OutKast - Stankonia

I know I complained about The College Dropout lasting over an hour and being peppered with pointless skits, thought the same issues didn't bother me as much with Stankonia for some reason. Not to say the album is better, although I think I liked it a little more. OutKast is a bit different, more experimental and weird than most other successful hip hop acts. There are a lot of guests on the record, though they rarely outperform the main members of the group, Big Boi and Andre 3000. They sound pretty similar, although the content of their lyrics tends to differ, and Big Boi raps faster while Andre is more playful and enunciates more. He also tends to be the one singing the choruses, which are routinely damn catchy for what is otherwise not a terribly mainstream sound.

The singles are solid, with "Ms. Jackson" being endlessly hummable and "B.O.B." having an eerily prescient chorus sung by a choir and just about everything but the kitchen sink thrown in somewhere. Most of the interludes are brief and to the point, and serve as breathers between chunks of music instead of being distracting. Some of the additional performers are recognizable, with Cee-Lo having an unusual verse in his own style on "Slum Beautiful" and B-Real from Cypress Hill on "Xplosion", but in general the guests feel natural instead of being shoehorned in to grab attention and a few extra sales, especially since I haven't heard most of them. The album in general is an unusual mix of memorable production, catchy hooks, and technical proficiency, creating a sound that has few holes in it and is pretty fun to listen to throughout. The overlong self-titled closer drags a bit but that might be my only significant issue. Pretty solid.