best.(Idlewild is obviously last) Which shows how good they are. 8.2/10

Bombs over baghdad greatest song of the 2000s

Banger after banger. OutKast has consistently put out innovative albums trying new things every album, hitting the mark every time. Our first three tracks make up the strongest opening in their catalog. Tight production, clear, fast, and clever raps, and strong influences from funk, jazz, and rock, though still having the structure of pop hip hop of the late 90s, making it accessible to both mainstream audiences and fans of other genres. "Gasoline Dreams" starts us off strong with some p-funk licks (reminds me of Maggot Brain) and impressive raps with a corresponding fun chorus. The next two are super hits. "So Fresh So Clean" shows like four distinct styles of singing and rapping, super funky. "Ms. Jackson" is reminiscent of other pop songs of the time, but has super memorable hooks, a catchy chorus, and a funk style like no other. "Snappin & Trappin" moves us into hardcore territory, but is characterized by surreal "alien futuristic" samples. Strange how this is so early in the album as it might turn off some listeners, but the raps are nevertheless insane as always. I'll stop talking about each track since that'll take forever, but it's more or less the same strengths, but yet ton of diversity to keep me interested in what they'll do next. The interludes are weird and hilarious. They're inclusions are welcome all throughout the album to keep it fresh and interesting, giving me small breaks to contemplate on what the next track is like. BREAK The only major weakness is the length. I know it's Aquemini and The Love Below are just as long, but starting with "Humble Bumble" I lose focus. They're great tracks for sure, and it doesn't take much to appreciate them, but there's a lack of standout tracks to attract your attention. However, I do speculate it'd be easier with more listens with how much character they all have.

I LOVE THIS ALBUM. I can honestly say that I listen to a few songs from this album every week. Similar to “The Low End Theory” this album changed hip hop as it expanded peoples’ perceptions of what hip hop could be.

A super important record to me. This was the first hip hop album I ever purchased. I had always been into other genres and never really understood rap so this album has a big nostalgia hit for me as a big door opener. That said, the album is still really good all these years later. Almost every song is solid. I actually forgot how good Humble Mumble and Red Velvet are to my ears. The 3 big singles from this album are still amazing. Snappin' and Trappin', We Love Deez Hoez, and Stankonia (Stanklove) are the only songs that I could take or leave. The skits are also something I could do without. Thankfully they are all pretty short. Part of me wants to give this 5 stars because of my personal attachment and the soaring high points of the album, but I think it's a 4 at this point for me. Still great and highly recommended but not perfect.

I am for real!

Truly a classic of the genre. Andre 3000 has probably been of the most influential artists to move rap music forward since Dre. There are a bunch of heavy hitters on this album and a lot of really good features. It's weird, it's innovative, it doesn't rest on its laurels and it really tries to make each track its own piece of art. I would say they hit on that promise 80% of the time. There is definitely a 5 buried in here somewhere but there are just a few too many misses to give it a 5. Very strong 4 though.

I didn't give this a proper listen but with Ms. Jackson and So Fresh, So Clean alone this album gets a 4.

Count me Inkast

While I was shoving sunflower seeds up my nose at nursery, Outkast were seeing in the 21st century with a winningly eclectic, expansive set of songs. This is the second album of theirs I’ve listened to in full: a couple of years ago, “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” blew me away when I heard it. While heavy and bloated, the volume of innovation and ideas being launched at the wall was overwhelming, and it’s fast become one of my favourite hip-hop albums on the list. "Stankonia" was its immediate precursor, and showcases more than I’d expected of Outkast's genre diversity, experimentation and restless energy.  In making this record, the duo turned away from hip-hop as inspiration, feeling it was beginning to stagnate. Instead, the aim of "Stankonia" was to balance retro influences - Prince, Hendrix, Little Richard, Parliament-Funkadelic - with progressive sound. You could argue this is hardly unusual for hip-hop (Dr. Dre, NWA,  Beastie Boys and more had pulled from the same sources). But as far as I’ve heard, Outkast stand alone in combining wild experimentation with the ability to craft crossover-pop smash hits. There’s an urgency and a vitality to the best songs here: “Gasoline Dreams”, “Xplosion”, the pleading throughout the iconic “Ms. Jackson”. All of them are bombastic and explosive, with a genre-spanning set of samples and sounds, from harpsichord to guitar, bells, organ and an ultra phat bass. Hear it and weep. Features abound from names including Killer Mike, Gangsta Boo, Cee-Lo Green, and Cypress Hill's nasal king B-Real. All of have distinct voices and personas to help strengthen the variation even more, but the guest who steals the show the most is Erykah Badu in the stand-out track “Humble Mumble”. What a voice. Elsewhere, I really enjoyed the lighter fare like “So Fresh, So Clean”, “I’ll Call B4 I Cum”, “We Luv Deez Hoez”. Once the kind of thing I would have squirmed at and found grating, it’s clear the duo are playing roles and loving it: it’s pantomime hip-hop. As if to prove the gimmicks haven’t become too much, we go harder, no-frills, trap-based with “Spaghetti Junction”, “Snappin & Trappin”, “Gangsta Shit”. And in the final stretch, the songs space out into haze and would-be psychedelia, with mixed results: "Toilet Tisha" is undeniably moving, while “Slum Beautiful” and “Stankonia” verge on outstaying their welcome. Without a doubt, though, the centrepiece of “Stankonia” is the truly incendiary “B.O.B (Bombs Over Baghdad)”. Written to emulate emergent rave music after Andre attended one, it marries a drum-n-bass style breakbeat with a hazy organ, scratchy funk guitar, machine-gun vocals and a singalong backing. It’s a move unlike any other I’ve heard in hip-hop before, and something I can only imagine Outkast pulling off. It was also voted Pitchfork’s song of the decade: however much stock you may put in such lists or the site itself, it remains an incredible testament to the duo’s mass appeal. All that remains from me is to share this verse of Andre 3000’s from “Humble Mumble”, which has given me much thought on my previous feelings around hip-hop and those who still shut it out on impulse… “I met a critic, I made her shit her drawers She said she thought hip-hop was only guns and alcohol I said, "Oh hell, nah", but yet it's that too You can't discrimi-hate 'cause you done read a book or two” Touche, Andre, touche.

pretty good, I enjoyed this more than speakerboxx, also I didnt realize how many hits came off this album. its way more raw than later entries which muddies things up I feel. great listen!

I am four eels

No. 79/1001 Intro NR Gasoline Dreams 3/5 I'm Cool NR So Fresh, So Clean 4/5 Ms. Jackson 5/5 Snappin' & Trappin' 2/5 DF NR Spaghetti Junction 3/5 Kim & Cookie NR I'll Call B4 I Cum 2/5 B.O.B 3/5 Xplosion 2/5 Good Hair NR We Luv Deez Hoez 3/5 Humble Mumble 3/5 Drinkin' Again NR ? NR Red Velvet 3/5 Cruisin' in the ATL NR Gangsta Sh*t 2/5 Toilet Tisha 3/5 Slum Beautiful 3/5 Pre-Nump NR Stankonia 3/5 Average: 2,93 I know this is beloved by fans and critics alike. Heavily influential. Still OutKast just doesn't click with me.

Zwalony. Bob i Ms Jackson

4

On s'ennuie entre les tubes c'est tout ce que j'ai à dire.

The first half was not for me, second half was easier for me to listen to. Not an enjoyable listen for me

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.

cool

I love Outkast

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.

Ushered in a new age of hip hop

Hip-hop de qualidade, lindo lindooo

This was a compelling listen! Lots of layers that reveal themselves on multiple listens on this funky outing. The range is really remarkable. Andre 3000 is such a distinctive performer in top form here. The production is on-point throughout. I've only ever really heard the singles before, but I can see why this is an enduring favourite for many. Rating: 4.5/5 Fave tracks: Ms. Jackson, B.O.B., Humble Mumble, Cruisin' in the ATL

Бомбы сами знает над чем.

Brilliant album

ooh!

A really innovative album that still sounds fresh. A bridge between 90s gansta rap and current rap.

The place where all funny things come from

Always amazing listem this álbum

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.

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

Outkast RULES

An all time classic

Legends

Sick album. Awesome beats, lyrics, production, legacy, influence. Ticks all the boxes. 9/10

Snappin and trappin is a hard skip But the rest of the album slaps so i round up to 5 stars

So sick

Dang this album is so good!!!

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

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.

Perfection

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.

One of my favourite albums. Not keen on the skits and a lot of it is incomprehensible to me but ...

Очень хорошая музыка, на удивление спокойная (как я люблю)

Banger

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!

4.5/5. Very impressive album, very unique, great shit

Classic. 10/10. We all know this.

Few, if any, do it like Outkast.

Fucking classic

Love this album!!!

An absolute classic.

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

It’s very obvious to me when I peaked based on the current music I owned at the time.

Such a great album. Not my favourite OutKast album but still hard to find real fault.

Great craic.

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.

4 Saf7at Men 3l Bouheli Mte3 Dostoevsky. Still Sick

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.

Cool hip hop album

Misstänker att jag inte får många chanser att sätta 5or så jag bjuder på denna. Bra album bra pågar.

This is a great album! BOB is one of my all time favorite rap songs. Not a fan of the Interlude tracks.

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.

So fresh

Love the group they good

Outkast at their best, full of classic songs and really fun sounds.

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!

Classic album. I’d do 4.5 if I could just bc it’s not perfect. Hard to do better than OutKast

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 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.

Yes.

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.

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

Killer Mike!