Album Review: Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Hot take: this is one of the best albums of all time. I kid. This album already has every possible accolade, but what’s one more? I’m going to be candid with you. I really just wanted to rant and rave. I’m new to *blogging* and really did have the audacity to think that maybe I could just write whatever, however. But, lucky for you, I have friends who are smarter than me and keep me grounded. They made me realize I have to apply shape to the amorphous blob that is my thoughts on this record. So, after some reading, thinking and chatting, I realized I know exactly why Speakerboxxx/The Love Below still lives rent-free in my head in 2024: the suits thought it would fail. Or worse, they thought it would never even be relevant to begin with.
The other day Charli XCX sat down with Zane Lowe to talk all-things Brat. Both me and Evan Ross Katz thought it stood out when she said “this record, there’s going to be no traditional radio songs. There’s not gonna be that traditional ‘this is the single’ kind of a vibe, because we don’t live in that world now. And you, the label, should recognize that, and you should recognize that this fanbase that I have built are so hungry for me and my peers and our kind-of slightly left world pop/dance music…they’re hungry for us to succeed. And that doesn’t mean that we have to do any pandering to any other side of the industry.” Charli, baby, thank you! Speakerboxxx/The Love Below crashed through a wall of often-monotonous 2000s pop because Big Boi and André 3000 are smarter and more creative than the buttoned up bozos who run record labels. They understood that music-listeners are looking to be emotionally-fulfilled and heard, want to be pulled out of boredom, are struggling with various adversities and are seeking reprieves from pain. Like 2024’s Brat, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was a momentous moment in time, both artistically and commercially, because it looked its audience directly in the eye and introduced them to something challenging, weird, and idiosyncratic. Art that has jagged-enough edges to carve itself a place in culture is never art the suits in LA like. Outkast reminded the world that we crave stories and melodies that transcend genre, vocal expectations, and historical precedents set by white men.
This 2003 project is the fifth studio album from Big Boi and André 3000, the incomparable duo who make up Outkast. This double-record is actually made up of initially individual projects from Mr. Boi and Mr. 3000 respectively. The artists had pursued solo endeavors, but due to label semantics, the projects were released together as a cohesive Outkast album. Nabbing the awards for Album of the Year and Best Rap Album at the 2004 Grammy’s, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is an amalgam of hip hop, rap, funk, pop, and jazz that shifted the paradigm of what is sonically possible in a world that so often forces artists into a…I literally cannot help it…box(xx); especially in the world of rap and hip hop, where artists are often stringently pigeonholed and forced into categorical binaries that don’t even begin to encompass the totality and ethos of their music.
I yearn for the days when you could turn on the radio and hear “Hey Ya!,” “The Way You Move,” or “Roses.” I love how this record swirled together the most unexpected features and collabs (Killer Mike, Jay-Z, Rosario Dawson, Norah Jones, holy what?!? Ms. XCX’s remixes weren’t uninspired, you see? Big Boi and André 3000 have an artistic, musical, and lyrical dexterity and vision that artists have adopted and try to invoke to this day). Beyond producing bops, this musical enterprise elicits laughter and tears, and I’m sure inspired a Tik Tok dance somewhere out there in the ether. This album evokes feeling. And in my experience, and despite many years of therapy, feelings never falter or fade.
The humor scattered throughout this record provides a unique levity and is sewn into tracks such as “Unhappy,” “Bowtie” and “Happy Valentine’s Day.” “Unhappy” claims “you might as well have fun ‘cause your happiness is done when your goose is cooked.” WHEN YOUR GOOSE IS COOKED?! I know that Grandmas use this phrase in a real way, but this is unreal to me. This is the original YOLO. I’m laughing. “Bowtie” is a track that paints a picture of crocodile shoes, fox fur coats, and to top it off, a bowtie. The sheer image of sleek animal hides accompanied by the inherently nerdy bowtie? Clever and funny. “Happy Valentine’s Day” jumps in with the audacious statement of “my name is Cupid Valentino.” It then proceeds to discuss the idea that if you don’t believe in Cupid, but believe in leprechauns, groundhogs, the Easter Bunny, and Santa Claus, you are like sooo lame and don’t even believe in love. At least that’s my interpretation. Everyday really is the 14th because this shit is a gift.
Moving on. I maintain that “Prototype,” a track from The Love Below, is the greatest love song of all time. No further comment.
Lastly, but certainly not least, let’s touch on some of the many musical aspects of this project! Jazzy drums! Pianos and claps! Retro funk inflections! Moog synthesizers that effortlessly add a textured layer to the sound! Shout out to the incredible “Spread,” which starts with a traditional-sounding instrument, the organ, but shakes off the initial exterior with an energetic flow from Mr. 3000. “The Rooster” opens with crescendoing horns, followed by emulations of a rooster crow. The samples and sounds in this album are truly innovative. I could never conceptualize music in this way. Not many people can. This album authentically, and without fear, explored the entire world of sound allowed by technology and production in the early 2000s.
In conclusion: 15/10. Four stars. 100%. Assignment nailed. If there are no Outkast fans then I am dead. Did I prove my point? Have I sufficiently pissed off every Wharton grad?
Phew, I’m feeling good, feeling great, also feeling great, feeling good. How are you?