Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below [Explicit Lyrics]

Outkast | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 23, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 2003
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Label: La Face
• ASIN: B0000AGWFX
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (815 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,157 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #4 in Music > Rap & Hip-Hop > Southern Rap
  • #7 in Music > Rap & Hip-Hop > Experimental Rap
  • #23 in Music > R&B > Contemporary R&B

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Intro

2. Ghettomusick

3. Unhappy

4. Bowtie

5. The Way You Move

6. The Rooster

7. Bust

8. War

9. Church

10. Bamboo (Interlude)

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. The Love Below (Intro)

2. Love Hater

3. God (Interlude)

4. Happy Valentine's Day

5. Spread

6. Where Are My Panties?

7. Prototype

8. She Lives In My Lap

9. Hey Ya!

10. Roses

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

At a time when experimentation is taboo in most overground rap, that’s all Outkast seem intent on executing. Firstly, this double CD has no cohesive link, other than the fact that it sounds like a pair of solo albums stitched together to demo exactly how Andre’s yin works to augment Big Boi’s yang. Andre 3000’s Love Below disc rates as the more eclectic of the two, given that he’s turned in his emcee credentials to become a full-on funk-soul-jazz vocalist who mostly sings about items of love ("Happy Valentine's Day"), carnal lust ("Spread"), and female adoration ("Prototype"). Minus the big band schmaltz of "Love Hater" and cheesy cover jobs ("My Favorite Things"), Andre’s disc is sick (meaning great). As is to be expected, the Big Boi disc is less arty, more gangsta and worldly, and features the less-progressive guest raps of ATL crunk purveyors Lil’ Jon and The Eastside Boyz ("Last Call") and Jay-Z who rhymes the hook on "Flip Flop Rock". Unlike Big Boi, Andre keeps his collabos to a minimum, once crooning alongside Norah Jones on the cool yet sappy "Take Off Your Cool", and once with Kelis. Boi fulfills his Dungeon Family duty with flying colors by flipping some dirty southern up-tempo raps over electro beats on "GhettoMusick". By the time Cee-Lo sermonizes on "Reset", Speakerboxx and Love Below rate mostly as majestic and inspiring, with the remaining 23 per cent being just plain incredible --Dalton Higgins

Product Description

2003 two CD release from the Hip Hop duo that contains a quasi solo album from each member (Big Boi and Dre 3000).

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

109 of 115 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Big Boi and Andre 3000: Two Sides of A Platinum Coin September 25, 2003

By Groovemasta

Format:Audio CD

For nearly ten years, Outkast has done what few hip-hop groups have been able to: grow as artists and push the limits of the genre without losing their core fan base. While the evolution of Outkast as a group has lead to four classic albums, the groups MCs also evolved as individuals. Big Boi emerged as the conscious pimp, both representative and critic of the streets, while Dre began to focus on the more abstract and spiritual. With their latest release, each gets to express his individual vision on a solo disk, yet the results manage to stay within consistant evolution of the group.

Big Boi: Speakerboxx - While many considered Dre the innovative half of the group, Speakerboxx proves that Big Boi is every bit the visionary that his more eccentric counterpart is. The production is an aural buffet, filled with funky horn riffs, driving electronic groves and soulful melodies which take southern rap to a level of musicality it has never before seen. On top of it all, Big Boi's continued growth as an MC is evident throughout, whether he is waxing political ("War"), spiritual ("Church"), or simply bragging on his pimp game ("Bowtie"). And when placed along side the album's A-list guests in straight up spit fests, Big Boi manages to hold his own with the south's cameo king, Ludacris on "Tomb of the Bomb", and out shine Jay-Z on the ridiculously funky "Flip Flop Rock". And long time Outkast fans will be rewarded with a blast from the past on the contemplatively soulful "Reset", which uses the soulfully airy minimalism of ATLiens, a perfect juxtaposition to the sonic circus that is the rest of the album rest of the album. Taken by itself, Speakerboxx would likely be the best hip-hop album of the year so far.

Andre "Ice Cold" 3000: The Love Below - Where Big Boi chose to push hip-hop forward on his disk, Andre's album reaches back to more fully explore the influences from other genres that made Outkast what it is. A concept album, which follows one man's trials and tribulations in the search for love, The Love Below bears more than a passing resemblance to Prince's Parade. The rollicking electro-funk of "Happy Valentines Day", the cheeky raunch of "Spread" and the intentionally vague sexuality of "She Lives in My Lap" all draw liberally from the Purple One. But they also pull it off better than the legions of Prince imitators we have seen over the years. In fact, it could be said that Andre made has made the best Prince album in quiet some time. But a closer listen reveals that Dre is far from a one trick pony. The lingering ballad, "Prototype" is sublime, in spite of Dre's limited vocal range. "Hey Ya" begins as a campy, early Beatles inspired lark, but somehow evolve into a sublime mix of modern rock and classic funk/soul. "Roses" and "Dracula's Wedding" are dark grooves that manage to be at once dancable and eerily brooding. And just when the listener is fully absorded in Dre's new incarnation as a neo-funkateer, the disk concludes with "A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre", a rap track that sums up the stories of the album in a concise five minutes and makes us hope that even as he grows more eclectic, he never gives up rhyming.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Love Below/Speakerboxxx September 27, 2003

By "funkymf87"

Format:Audio CD

I want to start this out by saying that Im not a huge rap fan, but this is still an incredible album. Of the two albums Andre 3000's The Love Below is the better and more interesting of the two. He strays away from any traditional rap sound and carries a more funky jazz vibe. My favorite tracks on the album are Love Hater which is basically a laid back jazz tune, Spread which is extremely funky, Roses with a cool piano intro and a catchy chorus, Hey Ya! with its acoustic guitar, awesome synth riff, and chorus, My Favorite Things is a crazy reworking of the original, Dracula's Wedding is short but sweet, and Vibrate is funky with great lyrics.

Big Boi's Speakerboxxx is my second favorite in this double album. It seems to stick to a more traditional rap style but is extremely funky. Ghetto Musick is a great track with a great backing track and chorus, Bowtie with crazy horn lines and great hook, Bust is a great track with a hard rock edge to it and great raps, War is a song about the problems in the world today, and Church is a great funky track. Definitely pick this album up if your looking for some music that isnt afraid to try something new in a genre that needs new life.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars How does it NOT live up to the hype??? September 24, 2003

By "srcharlzdabutler"

Format:Audio CD

2 discs... 2 totally different styles.

First, Big Boi's "Speakerboxxx": Fire from the get go. You first put it in and you notice Ghettomusick, Bowtie, The Way You Move, The Rooster, Bust, War, Church, Tomb of the Boom, Knowing, Flip Flop Rock, Last Call... pretty much the entire CD. Play it in your car, play it loud... it's awesome.

Second, Dre's "The Love Below": Takes some time to get used to, but then its just as hot if not hotter than Big Boi's. My favorite tracks on Dre's CD are: Roses, Happy Valentine's Day, Dracula's Wedding, A Day in the Life of Benjimann Andre, Hey Ya, and pretty much the whole CD, especially after I got used to the sound. Some get at Dre for ditching the rap, but he said it himself that Hip Hop doesn't inspire him anymore. Just because he has an interesting and different voice does NOT mean he can't sing.

Give this album a try... especially Dre's side. Most fans will appreciate Big Boi's side at first but once you listen to Andre's more than once or twice you will realize its true greatness.

5/5