Right, kast was always in some extra other level. Tribe had the "vibe" and defined themselves as such. But they still fit somewhat squarely within golden era East coast rap along with native tongue spectrum. Outkast and goodie first album were southern in feel musically but still not like other southern hip hop groups. They had southern drawl but you could hear lyrical influences from the West true schoolers like hieroglyphics crew (and they even admit that). And atliens is when they represented the South but were on some way other level than anyone anywhere.
Atliens will always be my favorite OutKast album. I remember the day I bought it and popped it in and riding to my cousin house. I remember calling all of my boys after I finished the album and telling them I just listened to one of the craziest albums I have ever heard. This came out when It Was Written and Fugees The Score dropped. 1996 was one of the greatest years of hiphop.
I get the feeling him and rappers like Killer Mike are fine with that. They don't need the spotlight because it doesn't stop or fuel their grind. People will come to their talent regardless. Though it is nice when something you like blows up big and those 2 deserve more,especially Big Boi.
There was actually a preview tape before ATLiens came out. The hype around this album was so huge in Augusta and Macon. My favorite...... 13th Floor/Growing old. Gave me new perspective of it all. Andre 3000 actually got rhyme of the month in the source for his verse in Babylon, Track#8.
ATLiens truly a timeless work of art. Songs with serious subjects like Decatur Psalms a cautionary tale of the street life or Jazzy Belle, Growing old etc really show the love & respect they had for their audience.
Classic album... I remember it was a must have where I'm at in Detroit. We knock Outkast all the time because for one they had that funk sound early on. Goodie Mob Soul Food too
The dude from Florida not sure which part he was from but in Ft.Lauderdale Florida EVERY car was bumping Atliens this was the soundtrack to my childhood
"..But not enough loot to last me, to the end of the week, I live by the beat, like you do check the check, but if you don't move your feet than I don't eat, so we like neck to neck". Fire!
Dead End Hip Hop Thank you guys so much for doing this one, I remember requesting this a few weeks ago in along with numerous other people. Thank you guys so much though !
ATLiens was the first album I ever bought. 10 yo with $20 grabbed their CD & a water gun, #CLASSIC. People always say their regions didn't fuxk with the South, well in Chicago it was the exact opposite.
I've always liked this more than Aquemini. Liked how "weird" it was. I feel Aquemini had more radio friendly/ commercial singles like "Rosa Parks" and "Da Art of Story Telling Part 1" but in this one, it had an Alien feel to the production. Like nothing I'd ever heard before.
ThePacemaker45 I agree in the sense that Atliens has such an otherworldly sound which makes it so distinct. Songs like Babylon epitomise this and the album itself is incredible, I feel there is no other hip hop album that replicates or provides a similar extraterrestrial sonic landscape. However Aquemini feels more polished and is virtually the perfect hip hop album.
need to definitely check these albums out. Being younger than some of these iconic 90s albums I usually put off listening to them. The 00s also has some albums and artists that changed hip hop and still learning a lot about them.
Myke hit it on the head. Big Boi in the GOAT conversation with Andre. He just chose not to change his style. Aquemini he showed he can be a poet as well
From NY; I remember the video for Elevators and the title track but I never heard this full album. First Outkast album i copped was Aquemini shortly after I completed USMC boot Camp in '98. Southern dudes were hyping it up and it didn't disappoint!
Though, Earthtone is an production crew that consist of Andre, Big and Mr. DJ, the story of Q-Tip producing most of Tribe's joints applies to Andre as well. Andre is the creative genius behind those joints where Earthtone is credited. Whether he'll create from the drum machine or telling the musicians what he wanted by doing the sounds with his mouth. He's the mastermind behind those productions.
There's an enthralling sense of an unknown odyssey that permeates through this album. The spacey sonics mesmerised me upon my first listen of this year and for a short time I was adamant it was better than aquemini. Babylon might be my favourite Outkast song ever, it feels otherwordly yet is grounded in religious sentiment.
Great review, Outkast is my favorite group. Just curious, why exactly did Rod point out the "put your hands in the atmosphere" line? Is there a play on words I don't get or something? I just understand it as hands in the air, heh.
Zinedin Osmanović he was saying that Andre rapped so differently from big boi and saying he's so unique "he didn't even say put your hands in the air he said put your hands in the atmosphere." It's just a simple but crazy way to say an already iconic line in hip hop
To me, Outkast has the best discography in hip-hop hands down. Every album doesn’t have a skippable track. Even down to the intros and skits. Aside from Idlewild. Even all of Big Boi’s solo albums are dope from front to back. Feel like Big Boi doesn’t get the level of respect that he truly deserves.
I remember being in middle school when this dropped and being blown away by this album and I grew up on a lot of east coast hip hop especially 3000 verse on 2 dope boys in a cadillac
They missed Mr. DJ is apart of Earthtone3 with outkast. The sound on "wheelz of steel" is incredible. The way that bass guitar moves the body was crazy, the way they lead with the bass guitar in the mix is what seperates them.
Im so glad you guys did this review, felt like a long time coming. Especially since the damn patrons only be voting for kanye and aquemini gets put on the back burner. Thanks guys!
I think how they bend the words also make this album iconic, like the hook on ATLiens. That is something that inspired the rappers after them, like Eminem & Kanye.
He said atliens sounded like west coast music and southernplayalisticcaddillacmuzik sounded like the south, when it’s the total opposite. SPCM was their first which meant they hadn’t found their own sound yet, that’s why it resembled G-funk, it was on atliens OutKast developed their unique southern sound. He got it all wrong
Great review. Go back to the Incomplete off the double cd Love Below on the song Incomplete where he was going on a spiritual journey to find himself. So during the mid 1990's Atlanta was hub Dr Malachi Z. York ' s cult called the Nuwaupians. This the reason for rocking the Turban. Among studying other religions/spiritual paths. That is why his lyrics were so abstract, spiritual and poetical.
Man after that intro I forgot about Southern Playalistic. I'm a little different. I've always been open minded with music and this album was and still is unreal.
I was just listening to this album earlier and thought it would be awesome if you did a review on it then I log onto youtube and sure enough you did one. In my opinion it is a classic hip-hop album without a doubt.
Aidyn Colan ATLiens was a lot more innovative honestly. Ppl don't give it enough credit. No one in the game had rapped over mellow and sparse melancholic beats before this album. It's so ahead of its time, it literally sounds like trap with real instrumentation, real rapping, and without synthetic drums and hi-hat seizures. IMO it's aged a bit better than Aquemini too, because it's not as tied down to a signature 90s sound. Both are classics in their own rights tho, obviously, and comes down to preference
It's also the album where Outkast really refined their sound. And Elevators is one of the most underrated hiphop songs of all time. It's just as good as Aquemini but doesn't get nearly as much attention (short of the Atlanta FX plug last year that was super dope)
As an old head. we bumped this but this is when atlanta hip hop got it's schism. the intelligence and "earthy" flavor started getting big. Apache cafe type deal. and andre covered that and big boi stayed to his street style. and it was great but a lot of us ended up having to go back. like i bought this cd like 3 times. it is highly underrated in their catalogue still to this day.
Atlanta in 96 was crazy! We had the Olympics, arguably the biggest sporting event in the World. The whole world was looking at us! And then this album came out. The South’s got something to say
my fav outkast album, sometimes its hard to choose since dependin on the mood but since its all bout that weird unusual shit then i've got to automatically relate
14:25 - Some 25 years on, and +95% of Outkast fans don’t know Big & Dre use NO drums in the beat for E.T.. Even more extraordinary is how they use their deeply-lyrical, individual cadences, to fill in the space where you expect the drums to be. That fun fact hit me like a hail storms & blizzards in the middle of the spring. Out of this world. ✌️♥️ 🌌🐺
The Dungeon Family as a whole changed the musical landscape and the perception of the South. Obviously Geto Boyz came out first but over in ATL. they took it to another level. Goodie Mob's Soul Food, Still Standing, Outkast's entire damn catalogue took rap to another plateau. Ceelo when he went solo kept it going. His debut album may have influenced Andre's Love Below, Childish Gambino as well.
Solid review. This one of my top 10 albums of all time. Just want to correct what Mike said about all coasts rejecting southern rap. I'm from the Bay Area and there has always been a connection between The Bay and the south, namely Houston, NO and ATL. Look up E40's Southwest Riders double disk compilation or Master P's West Coast Bad Boys compilations. Tons of Bay Area and South rappers collaborating. There's also the whole Rap'aLot camp which was made up of Bay cats and South cats.
You're kinda right. I think at this time Big Boi lost someone who was like a mother to him while doing this record. It is a calmer yet introspective type of record.
The South had something to say
A. Rashad Yes sir!
Still does, just look at my profile picture.
I used to see you everywhere in the comments lol where you been g
To me personally I think Outkast has the best discography in all of Hip Hop.
Nicholas Katsikas DOOM is close doe
Kendrick
Fuck,you're not wrong. Now that I think about it,every release they've had is very solid.
Nicholas Katsikas One of the best discogs in music in general, for me
RTJ
Love Beezy's knowledge about production!
Elijah Duarte He's a producer himself so it only makes sense
The Drumaddict One yeah I know but it's just awesome when everyone looks to him for everything about it
ATLiens="Southern Tribe by Quest Vibe", right on point Beezy
Jo outkast is waaaaaaay better imo.
Right, kast was always in some extra other level. Tribe had the "vibe" and defined themselves as such. But they still fit somewhat squarely within golden era East coast rap along with native tongue spectrum. Outkast and goodie first album were southern in feel musically but still not like other southern hip hop groups. They had southern drawl but you could hear lyrical influences from the West true schoolers like hieroglyphics crew (and they even admit that). And atliens is when they represented the South but were on some way other level than anyone anywhere.
Nah. ATLiens = ATLiens
Tribe is Tribe. OutKast is Outkast.
And Tribe was one of Kast's favorite groups. Those two groups are at a level that I would buy their albums without hearing any singles.
Elevators is my favorite OutKast track (probably). It's so fucking lowfi and nice. Andre 3000 sounds so god damn slick on it too, it's nuts.
I'm enjoying the fuck out of this. I get classic/iconic reviews and y'all get your bread.
I agree with Myke on Big Boi and Andre 3000. I feel they were still on par with each other, it's just Andre's subject matter got way more mature
Andres verses became even more introspective on ATLiens. If you study all Kast albums you can say the Their are sound changes on every album.
ATLiens is the southern rap equivalent to Illmatic.
What about The Diary?
Atliens will always be my favorite OutKast album. I remember the day I bought it and popped it in and riding to my cousin house. I remember calling all of my boys after I finished the album and telling them I just listened to one of the craziest albums I have ever heard. This came out when It Was Written and Fugees The Score dropped. 1996 was one of the greatest years of hiphop.
Big Boi has to be the most underrated rapper of all time. His new album is one of the best of the year.
B Kearney yea. being alongside 3 Stacks caused that
I get the feeling him and rappers like Killer Mike are fine with that. They don't need the spotlight because it doesn't stop or fuel their grind. People will come to their talent regardless. Though it is nice when something you like blows up big and those 2 deserve more,especially Big Boi.
B Kearney Big Boi is Pippen, 3k is jordan
Matt Traverso wrong, Big Boi proved he wasn't with Sir Lucious Left Foot. It's more like Shaq and Kobe, both are better together than without
Basiccc Andre 3000 is still amazing with out Big Boi, It was like Big Boi was holding him back at some points
There was actually a preview tape before ATLiens came out. The hype around this album was so huge in Augusta and Macon. My favorite...... 13th Floor/Growing old. Gave me new perspective of it all.
Andre 3000 actually got rhyme of the month in the source for his verse in Babylon, Track#8.
Mo Betta not lying I'm from macon
Earthtone III was a production group consisting of Big Boi, Stacks, and Mr. DJ
"Mainstream" is one of the best songs of all time imo. Good review guys, as always.
ATLiens truly a timeless work of art. Songs with serious subjects like Decatur Psalms a cautionary tale of the street life or Jazzy Belle, Growing old etc really show the love & respect they had for their audience.
If you don't move your feet then I don't eat so we like neck to neck
That fish and grits line still makes me happy
Classic album... I remember it was a must have where I'm at in Detroit. We knock Outkast all the time because for one they had that funk sound early on. Goodie Mob Soul Food too
Kens beard looks like he's getting ready to be santa in the mall for christmas this year
ATLiens is my favorite album of all time...
The dude from Florida not sure which part he was from but in Ft.Lauderdale Florida EVERY car was bumping Atliens this was the soundtrack to my childhood
"..But not enough loot to last me, to the end of the week, I live by the beat, like you do check the check, but if you don't move your feet than I don't eat, so we like neck to neck". Fire!
Dead End Hip Hop Thank you guys so much for doing this one, I remember requesting this a few weeks ago in along with numerous other people. Thank you guys so much though !
ATLiens was the first album I ever bought. 10 yo with $20 grabbed their CD & a water gun, #CLASSIC.
People always say their regions didn't fuxk with the South, well in Chicago it was the exact opposite.
I've always liked this more than Aquemini. Liked how "weird" it was. I feel Aquemini had more radio friendly/ commercial singles like "Rosa Parks" and "Da Art of Story Telling Part 1" but in this one, it had an Alien feel to the production. Like nothing I'd ever heard before.
ThePacemaker45 I thought/still think Aquemini is much weirder than ATLiens, and has always been number 1 for me with ATLiens at 2
ThePacemaker45 I agree in the sense that Atliens has such an otherworldly sound which makes it so distinct. Songs like Babylon epitomise this and the album itself is incredible, I feel there is no other hip hop album that replicates or provides a similar extraterrestrial sonic landscape. However Aquemini feels more polished and is virtually the perfect hip hop album.
The title track in Aquemini alone makes it better than Atliens.
AssBoyz Ent. I agree .... Aquemini is something that has yet to be duplicated ......it's Outkast's Mona Lisa
AssBoyz Ent. ATLIENS, Millennium, Andre's verse on Wailin, Jazzy Belle, the intro, Babylon, 2 Dope Boyz (In A Cadillac), Elevators (Me & You)
Southern A Tribe Called Quest. Accurate lol
WhoaNellyJake Outkast>>>>
WhoaNellyJake Haha as much as I like Tribe Dre and Big rapped circles around the late Phife Dog (rip big homie) and QTip
Dope that yall mentioned Earthtone. Ultimately they became Earthtone III (which included Mr. DJ). A severely underrated production troupe
OUTKAST IS FUCKING AWESOME. GLAD TO SEE PEOPLE SHOWING LOVE TO ONE OF MY FAVORITE RAPPERS
need to definitely check these albums out. Being younger than some of these iconic 90s albums I usually put off listening to them. The 00s also has some albums and artists that changed hip hop and still learning a lot about them.
ATLiens classic album, I can listen to it from start to finish!
Myke hit it on the head. Big Boi in the GOAT conversation with Andre. He just chose not to change his style. Aquemini he showed he can be a poet as well
From NY; I remember the video for Elevators and the title track but I never heard this full album. First Outkast album i copped was Aquemini shortly after I completed USMC boot Camp in '98. Southern dudes were hyping it up and it didn't disappoint!
Now throw your hands in the Air!
Beezy head hella shiny lol
Everytime beezy speeks for so long and with this passion, then you know that the album is fucking FIRE!
We know what James Harden will look like in 20 years.
I'm 17 and i just heard this album 2 years ago and i liked it cause it sounded like something from today's time. shows how creative this thing is
G M what
I’m 18 and I listened to like a month or two ago for the first time
OUTKAST AND Dungeon Family enough said
I'm glad Ken broke down elevators later in this video because it really ties into the last episode of the show Atlanta
Can we get a UGK - Ridin' Dirty Album review??
Love this album. One of my all time favorite hip hop albums.
Earthtone III was Big Boi, Dre and Mr. DJ as producers.
blows my mind that this album came out in 96
Best OutKast album ever
Though, Earthtone is an production crew that consist of Andre, Big and Mr. DJ, the story of Q-Tip producing most of Tribe's joints applies to Andre as well. Andre is the creative genius behind those joints where Earthtone is credited. Whether he'll create from the drum machine or telling the musicians what he wanted by doing the sounds with his mouth. He's the mastermind behind those productions.
IJ Rogers give big boi his credit tho
Ancient _217 I'm just talking about on the production tip. He's still an great MC but the truth is André produced those joints.
That is incorrect, Dre did not lead on production with earth tone ……mr DJ would get the nod there, if anyone.
Shoutout to the homies at dehh for getting more exposure 👌🏾
Been waiting for this!
All of Outkast is classic
Elevators video was so deep and ahead of it's time .....Outkast dropped mad jewels :)
There's an enthralling sense of an unknown odyssey that permeates through this album. The spacey sonics mesmerised me upon my first listen of this year and for a short time I was adamant it was better than aquemini. Babylon might be my favourite Outkast song ever, it feels otherwordly yet is grounded in religious sentiment.
96 gone be dat year
Great review, Outkast is my favorite group. Just curious, why exactly did Rod point out the "put your hands in the atmosphere" line? Is there a play on words I don't get or something? I just understand it as hands in the air, heh.
Zinedin Osmanović its just a creative way to say the phrase, it comes out sounding nice and original naturally
also because of the outer space/alien theme
Zinedin Osmanović he was saying that Andre rapped so differently from big boi and saying he's so unique "he didn't even say put your hands in the air he said put your hands in the atmosphere." It's just a simple but crazy way to say an already iconic line in hip hop
Ah, okay. Personally I don't find switching atmosphere for air that special but still, great album haha:)
Zinedin Osmanović back in those times it was a change
"AT-ALIENS" ? lmao
its A.T.L. -iens
ProjectMacbeth lol. I kept saying that too
Grammar Nazi 101 right here
kai brainard it's not grammar tho, its pronunciation
Mr. Super Fly who cares though 😂😂😂
Yeah that shit kept bothering me too.
To me, Outkast has the best discography in hip-hop hands down. Every album doesn’t have a skippable track. Even down to the intros and skits. Aside from Idlewild. Even all of Big Boi’s solo albums are dope from front to back. Feel like Big Boi doesn’t get the level of respect that he truly deserves.
Mamacita.
Awesome review guys! Can't wait for the 36 Chambers review 🙄
I remember being in middle school when this dropped and being blown away by this album and I grew up on a lot of east coast hip hop especially 3000 verse on 2 dope boys in a cadillac
They missed Mr. DJ is apart of Earthtone3 with outkast. The sound on "wheelz of steel" is incredible. The way that bass guitar moves the body was crazy, the way they lead with the bass guitar in the mix is what seperates them.
Im so glad you guys did this review, felt like a long time coming. Especially since the damn patrons only be voting for kanye and aquemini gets put on the back burner. Thanks guys!
I think how they bend the words also make this album iconic, like the hook on ATLiens. That is something that inspired the rappers after them, like Eminem & Kanye.
Atliens is amazing
Best Outkast and It's not even close
Sean STROMAN I like Aquemini more but This album is a classic
Realnigga Turner hard to argue that man Both classics
This was the probably the best production y’all Have ever done
He said atliens sounded like west coast music and southernplayalisticcaddillacmuzik sounded like the south, when it’s the total opposite. SPCM was their first which meant they hadn’t found their own sound yet, that’s why it resembled G-funk, it was on atliens OutKast developed their unique southern sound. He got it all wrong
Not gonna lie, every time Feefo said ATALiens an audible F bomb escaped my lips. Couldn't help it. Still like you Feefo.
Great review. Go back to the Incomplete off the double cd Love Below on the song Incomplete where he was going on a spiritual journey to find himself. So during the mid 1990's Atlanta was hub Dr Malachi Z. York ' s cult called the Nuwaupians. This the reason for rocking the Turban. Among studying other religions/spiritual paths. That is why his lyrics were so abstract, spiritual and poetical.
Their best album
Shaolin Ninja no
Its hard to tell what is their best album when dudes haven't made two albums that sound same
Man after that intro I forgot about Southern Playalistic. I'm a little different. I've always been open minded with music and this album was and still is unreal.
I remember when elevators came out. Im saying to myself that's one of the most amazing beats I've ever heard. The good old days I miss it
Outkast was huge in FL in '96, idk what he's talking about.
I was just listening to this album earlier and thought it would be awesome if you did a review on it then I log onto youtube and sure enough you did one. In my opinion it is a classic hip-hop album without a doubt.
This album changed my life.
Shouldve done aquemini but great Review
Aidyn Colan I think aquemini is better although it's refreshing for atliens to have some retrospective attention
Aidyn Colan ATLiens was a lot more innovative honestly. Ppl don't give it enough credit. No one in the game had rapped over mellow and sparse melancholic beats before this album. It's so ahead of its time, it literally sounds like trap with real instrumentation, real rapping, and without synthetic drums and hi-hat seizures. IMO it's aged a bit better than Aquemini too, because it's not as tied down to a signature 90s sound. Both are classics in their own rights tho, obviously, and comes down to preference
It's also the album where Outkast really refined their sound. And Elevators is one of the most underrated hiphop songs of all time. It's just as good as Aquemini but doesn't get nearly as much attention (short of the Atlanta FX plug last year that was super dope)
Wished they talked more about the tracks individually
Pretty much OutKast was doing what Groups like Mobb deep, Gang Starr, Organized Konfusion, Tribe called quest was doing on the eastcoast in the South.
As an old head. we bumped this but this is when atlanta hip hop got it's schism. the intelligence and "earthy" flavor started getting big. Apache cafe type deal. and andre covered that and big boi stayed to his street style. and it was great but a lot of us ended up having to go back. like i bought this cd like 3 times. it is highly underrated in their catalogue still to this day.
Millennium is one of my top five favorite songs.
Its my hands down favorite Outkast track!
I still say "colder than a polar bears toenail"
Damn, I wish I could have sat at y'all table and chimed in.
They should review comin out hard by 8ball and mjg.
George Kush fr thoooo
George Kush yessss
They probably haven't heard that
Atlanta in 96 was crazy! We had the Olympics, arguably the biggest sporting event in the World. The whole world was looking at us! And then this album came out. The South’s got something to say
Classic
my fav outkast album, sometimes its hard to choose since dependin on the mood
but since its all bout that weird unusual shit then i've got to automatically relate
R.i.p. to my uncle ernest. He brought that tape for me we played that album from VA to DC no skips and he didn't even like rap.
14:25 - Some 25 years on, and +95% of Outkast fans don’t know Big & Dre use NO drums in the beat for E.T.. Even more extraordinary is how they use their deeply-lyrical, individual cadences, to fill in the space where you expect the drums to be. That fun fact hit me like a hail storms & blizzards in the middle of the spring. Out of this world.
✌️♥️
🌌🐺
The Dungeon Family as a whole changed the musical landscape and the perception of the South. Obviously Geto Boyz came out first but over in ATL. they took it to another level. Goodie Mob's Soul Food, Still Standing, Outkast's entire damn catalogue took rap to another plateau. Ceelo when he went solo kept it going. His debut album may have influenced Andre's Love Below, Childish Gambino as well.
Solid review. This one of my top 10 albums of all time.
Just want to correct what Mike said about all coasts rejecting southern rap. I'm from the Bay Area and there has always been a connection between The Bay and the south, namely Houston, NO and ATL. Look up E40's Southwest Riders double disk compilation or Master P's West Coast Bad Boys compilations. Tons of Bay Area and South rappers collaborating. There's also the whole Rap'aLot camp which was made up of Bay cats and South cats.
This is definitely Outkast's best album
Please release MMLP review
Plz plz plz
Nikhil Bhagat they already did one lol
Matt Sak RELEASE
Nikhil Bhagat how much does a dollar really cost?
Nikhil Bhagat ITS RELEASED ON PATREON
Its only a dollar bro.
This is my favorite Dead End Hip Hop review.
Great discussion!
Do review on dead prez albums.
Zero dislikes. Keep it
One of the most important albums of my lifetime
Is it me or does anyone else think ATLiens is a sad sounding album? Idk why it's just always felt kinda sombre and bleak to me
Hubbard Nah
yeah quite a lot of the songs have that vibe (wheelz of steel, jazzy belle, elevators, mainstream, 13th floor/growing old)
Hubbard very melancholic album and instrumentation. It was pretty much the first hiphop album to be like this
You're kinda right. I think at this time Big Boi lost someone who was like a mother to him while doing this record. It is a calmer yet introspective type of record.
I don't think it's sad but without a doubt it's their darkest album in terms of the grimy production and songwriting.
This album is so fucking dope, it's like the best parts of Funcrusher Plus distilled into complete gold
I know Funcrusher came after but still
LEGENDARY
Take this shit down and let them make their money fam. They deserve it
Earthtone III (3000, big boi and mr.dj )
fuck with this.... subscribed
I wish I was there for this conversation 👍