Outkast has always been a left-of-center, experimental hip-hop duo, bringing a certain unique sound only these two Atlanta-natives could bring.  They’ve never accompanied the trends surrounding them, which is what made them so amazing.  Ever since the Speakerboxxx/The Love Below album, both artists have chosen to carry on in solo directions.  You may not have heard from Andre 3000 in a bit, outside of a Beatle’s “All Together Now” cover he did for some Nike promos, but his partner (Big Boi) hired him to help produce this new album, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty.  Though it’s not a collaborative effort under the name Outkast, this album shines as if it were.  Big Boi quenched the thirst of his fans, and he  quenched it thoroughly.

What’s interesting about this album is that it took nearly three years to record.  Big Boi started it when he was still signed to Jive, and this album is the reason why he left the label.  Jive, at the time, wanted him to have an album similar to Lil’ Wayne’s “Lollipop” record.  Big Boi became offended that his label wanted him to bite another artist’s style, so he jumped ship while claiming “creative and artistic differences.”  According to Boi, Jive viewed the album as “a piece of art, and they didn’t know what to do with it.”  After signing with Def Jam in March of 2010, Jive then continued to cause a fuss by forcing Def Jam to continuously push back the album, which had an original release date of late 2008.  It finally had it’s release on July 6th, 2010.

Now that I have the backstory out of the way, this album is fucking awesome.  Even if it was written and originally planned to release two years ago, this would still be brilliant if it were to be released another two years from now.  Every track on this album is enjoyable.  Even on the intro, you get pumped up and excited for everything that follows.  It gives you the nostalgia of Outkast, while bringing you new direction.  Usually, when an album takes this long to record and produce, with so much anticipation and waiting, it disappoints and comes out weak.  This album is the exception.  Unlike other albums that faced a similar backstory (I’m looking at you, Guns ‘N Roses), this album was worth the wait.  Key tracks would be “General Patton,” “Shutterbug,” “Follow Us,” “Shine Blockas,” “Back Up Plan,” and well…all the other songs.  It’s one of the better hip hop albums that have come out in the past four or five years.  And with all the new hip hop artists coming out (Drake, Kid Cudi, etc), this is quite the breathe of fresh air.  As much as I’m digging the new era of hip hop, or what I like to call “hipster-hop,” it’s great to hear something come out to remind all the upcoming artists that the generation prior can still bring something amazing to the table.  And yes, I did say generation.  Not a literal decade-differentiated generation, but with the way the music industry is today, each generation can be separated by nearly three to five years.

The only problem I have with the album is the track “Tangerine,” where the hook is “shake it like a tambourine.”  Not only has the hook “shake it like…” been done before, but it’s be done twice before, once by Andre 3000, his artistic partner, and the other being “shake it like a salt-shaker” by Lil’ Jon.  It’s also odd knowing this because not only did Andre help produce a track on the album, but so did Jon.  Even if both Andre and Jon were cool with it, it still comes off as unoriginal and played out.  But if the hook wasn’t enough, the background beat sounds dangerously close to about half a dozen Lil’ Jon tracks.  However, this doesn’t seem to stop the song from being overly enjoyable as you find yourself singing along and bobbing your head.

The album is the first five-star hip hop album I have done in a quite some time, if not ever.  Though I have my problems with the “Tangerine” track, it doesn’t stop the album from being amazing.  Buy this album, you won’t be disappointed and you’ll thank me. *****