Album Reviews
Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik | Outkast
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It’s about time we put one of Outkast’s most critically acclaimed albums up here on Obnoxious Listeners. Though Outkast is no stranger to our ears and site (refer to The Dirty Dirtty South), they have not been put up on a pedestal like our other groups and emcees. Well that’s going to change today! They are simply my favorite hip hop group from the south and they are a force to be reckoned with.
Being their debut album, Outkast showed the world what they were about and how they could flow. Though totally produced in their basement studio, this album sounds amazing and reflects the life work of both these emcees. For those of you who don’t see it outright when you read Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994), you pronounce this album as Southern Playalistic Cadillac Music.
Music Production: This entire album was produced in a basement studio known as The Dungeon. If you see pictures of it (I saw it on a VH1 Soul special), it’s literally a small basement that’s unfurnished and been used to throw parties without ever being cleaned up. Just simple beat machines and hardware. This shines through in the end product as you can tell nothing is oversampled and the song focuses more on the lyrics. Almost lets you just sway and bounce your head because the production is just there to set the mood. And that mood stays consistent because there was only one producer used for the full album. Their names being Organized Noize.
Lyrical Content: It mostly tells the story of pimps and gangsters when you take a first listen to it. Ranging from topics of girls, drive-by’s, player mentality, etc. But being a quality group like they are, they managed to go a little deeper. They looked at the topic from a conscious standpoint. What that means is that it doesn’t glorify the lifestyle or make it cool. It just tells the story of Southern lifestyle as it is from their eyes and from what they see on the streets. Just like my favorite T.V. show, The Wire. The best emcees in the game have been able to do this - tell a story.
If you’re open to listening to this, close your eyes and focus on the lyrics and flow. They are simply the best you can find from a sub genre of hip hop, the down south! Also go check out Andre 3000 on the new John Legend song entitled Green Light. It’s off the wallz!
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