Stankonia

Who else but rap’s most fearlessly creative duo could open their biggest album with a bonfire of American dreams? Outkast’s fourth LP may have launched them into the mainstream, but there’s nothing safe about it: Even its most populist track, “Ms. Jackson,” is a glitchy, galactic soul number about a messy divorce. The collection is peppered with slo-mo funk cuts (“Toilet Tisha”), neo-soul steppin’ anthems (“Humble Mumble”), and political drum ’n’ bass rap (“B.O.B.”). There is no genre, no “mainstream versus underground”—there is only groove.

What could’ve been a victory lap for two Southern rappers on top of the game was instead a transcendental funk fantasia, an unequivocal commercial and artistic triumph.

Check out our album review of Artist's Stankonia on Rolling Stone.com.

Stankonia continues André 3000 and Big Boi’s progressive blend of hip-hop, funk, rock, and soul.