I mentioned this past Friday that I feel like I am turning a corner with my thoughts about a particular genre—hip hop—and I was going to spend today's treatise on Aquemini talking about what exactly that means. But then I got COVID and I feel like dog shit, so you're gonna get another tossed-off entry today. Sorry gang.
Let's look at the notes. Hmm. I'd say that "SpottieOttieDopaliscious" was my favorite song, probably because of those horns. "Rosa Parks" hits pretty good too—and how about that country breakdown randomly in the middle of this thing? See, maybe we should talk about that, how fresh OutKast keeps things throughout this album's almost 75 minutes. You don't get bored!
It definitely takes a lot longer to "get into" it because of that length, but the investment is ultimately worth it. There is a little bit of everything on this thing. The aforementioned horns and harmonica, the William DeVaughn interpolation in "West Savannah," the kangaroo-like bounce of the beat on "Skew It on the Bar-B," the... skits.
Even those, I dunno, didn't annoy me like non-songs usually do on albums. It wasn't even like a thematic mirroring like Jazmine Sullivan, they just... didn't grate me? Maybe it's because I am trying really, really hard to get into rap, and so it's easy to handwave away the flaws. There is an acceptance that comes with this—skits are part of the equation in late-'90s hip hop. I can make room in my life for 'em.
Whatever man, the songs are great. The rapping is great—André 3000 and Big Boi have different pitches but the same speed, and it works wonders. It's informative of the black experience (e.g. "Y'all Scared"), something that I will never know personally, but that means the album can be an emotional education on occasion. Plus, consider how informative it is to me personally, being still "new" to the rap game.
Is it because OutKast are one of the all-time greats? Maybe! Is it fair that my primary experiences thus far with rap, especially through this blog column, are mostly the best albums from the best hip hop artists of all time? I don't know! But that's what's great about this, right? I don't know shit. So much to explore.
My brain is mush. Let André 3000 and Big Boi soundtrack a week of suffering on the basement couch.
I'm not going to die, but you know what is officially dead? This need to talk about "rap" every time I talk about rap. ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!
[This post was supposed to run two days ago. It was bumped by Hot Buttered Soul, which was itself bumped by the Foodery eulogy. Priorities!!!!]
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