OutKast

Southernplayalisticadillacmusik (1994) A–

Aquemini (1998) A–

Stankonia (2000) A+ 5.11.2.4.15.12.14.21

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003) A+

1. Ms. Jackson
2. B.O.B.
3. Rosa Parks
4. Hey Ya!
5. Gasoline Dreams
6. Ghetto Musick
7. Roses
8. So Fresh, So Clean
9. The Whole World
10. Spread
11. SpottieOttieDopaliscious
12. Humble Mumble
13. She's Alive
14. Aquemini
15. The Way You Move
16. Xplosion
17. The Love Below/Love Hater

Before their 1998 breakthrough, small time drug dealers Big Boi and Dre put out two albums to decent sales and acclaim. In retrospect, the debut Southernplayalisticadillacmusik hits much closer to home than the follow-up ATLiens. Aquemini had the big, big songs to put them over the top: "Rosa Parks", but also the slow-jammin' "SpottieOttieDopaliscious" and the slow-burnin' title track. In all of these there's a sunset warmth imbuing the dense instrumentation, reminiscent of, wait for it, Mississippi John Hurt.

The same warmth suffuses Stankonia, but from the Sly Stone-referencing cover onwards, the stakes have been raised again. Declaring independence is one American tradition, and in "Gasoline Dreams" they observe another: burning that motherfucker down. "So Fresh, So Clean" is well-groomed; "Xplosion" is unimpressed by threats of violence; "Humble Mumble" lets Dre's babymama Erykah Badu describe her undiscrimahating idea of beauty. And there are two masterpieces: "B.O.B.", a spaceship crashing into a church. And "Ms. Jackson", in which Big Boi plays Angry Babypapa, letting the in-laws know his child support cheques earn him some rights, and Dre plays Wistful Babypapa who, unlike his kid, understands the limits of forever.

The double Speakerboxxx/The Love Below came out in 2003 to wild acclaim and some backlash: purists saw Dre's much reduced rapping as a betrayal. If it helps, don't think of The Love Below as a hip hop album: from the floridly over-the-top piano and strings of the intro, Dre is reclaiming the African-American's right to eccentricity, and it's the best thing he's done because it's the funniest. Smiley-faces are stamped all over "Spread" and "Hey Ya!" -- though the latter has that heartstopping glimpse of despair in its middle, which it promptly recovers from through call-and-response -- which helps us swallow the sentimentality of "She's Alive", not to mention the bizarre mix of emotions in "Roses". Oh, and Speakerboxxx is pretty good as well, especially "Ghetto Musick", which should break your neck at least twice, and the slinky "The Way You Move".