OutKast - Stankonia (25th Anniversary) (2000/2025)

Where to begin with OutKast's boundlessly funky, futuristic magnum opus? Sure, plenty of heads prefer its downhome predecessor Aquemini, but that's the good kid, m.A.A.d city to Stankonia's To Pimp a Butterfly. That is, one might let its freak flag completely loose, but the greatness of either isn't mutually exclusive. OutKast were already showing a willingness to get weird on ATLiens' remarkably sparse, nearly trip-hop hit "Elevators (Me & You)," and by 1998's even bigger "Rosa Parks," they were experimenting with harmonica and acoustic guitar. And those regal horns on "SpottieOttieDopalicious?" Beyoncé sampled them not once (the "Flawless" remix) but twice (Lemonade's climactic "All Night"). Those advances were nearly conventional compared to the whole libraries of genre and sound that Stankonia exploded into utopian widescreen; "B.O.B." alone set André 3000 and Big Boi's twistiest double-speed flows against drum 'n' bass, swampy guitar soloing and massed choirs chanting slogans like "power music, electric revival."

But André's love affair with Prince flows through this album's veins from the number-one Hot 100 smash "Ms. Jackson" to the less disciplined, vocoder-fueled zone-out title track. P-Funk is all over it, too, in the nasty guitars of "Gasoline Dreams" and the goofy, bubbling "I'll Call B4 I Cum." From those Godparents of Funk the Atlanta rap duo proceeds to touch on all eras and sounds. Guests include the familiar (lifelong pals Goodie Mob, a pre-famous Killer Mike) and surprising ("Xplosion" features Cypress Hill's B-Real, why not?). To say the entire thing is a pleasure is an understatement, whether it's chill ("Red Velvet," "So Fresh, So Clean") or flamboyantly off-the-wall ("We Luv Deez Hoez," "?"). The tonal palette leaves nothing out: almost every single one of the skits is funny, a shocking innovation for hip-hop in itself, but on the same album is "Toilet Tisha," a sonically majestic and lyrically crestfallen tale of a pregnant 14-year-old who takes her own life—OutKast's own, much bleaker "A Day in the Life."

Stankonia has never sounded fresher or cleaner a quarter-century later, and on this anniversary edition, the bonus tracks add plenty of neat what-ifs (a Zack de la Rocha rock version of "B.O.B."; ska horns appended to the "Stankonia Remix" of "So Fresh, So Clean"). The big prize is the frenetically paced, generously flecked with horns outtake "Speedballin'," which proves OutKast had another "B.O.B." in them. To even think that Stankonia was pared down from an even bigger vision boggles the mind. And delights the ear. © Daniel Aaron

Tracklist
1. Intro (1:10)
2. Gasoline Dreams (with Khujo Goodie) (3:35)
3. I'm Cool (Interlude) (0:42)
4. So Fresh, So Clean (4:00)
5. Ms. Jackson (4:31)
6. Snappin' & Trappin' (feat. Killer Mike & J-Sweet) (4:20)
7. D.F. (Interlude) (0:27)
8. Spaghetti Junction (3:57)
9. Kim & Cookie (Interlude) (1:13)
10. I'll Call B4 I Cum (feat. Gangsta Boo & Eco) (4:18)
11. B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad) (5:04)
12. Xplosion (feat. B-Real) (4:09)
13. Good Hair (Interlude) (0:15)
14. We Luv Deez Hoez (feat. Backbone & Big Gipp) (4:10)
15. Humble Mumble (feat. Erykah Badu) (4:51)
16. Drinkin' Again (Interlude) (0:25)
17. ? (1:29)
18. Red Velvet (3:53)
19. Cruisin' In The ATL (Interlude) (0:19)
20. Gangsta Shit (feat. Slimm Calhoun, C-Bone & T-Mo) (4:41)
21. Toilet Tisha (4:25)
22. Slum Beautiful (feat. Cee-Lo) (4:08)
23. Pre-Nump (Interlude) (0:27)
24. Stankonia (Stanklove) (feat. Big Rube & Sleepy Brown) (6:51)
25. Speedballin' (5:04)
26. Sole Sunday (feat. Goodie Mob) (Dirty Mix) (4:40)
27. So Fresh, So Clean (feat. Snoop Dogg & Sleepy Brown) (Stankonia Remix) (4:37)
28. B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad) (Zack de la Rocha Remix) (4:37)
29. B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad) (Cutmaster Swiff Remix) (6:08)
30. B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad) (Beat Bullies Remix) (4:21)
31. So Fresh, So Clean (feat. Snoop Dogg & Sleepy Brown) (Stankonia Instrumental Remix) (4:39)
32. B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad) (Instrumental) (5:07)