Outkast – Speakerboxxx: The Love Below

Outkast
Artist: Outkast
Title: Speakerboxxx: The Love Below
Label: Arista
Rating: 6.5/10

Our Line: Outkast is back with a very ambitious double cd. The seemingly Andre 3000 side, otherwise known as The Love Below side, lingers into some haze of love and the ‘70s. Big Boi is no where to be found.

The Speakerboxxx side is the Outkast side. If you are looking for something worth listening to then skip right to this disc.

The Good:
Speakerboxx:
“Ghetto Musick” – Outkast is in all there glory.
“The Way You Move” – It sounds so familiar because you have heard it before only this version has that cool flavor only Outkast can deliver.
“War” – The present state of the world affects everyone and Outkast aren’t immune.
“Flip Flop Rock” f/Killer Mike & Jay-Z – Outkast never cease to amaze.

Love Below:
“Behold A Lady” and “Prototype” – When Andre 3000 croons about love he is at his best. When he has sex on the brain he seems to lose his magic powers.
“Hey Ya!” – I can’t quite figure out how he does it, but Andre 3000 pulls this experimental rock track masterfully.

The Average:
Speakerboxx:
“Bowtie” – The pimp in them couldn’t help it. Good, but by Outkast’s standards its not great.
“The Rooster” – The verses are fantastic and deep, but the chorus makes no sense – the two come together as one.
“Tomb of the Boom” f/Konkrete, Big Gipp & Ludacris – The featured guests don’t bring anything to the table.
“Last Call” – f/Slimm Calhoun, Lil’ Jon & The Eastside Boyz & Mello – Certainly won’t be confused with the Tribe’s “Scenario”.

Love Below:
“Pink & Blue” – On the verge of greatness but still not quite as appealing.
“Happy Valentine’s Day” – If this song was edited down and Andre could have taken his ego out of the mix this could have been much better. He’s definitely ready to sing in a lounge at a hotel near you.
“Spread” – This song is a contradiction at every turn, just listen to the chorus: “I don’t want to move to fast, but/ Can’t resist your sexy ass/ just spread, spread for me”.
“Dracula’s Wedding” – Only Outkast could make a dumb concept sound listenable and that deserves some credit.

The Ugly:
Speakerboxx:
Nada.

Love Below:
“Take Off Your Cool” f/Norah Jones – Andre 3000 ruins a golden opportunity to make a classic song with Norah Jones. Why would you have such a talent sing two lines?
“Vibrate” – 3000 needs to stick to singing.
Every skit on this side is horrifying. Andre 3000 needs to stick to music and not acting.

Frankly: Outkast still take chances other artists aren’t willing to take. Outkast is attempting to bring creativity and experimenting to music back. But all is not well with this release. The Love Below side sounds like Andre 3000 ego tripping. His skits are horrible and overextend this record. There is no reason this had to be a double album. One album and it holds up to Stankonia. The double record proves they got caught up in the hype as everyone told them Stankonia was brilliant and they were genius. They bought it and now we see what a giant ego gave them. Outkast is better together than attempting to work as a solo artist, yes Andre 3000 we are talking to you. Hopefully they realize just how much they need each other.

+ Charlie Craine


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