I Know You Like to Think Outkast
The Hole-and-corner History of Outkast's 'Speakerboxxx/The Love Below:' the Final Truly Bang-up Double Album
Photo Credit: Arista Records
We break downwardly the creation of Outkast'southward Speakerboxxx/The Love Below double album, through stories from many of its coveted collaborators
"All thanks due to the near high for this one, all mean solar day long," declared Big Boi at the Staples Center in 2004. Outkast had merely stepped on the Grammys stage to accept the Album of the Year award. "Music is rockin' like never before."
This is the same rapper who stood aslope his partner, André 3000, at The Source Awards in 1995, when the famous words "The southward got something to say" were uttered to a hostile New York City oversupply. With OutKast'south 2003 double album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, the south was finally heard by the world.
Nearly a decade deep into their professional person careers, Big Boi and André 3000 had a house reputation for delivering the unexpected. When fans grew to honey the duo for playa anthems on 1994'southward Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, 1996's ATLiens followed upwards with themes of extraterrestrials and philosophy. The group dipped their toe into pop music on 1998'due south Aquemini. And by 2000, the pop music doors were completely ripped off their hinges with the release of Stankonia.
Merely when anybody seemed to have OutKast figured out, the ii artists threw fans for a loop once once more. The programme: For their fifth LP, both members would deliver solo albums, each highlighting the best of their individuality.
To this day, Big Boi's career has always felt cast nether the shadow of his outlandish partner-in-rhyme. Speakerboxxx saw the rapper coming into his own in a way that the globe had never seen before. Big kept the OutKast spirit the two had built alive through both sonic and lyrical content. Cuts similar "Ghetto Musick" and "The Rooster" were extensions of many sounds presented on the unapologetically funky Stankonia.
The album was a truthful Atlanta affair. Though an elder statesman in the southern scene, Big Boi looked into the time to come with open-mindedness and optimism, inviting then-newcomers like Ludacris, Lil Jon, and his own p rotégé Killer Mike to the political party. That move signified an of import "passing of the torch" moment.
The Love Below , on the other paw, completely ignored the notion of genres, instead prioritizing its narrative at the forefront. Three Stacks doubles down on his "Gangster of Love" persona, which is emphasized by the pink gun-toting cover. The anthology tells the story of a notorious lady-killer who finds a woman then perfect that he stops to question his means.
Influences were vast, with everyone from early '60s Beatles to a belatedly '80s Prince providing a creative spark. Genre classifications may exist abandoned, still The Love Below 'due south tight plot makes for a consistent heed. André's introversion can be seen as an nugget. The strive for independence is evident; he can exist found playing a handful of instruments over the course of the 20 tracks.
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was released on September 23, 2003 to massive acclaim. With the success of 50 Cent's debutBecome Rich or Dice Tryin' earlier that year,hip-hop was in a gangsta rap phase . In a truthful testament to their name, OutKast ignored the resurgence of street sounds and continued to move against the grain. Such strives paid off;Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is ones of the highest selling hip-hop albums of all-time (11x platinum and counting). The double LP would go along to join The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill as the only 2 rap albums to win the coveted Anthology of the Year Grammy honour.
On its 15th ceremony, nosotros break down the creation of the Speakerboxxx/The Dearest Below through stories from many of its coveted collaborators.
Photo Credit: Prince Williams/WireImage
Meet the Players & Poets
Rosario Dawson: The KIDS and 25th Hour actress dipped her feet into musical waters, providing spoken-give-and-take vocals on the e'er-sultry "She Lives In My Lap" off of The Honey Below.
Khujo Goodie: A Dungeon Family unit and Goodie Mob member who has also appeared on most of OutKast's albums. Beingness a few years older than the pack, Khujo refers to himself equally a "big bro" to Big and Dre.
Cee-Lo Green: A offset-generation member of the Dungeon Family and Goodie Mob, who worked closely alongside the 'Kast during the formative years of their respective careers. Many may also recognize Cee-Lo as the unforgettable vocalization backside Gnarls Barkley, who Cee-Lo reveals are close to wrapping upwards their third album. "[Me and Danger Mouse] are working on a Gnarls Barkley album…I'm talking about ten or twelve songs into it."
Jonathan Mannion: 1 of hip-hop's nearly iconic photographers. Mannion has shot the duo on a multitude of occasions and served as the photographer for the Speakerboxxx .
Norah Jones: Norah Jones can be found supplying soothing harmonies with 3 Stacks on The Love Beneath 'due south "Accept Off Your Cool"
Jazze Pha: Though he got his career start not too long after OutKast, Jazze Pha began picking up meaning traction every bit a producer shortly earlier Speakerboxxx/The Beloved Below came together. Pha can be heard singing background vocals on Speakerboxxx 'southward "Bowtie"
Neal Pogue: An audio engineer who worked on every single OutKast album. This time around, his duties consisted of mixing seven tracks for The Love Below side, including the smash single, "Hey Ya!"
Together and Apart
Every superhero needs an origin story. Fresh off the heels of Stankonia 'southward success, the duo took such an unprecedented approach for their fifth trek into the funkiverse.
Neal Pogue: Their manager at the time was trying to figure out how they could make an OutKast record because they were both going to do solo albums. Only their manager had told them that information technology was bad timing to come up out with solo albums at that moment. And so he came up with the idea to do one album with two solo albums on information technology, which no one had always done.
André 3000 [ via Rolling Stone , 2004]: The Dearest Beneath was originally supposed to be a solo album. At the last infinitesimal, management and the record visitor said information technology wasn't a proficient time to practice that, so Big Boi did Speakerboxxx . But I was taking so long to finish The Love Below that he wanted to release that as a solo anthology. A lot of people don't know the anthology almost wasn't fabricated.
The Truthful Story Behind "Hey Ya!"
"Hey Ya!" is one of the nigh iconic songs of the 2000s. From its modernistic-style-inspired music video — which took home the 2004 BET Award for Video of the Year — to Polaroid issuing a statement to warn nearly the dangers of shaking "it similar a Polaroid picture," the song is a real staple of the menstruation.
The genre-bending lead single was released on September 9th, 2003 aslope Big Boi and Sleepy Chocolate-brown's "The Mode You lot Movement ." Due to the fact that information technology didn't fit any molds, "Hey Ya!" was able to authorize under a number of ch arts, appearing everywhere from Billboard'due south Developed Top 40 to the U.s. Alternative Songs nautical chart. "Hey Ya!" would eventually tiptop the Hot 100, where information technology sat at number one for a whopping 9 weeks.
Cee-Lo Green: When I offset heard "Hey Ya!" we were at Stankonia [studios] and I was like, "Damn, this is so dope." But it wasn't finished. It was called "The Ingredients of a Pimp." That's where that whole "Love Hater" concept derived from. So "Hey Ya!" was just a place marker considering he had not still plant the words for a hook.
I knew the references inside of "Hey Ya!:" " Only doooooes she really wanna but tin can't stand to see me "…That's The Beatles' ["I Wanna Concord Your Hand"]!
Y'all connect that to the video. It was kind of similar a throwback to all of that Beatlemania, you feel me? And so when that song was then successful, the way he was able to pull that in, that's well-nigh similar a paperweight. It was so much weight of the efforts and the homage; it gave [the song] such a not bad run a risk at being the success that it was.
André 3000 [ via NPR , 2014] : I had to tell Aretha Franklin that "Say A Trivial Prayer" had a lot to do with the song "Hey Ya!" They're similar [fourth dimension signatures]. Information technology's hard to explain, simply listening to that song, the style the loop comes back around, is kinda how I devised "Hey Ya." And I had to tell her that she is a big role of that song.
I remember finishing "Hey Ya!" and letting Big Boi and Killer Mike hear information technology. They were riding in the car and they were excavation information technology…really hard. And I think Killer Mike wanted to rap on information technology at the time. I knew Killer Mike would kill it, but I knew it would arrive a different kind of vocal. At that indicate, it would brand it a rap song. And I didn't want it to be a rap song cause I retrieve…it would've been put in a dissimilar category. I would've liked to hear what a rhyme would sound like on that fourth dimension signature.
Rap just wasn't feeding me at that fourth dimension. And I knew that I wanted to get across information technology, similar the songs that influenced me. I wanted to endeavour just other things. I know Killer would've killed information technology! But at that indicate, it would've been just another rap song.
It'southward funny, when we put out "Hey Ya!" we didn't even label it. We didn't even tell the radio who it was. Because if we would've put OutKast on it at starting time information technology would've been judged differently. And I feel that way nigh if a rap was on it.
Khujo Goodie: "Hey Ya!" was crazy, human. I could remember Dre calling me. He was similar "Whatchu remember, homo? I wanna sing, I wanna practice something dissimilar, whatchu call back?" I was like "Dre, human, practise it! Don't stop. Don't hesitate. Do information technology, man!"
Neal Pogue: The only version I e'er heard from the demo stage was when André had the first verse and the hook. That'south all he had on the song.
I only remember we were driving. It might have been on cassette because I remember us driving over Laurel Coulee in a little rented Mini Cooper and listening to all the demos for that album. I just retrieve him playing a lot of swell stuff. Some were finished, some were just halfway mumbled type lyrics and stuff. But he had a lot of not bad ideas.
Shooting Speakerboxxx
Speakerboxxx 'south comprehend turns Big Boi's iconic "libation than a polar bear'southward toenails" line into reality. Dressed in a fur glaze and baggy jeans, Sir Lucious Left Pes epitomizes the discussion "Pimpin'." Afterwards all, many of the album's songs are told through the eyes of a procurer named Rooster.
The consciousness of Speakerboxxx and The Beloved Below serving as unique bodies of piece of work came all the fashion down to their design. Rather than share the same photographer, Big Boi chose to recruit longtime collaborator Jonathan Mannion, while André ventured down a new path by way of fashion lensman Torkil Gudnason.
Jonathan Mannion: Large and I take a way of working together. He calls me up and he's like "Where you at? Time to do it again. Come up mind to the album."
We become to the studio, I get a legal pad and he plays me the entire tape from beginning to finish. I scribbled frantically: notes, things that came to my listen, words that I pick out in gild to populate the visuals based on what he's saying, which I discover is the richest mode to piece of work with an artist. It's not similar, "Mannion, what are your ideas?"And I'm just pulling stuff out of the heaven. Information technology'due south like: "Sit down, here's what I'chiliad talking about." And and then I almost illustrate the works, which is phenomenal.
It's funny, I didn't become equally deep [in the] André 3000 side of things. Torkil Gudnason did. He wanted to go fashion more fashion-driven. I didn't have the benefit of knowing what was happening, what was being created. I only had the benefit of Big Boi's side and what he wanted to do. A lot of it was sort of individual components. We had a rooster on fix because i of his songs was called "The Rooster." Nosotros did a fake strip order, nosotros had Ki Toy [Johnson] and her phenomenal body. Information technology almost became similar we were doing theatre. When y'all're on phase, you lot tin can put a demote and a light pole that indicates that they're in the park. That's it, small elements that reveal the bigger picture.
[With] the Speakerboxxx cover, a lot of what was happening at the time was done in post-[production]. It was like, we'll practice the moving-picture show and you lean on a box and we drop in a bunch of speakers. I was like "Fuck that!" [Laughs] Let's become go all of the speaker boxes. Literally, nosotros scoured Atlanta and found like 15 different speakers. He was literally probably 8-feet loftier in the air, from head to flooring. We had all of that and so nosotros had all the crates of records that were from OutKast's DJ [Cutmaster Swift]. He was similar, "Yo, you lot could infringe crates, no trouble!" We merely sort of presented this story of him floating upwardly high. He's then footling [Laughs] Nosotros wanted the scale to feel legit.
The thing effectually the Huey Newton sort of chair that's on the comprehend: those are feather dusters! It's like, how could nosotros make this look more lavish and of import? Feather dusters are all around the elevation because they had this sort of crazy feather of feathers or whatever the hell it was. In that location were peacock feathers that were similar, legit, and and then the other ones that added a sort of texture were some sort of orangey brown bird.
Corking Things Take Time
Believe information technology or non, "The Way You lot Motility" actually started off equally a bigger hit than "Hey Ya!" The Sleepy Dark-brown-assisted song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 a full three weeks before the aforementioned companion release.
Although "Hey Ya!" would somewhen become the more successful of the two, "The Way You Motility" was still earth-shattering in its own right. At the time of its release, it bankrupt the Hot 100 record for most weeks at number ii (eight weeks), before finally hitting the elevation spot on Feb 14th 2004, simply in time for Valentine's Mean solar day. The club-set unmarried peaked at number 22 on the Hot 100's 2000s Decade-End Chart.
Large Boi [ via Red Bull Radio , 2018] : Carl Mo is a producer from Atlanta, so we had mutual friends. I had a puddle party at my business firm one day and he had a skeleton beat out. I nevertheless have it, I accept all the skeleton versions to the original songs. We were playing it at the puddle party and Sleepy Brown started humming a tune to the song. We were like, "Aw shit, nosotros gotta record this!" Mind you, I had that beat for like four, v years and just at a pool party, his head came upwardly and we were like, "We're gonna record information technology."
Then, we got to the studio and nosotros just started going crazy. Debra Killings played the bass on that record. She's actually the female voice on all of our records. The female person on "Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik," she'southward in my band to this day. She came in and I start putting ink to pad. Then I had this guitar actor by the proper noun of Zaza. He passed abroad like a couple of years ago. He was a very special guy.
We but had this hodgepodge of characters that would come up in and sprinkle their season on whatever we were working on. Like, I'g called The King of Putting Motherfuckas On! I would give anybody a shot, you know what I'1000 sayin'? Even if you're uninvited. If you lot just and then happen to be in a room and be similar, "Hey, you know I got a violin in the auto…permit's endeavor that out." You know what I'1000 sayin'? That's how the music comes out. I like to say the music is always organically created, never genetically modified or contrived, know what I hateful?
I sat on the shell for years and it came together in one nighttime. Put information technology all together. It'due south very much a staple in the OutKast catalog.
Photograph Credit: Johnny Nunez/WireImage
"Reset" was a Dungeon Family unit Archetype
Throughout their respective careers, OutKast and Goodie Mob were some of the closest collaborators. The two groups spent the improve one-half of their teen years recording in "The Dungeon," a creative hub located in the basement of producer Rico Wade's mother'due south firm. It was there that the southern spitters would develop their signature sounds and an undeniable camaraderie amid i some other, with the watchful optics of mentors Organized Noize — Wade, Brown, and Ray Murray— creating a 1-of-a-kind piece of work surroundings.
Flash frontward a decade, family was all the same a priority. Post-obit Cee-Lo Green'south sudden departure from Goodie Mob in 2000 and Khujo Goodie's subsequent car accident, the group seemed to be in a sour country. Nonetheless, when the phone call to collaborate came, both doggedly answered, with Big Boi manus picking his longtime companions for one of Speakerboxxx 'southward nearly introspective tracks: "Reset."
Cee-Lo Dark-green: I got the invite to come and be a office of it. Typically, I would go in and I would pick something, merely this time Big just had me in mind. I think he merely felt really strongly that this was a tape that would just suit me, and he was right. When yous're presented with an ultimatum like that, you just want to evangelize, you know what I mean?
Of course, any OutKast opportunity is a brand opportunity to requite your best and represent our collective. I just definitely wanted to step up and deliver. That's really what the simple motivation is, and then I just began to reflect on things that were immediate in my everyday life.
Sometimes, you lot're motivated by the things you lot get changed because the by is permanent. If you lot had an opportunity to go back and rectify some of those things, I'm sure that we all would do some things differently. That's the moment y'all gotta be imaginative or if I could settle everything, how would I go about it? Every day is an opportunity to amend. I expect objectively and optimistically into each new solar day and information technology's just something that I practise subconsciously, or at least I effort to.
I was in a situation where I was married. Nosotros had a son together. I had two adopted daughters from her previous relationship. I always try and represent that pseudo maturity that essence of what yous were kinda able to place with equally that Dungeon Family unit sound. We were just immature men trying to do right by our opportunities, our voices, and our talents.
Khujo Goodie: I retrieve I had just got back on my feet later I had my leg amputated . I was able to write that rhyme. Big Boi, like he always practise, he gave me the opportunity to get in there and be a office of history. I was so happy that my lilliputian brother even so felt that way near his big brother. Still being able to take that confidence in his big brother to know that he would pull out a good 16.
That particular song definitely fit the way my life was going at the time because I had to reset, man. I had to get back in and rethink some things. I had to reevaluate myself, and I had to become back in there, get dorsum on my job.
Cee-Lo wasn't on the vocal even so and I recall that Big Boi was already on the vocal and the hook was too. Once I heard the hook, I started vibin' with it. I was like, "Human being, this shit would go perfect with what I'm going through correct now."
Cee-Lo Green: I recall in some type of roundabout way, it was kind of an opportunity for us to all showcase together. Me and Goodie, we were at industrial odds, non internal odds. We were never uncool, we were always family. With family, you have that sibling rivalry, that internal riffing and that'due south to be expected. We're all men, all individuals. they have different opinions, priorities, dissimilar focuses, different flaws.
Khujo Goodie: You lot know how the media does it. The same fashion they perpetuated that Due east Coast/West Coast thing, and that got outta hand! We lost two of the greatest MCs in the world.
I just recall it was totally unlike with us cause Dungeon Family is family. Family don't ever get along all the time. The practiced thing about family is that we know that we family. We know that this is something bigger than that. If it was some type of beefiness like that, Cee-Lo wouldn't have even got on the song! All the time, yous gotta put aside the bullshit, man, so that yous could become greater things accomplished.
The Coolest Collaborator
It's difficult to imagine a time in which André 3000 wasn't a mythical figure. Before his current reclusive state, three Stacks was known to get downward in the studio with a select few, including work with the likes of Gwen Stefani and Q-Tip during this item period.
Yet, Mr. Benjamin has never treated duets a dime a dozen. It has always been very important for him to connect with people who can merely strengthen a song fifty-fifty further. For The Love Below , the power of collaborations came from those who were able to assist accentuate the album's theatrical aureola.
Neal Pogue: I was always closer to Dre. Me and Large never worked on a personal level, not unless it was an OutKast album. I never worked with him on his solo albums or anything. Dre to this twenty-four hour period still hasn't put out a solo record. But he is putting out a unmarried soon. I didn't work on it, but he'south putting out a unmarried. Information technology should be coming out before long. Merely I never really worked with Large on a personal level, information technology was always Dre. That'south the reason why I had worked on The Love Below side.
I think that we try different things. I call back that nosotros always effort to push the envelope, and that's what we have in common. We ever effort to bring something new to the business organisation rather than the same old thing. As far as mixing, I'm always trying to bring something dissimilar than other mixes. I never want information technology to merely be a straight mix. I wanna add sure delays and pan tricks, you lot know. If y'all listen to all of my mixes with OutKast, I'm ever trying different tricks and breaks. You know, breaking downwards different phrases and stuff just to make a bespeak and emphasize certain things that they're saying. To put it in a nutshell, trying to create more dynamics.
Norah Jones [ via Billboard , 2010]: I knew who OutKast were and I really liked their music, but I would never take guessed that they knew who I was. André 3000 sent me ["Take Off Your Cool"] but in that location wasn't whatever singing on it still then I didn't know the song melody or the words. When we got to the studio he said, "Give me a minute." and he did all his vocals, a lot of layers, a lot of harmonies. He did it very apace. I don't know how much he had prepared or if information technology was mostly improvised, but he definitely had a articulate picture of what he wanted.
Rosario Dawson [ via MTV News , 2004]: [André 3000] called me to come in and do the ["She Lives in My Lap"] music video, and then I ended up in the studio singing on it a little bit. And so it was like, "Well, at present information technology's not gonna be similar a music video anymore, it'south gonna exist similar a Michael Jackson "Thriller" mini-moving picture." At present information technology's turning into [Idlewild]…I think André 3000 is absolutely remarkable and really, really incredible, just beautiful"
(Editor's Notation: In the film's final product 3 years later, Paula Patton ended up in Dawson's Idlewild role.)
Photograph Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
The Fable Lives on
OutKast created one of the most defining albums of the 2000s by staying truthful to themselves. The idea for 2 solo albums allowed Big Boi and André 3000 to explore their inner depths like never before.
On Speakerboxxx, Big Boi does a remarkable chore at staying grounded in his southern roots while opening the doors for the next generation. The album prepare the pace for his solo career, which although has never quite gotten the smooth it deserves, has immune the rapper to serve as ane of few of his era who displays significant artistic development with each new album.
The Love Below shows the payoffs experimentality may take to offer. Its venture into 3 Stacks' sensitive side continues to inspire artists left and right, with emotional crossover albums like Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak and Childish Gambino's Awaken, My Love serving as some of the clearest examples.
In many ways, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below felt similar the start of the terminate of this beloved duo. Having the two discrete allows fans to further elaborate on what they capeesh about their individuality, along with further identifying what makes OutKast so special as a duo.
André 3000 [ via Rolling Stone , 2004]: Norah Jones called me the night before [the Grammy Awards] and said, "Are you gear up?" I said, "I estimate I'1000 as prepare as I'll ever be." Information technology was stressful, because a lot of attending was on us. I don't like that. The best moment was when nosotros won "Album of the Yr" and Big Boi gave me a hug. The embrace lasted v — 8, nine no, maybe 15 seconds.
Neal Pogue: Information technology was a pivotal time in music. Information technology was after 2001, later on the Twin Towers and all that. A lot of people were in a certain mindframe, so I recollect OutKast was trying to bring something new.
I think information technology was a genius move to bring a double album to ii solo albums. That was something that no one's ever washed and I think that correct there was a pivotal time in music. And to hear both of their personalities, I retrieve it really showed the world who they were, being that Big Boi was thinking ane fashion and Dre another fashion. I call back that was really good to show themselves.
Jonathan Mannion: I think every single time out, OutKast always sets the bar in kind of a different way than you lot could say Jay[-Z] set the bar. I think the bar that was set with OutKast everytime was based on creativity. It was constantly beingness more creative, constantly pushing the borders of the box that'south called hip-hop.
Speakerboxxx/The Love Beneath was uniquely in their own lane. They delivered magic, homo. I mean, "Hey Ya!" was on that album and the video where he'south playing all of the different roles, it simply feels good, human being! [Laughs] Every fourth dimension around, it feels skilful. I'grand honored to be function of the creation of this [album]. Even though I didn't touch the Dre side of it, this is yet them equally a collective and I'g making contributions that are meaningful ones because the visuals do put a postage stamp on. You lot can't take away the visuals from the music.
Jazze Pha: The records they released, from "Hey Ya!" to "The Way You Move" were such great records. Everyone was so interested in André doing that singing and all that stuff, too. Information technology was but something different. It was so pop, so crossover and so worldly.
I just remember riding effectually, hearing people playing "Hey Ya!" or "The Way Y'all Move" Well, more often than not "The Way You Movement" considering it was such a radio record. "I like the wayyyyy you motility" We talk virtually and people that really ride around and play their records, music loud.
Cee-Lo Light-green: They don't make physical copies of physical CDs anymore. And so basically, streaming is just like, "We like this a lot" It'due south like analytics. I don't know what else actually did Diamond or amend. Speakerboxxx/The Love Beneath will probably be one of the last albums in history that volition have moved physically over 10 million copies. That ain't never gonna happen once again.
Khujo Goodie: That was the biggest thing it Atlanta, man, because forth with Goodie Mob, those guys are the pioneers of Atlanta, Georgia music! They're the pillars. Just to have some guys representing where yous stay, it wasn't nothing merely love when Speakerboxxx/The Dearest Below dropped, man. And you got a double album, that was simply icing on the cake correct in that location!
Big Boi [ via MTV News , 2017]: When you're inside of [the creative process], you don't know [the impact], you know what I mean? Yous just go in and try to create something new. One thing that nosotros practise is never revisit what we've washed, although we stand up on information technology and we know information technology's there.
I would never go back and try to create a song like "The Rooster", or "Unhappy", or "The Manner You Motility" — That'south too easy, you lot know what I'yard saying? That's what I could dig nearly the younger generation. I similar to see who's gonna play it safe and who's gonna evolve into that other thing.
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Mr. Wavvy is a music journalist born and raised in Montreal, Canada. During winter, his city tin quite literally get "cooler than a polar bear'due south toenails" You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
Source: https://www.okayplayer.com/music/making-of-outkast-speakerboxxx-the-love-below.html
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