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Reviews

The Legends of Laurel Canyon

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die

It’s So Hard To Tell Who’s Going To Love You The Best

Karen Dalton

Transfiguration of Vincent

M. Ward

Muswell Hillbillies

Kinks

Christmas in the Heart

Bob Dylan

Glitter and Doom Live

Tom Waits

Let It Roll: The Best of George Harrison

George Harrison

Secret, Profane & Sugarcane

Elvis Costello

Playing for Change

Songs Around the World

Ms. Jackson

Outkast

Listen to Outkast:

Ms. Jackson Get ur freak on. By ignoring the mind-numbingly redundant aspects of the gangsta code and concentrating on originality, Outkast represents a style that, like the title of their other hit single, is ‘so fresh and so clean’. Based in Atlanta, bandmembers Andre and Big Boi played no role in rap’s New York vs. Los Angeles violence, except perhaps to prove how ridiculous and pointless it was. At first, their geography did indeed make them appear to be outcasts in a coastal war zone, but rhyming about something other than guns or bling-bling braggadocio was enough to make them unique. By modernizing the time line of psychedelic funk that passed from Hendrix to Sly Stone to George Clinton, and then to De La Soul, Outkast proved that the self-imposed boundaries of rap were unnecessarily restrictive. In the process, they became the most progressive hip-hop act around.

Big Boi and Andre have set up a good cop/bad cop routine that keeps their credibility intact while messing with everyone’s heads. Like a ragtag football team with the craziest book of plays you ever saw, Big Boi plays the line spewing out tough-edged commentary, while Andre spins around on the outside, shaking off all comers by remaining one step ahead of the competition (or confusing them entirely).

After three albums that defied rap’s mainstream and brought them both critical and commercial success, Outkast outdid themselves with their fourth release, Stankonia (where all funky things come from), and its first single, “Ms. Jackson.” “Ms. Jackson” is unique in all of rap by virtue of whom it addresses. After all, how many MC’s would rap about their mother-in-law (or mother of their significant other) without resorting to trash talk? In “Ms. Jackson,” Andre is completely respectful and apparently sincere, apologizing “a million times” for breaking up with her daughter (who in real life happens to be Erykah Badu). While pleading his side of the story, he also makes it very clear that he is still bound to the relationship by their child, and that he will remain paternal. The apology, regret and responsibility are believable, but also amusing, especially when trying to reevaluate exactly what the couple meant when they promised to be together ‘forever’ (“Forever-ever? Forever-ever??”). Few rappers, if any, would allow themselves to be so emotionally vulnerable. It is to their credit that Outkast would expand the palette of rap by recognizing that good rhymes don’t need to follow established patterns.