A few days ago my good friend and fellow colleague here at Millenium SnE sent me a text that made my heart skip a beat(no homo). Luka told me that I should be proud of him, for he was listening through some OutKast classics. [Quick sidenote: Luka claims to like all rap music, but realistically he has Eminem on such a high pedestal that no other rappers even compare. He also likes to disrespect OutKast because, in my opinion, they’re the best thing that ever happened to rap music.] I was totally shocked to hear this and didn’t really know how to respond. “That’s sick bro, what songs are you listening to?” I asked. He told me that he found some random guys “Top OutKast Song List” on google and was listening through them in order. 2 thoughts dawned upon me: Firstly, I was offended that he hadn’t asked me for MY list of OutKast’s best songs, and secondly, I realized that it would be really difficult yet extremely fun to actually take the time to put together such a list. Whether you’re into lyricism like me, or you like a rapper’s flow, OutKast has it all. It isn’t hard to see that with song titles like “Skew it on the Bar-B” and “Spaghetti Junction,” their creativity is simply unparalleled by any rap/hip-hop artist, EVER. So without wasting any more time talking about how great they are, let’s get to it! Luka, this is my Top 10 OutKast songs and the reason people should pay more respect to Andre 3000 and Big Boi list.
10. Jazzy Belle – An eerie beat that pretty much every rapper would fail at spitting on, Big Boi and Andre tear apart with clever word play and versatile flows. Jazzy Belle is a track about the rap game, depicted as a woman. It’s easy to get lost in the way they wrap the words around the spooky beat, but the meaning behind the song is still deep and very potent.
Best Line: “Talk bad about her n**** guaranteed to snap like bra / strap, sticking together like grandma and grandpa-pa”
9. Chonkyfire – One of the most sampled OutKast tracks, Chonyfire is just pure....well, fire. You start off listening to Andre and Big Boi going hard on the track, but half way through, the beat slows down so Big Boi can rip into all of the whack MCs in the game. Chonkyfire is so unusual and creative that you almost don’t understand what is going on, until Big Boi lets you know that the reason it’s so weird is to let the industry know that OutKast is the only group that can come up with songs like that.
Best Line: “Overcast, but on behalf of OutKast, I cordially / invite you to an emotion filled theatre / bring your umbrella cause young fella it gets no weirder”
8. Babylon – All I have to say about this is they sampled what sounds like a Celtic 12th Century Hymn...and still ate the track up.... Yeah.
Best Line: “While we ranting and raving bout gats / n**** they made dem gats / they got some shit that’ll blow out our back”
7. Da Art of Storytellin’ (Part 1) – It is pretty widely accepted that Slick Rick is one of the greatest story tellers and lyricists of all time. To pay tribute to his most famous album (Da Art of Storytellin’), OutKast immortalized the name by coming up with their own lyrically brilliant track. Telling a story of the Ghetto world around them, OutKast show that they too are on another level lyrically.
Best Line: “I asked her what she wanna be, she said ‘Alive’ / it made me think for a minute, I looked in her eyes / I could have died”
6. Two Dope Boyz (In A Cadillac) – One of my favourite OutKast beats, bar none. One of the best bragging tracks, Andre and Big Boi explain why they really are the truth. On only their second album, they showed with their insane flow that they really are Two of the Dopest Boyz in the game.
Best Line: “Yeah tight like nuts and bolts, sluts and hoes they get evicted / I’m dealing with queens in my castle, ain’t worth it to risk it”
5. Rosa Parks – OutKast went all out with their southern roots and dedicated a track to one of the leaders in the black civil rights movement. The song compares themselves in the rap game to Rosa Parks and the shit she put up with. Another unbelievably talented lyrical performance from both group members, Rosa Parks is a smooth ass track that is right for any occasion.
Best Line: “Said baby boy you only funky as your last cut / you focus on the past, your ass will be a has what”
4. Mighty “O” – With a Georgia Marching Band beat, Andre digs into a track with some of the most creative lyrics in any song I’ve ever heard. The song seems to be all about wordplay and crafty rhyming, until Big Boi steps in and takes over the track with a more serious tone. Alot of people don’t like to look for deeper meanings in songs, but Mighty “O” is almost poetic with its hidden messages.
Best Lines: “The worst thang, since crack cocaine distributed to the po’ / by the government, oh I meant, don’t nobody know”
3. Aquemini – I know I’ve been talking alot about storytelling, but you ain’t heard shit yet. Aquemini changes pace at least 3 times and with every change of tone, there is a new meaning to the song. This track is about how Andre and Big Boi mesh perfectly as a group and makes you realize that when they get in the zone, they become a perfect rapping unit with a completely different and versatile set of skills.
Best Line: “Twice upon a time there was a boy who died / lived happily ever after, but that’s another chapter”
2. ATLiens – I’m not sure if they planned it to be this way, but it seems that every song that is named after their album is absolutely insane. The beat is meant to be extra-terrestrial because the point of the song is to show that OutKast is literally out of this world. Andre and Big Boi toy around with the song, with lines like “I’m cooler than a polar bears toenails.” The lyricism on this track actually makes me sad because I know that no one will ever be able to come this hard on a track again...
Best Line: “My oral demonstration / be like clitoral stimulation to the female gender / just let me know when it’s wet enough to enter”
1. B.O.B. – One article on the internet made a list of their top songs (not just rap) of the 2000’s and B.O.B. rightfully topped that list. Not only is their flow unparalleled on this track (they’d give Busta Rhymes a run for his money....except OutKast actually has lyrics to go with the flow), but the song is almost prophetic. They preach about the changes the millennium will bring and even the track title, Bombs Over Baghdad, foretold the coming events of the 2K era.
Best Line: “Get back home, thangs are wrong / not really though, they was bad all along”
Wow. That was fun. I really do believe that OutKast is on a level of their own because of their diverse range of skills and unmatched versatility. Hopefully some people will actually read this and give 3k and Daddy Fat Sax a chance, because I can guarantee it will change your perspective on the rap game.
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