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Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

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Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is the fifth studio album by American hip hop duo OutKast, released September 23, 2003 on LaFace Records in the United States. Issued as a double album, it clocks at over two and-a-half hours and consists of a solo album from both of the group's members.[1] Speakerboxxx has Big Boi performing tracks that are rooted in basic hip hop,[2] while The Love Below, the solo project of André 3000, covers musical styles such as soul, pop, funk, and jazz.[3] Selling over 15 million copies to date, it is one of the best-selling rap albums of all time.

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below received widespread acclaim from music critics, based on an aggregate score of 91/100 from Metacritic.[4] It was supported with the hit singles "Hey Ya!" and "The Way You Move", which both reached number 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. As part of its success, the album won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year, making it only the second hip hop album to ever win the award after The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1999. It is also the first and only rap album to win the award to date. In 2009, NME ranked Speakerboxxx/The Love Below number 44 on its list of the top 100 greatest albums of the decade.[5] It was the first album (and to date, the only album) with a Parental Advisory label to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

Music

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below represented a departure from Outkast's previous work. First of all, the album worked as two albums on a single set, with the first (Speakerboxxx) working as a Big Boi solo project and the second (The Love Below) as a André solo album. Critics pointed on this fact, and many interpreted as an initial problem that finally succeed as a favorable point. Stephen Thomas Erlewine compared this expanded creative freedom between each members of the group with what happened to The Beatles in 1968, saying "the effect is kind of like if the Beatles issued The White Album as one LP of Lennon tunes, the other of McCartney songs — the individual records may be more coherent, but the illusion that the group can do anything is tarnished. By isolating themselves from each other, Big Boi and Andre 3000 diminish the idea of OutKast slightly, since the focus is on the individuals, not the group. Which, of course, is part of the point of releasing solo albums under the group name — it's to prove that the two can exist under the umbrella of the OutKast aesthetic while standing as individuals." [6]

Most critics were also particularly more interesed in André's half of the album than on Big Boi's solo venture, due to the experimentation with several music genres on The Love Below. The intro of the album was already a trip on classical music, "Love Hater" has purely jazz influences (apart from a cover of "My Favorite Things", a Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein tune), and the rest was a combination of soul, funk, R&B, and hip-hop. Will Hermes from Entertainment Weekly pointed that André's album "is as strange and rich a trip as pop offers nowadays, a song cycle about love's battle against fear and (self-) deception that's frequently profound, hilarious, and very, very sexy." [7] Prince's influences are very notable on André 3000, as it is particularly noted on the track "She Lives in My Lap" (very reminiscent to Prince's "She's Always in My Hair"), a funky piece where Dré's voice is accompanied by a female voice in a style similar to the one of Prince's bandmates Diamond and Pearl. The Love Below also found André singing more than rapping (a fact that found criticism on many fans familiarized with OutKast previous style). Hermes noted: "Dre sings more than raps here, which could be a problem, as his nasal drawl isn't the greatest instrument. But hip-hop, like punk, is about making magic with limited means through the sheer force of creative will, and whether he's cooing baby noises on the Goth-soul cha-cha Pink & Blue or scatting with multiplatinum siren Norah Jones on the interlude Take Off Your Cool, Dre's limitations read here like strengths."

The Love Below is substantially longer than Big Boi's Speakerboxxx, clocking for almost 78 minutes, compared to 56 minutes for Speakerboxxx. Featured guests on Speakerboxxx include Sleepy Brown, Jazze Pha, Jay-Z, Cee-Lo, Killer Mike, Goodie Mob, Lil' Jon and Ludacris. Guests on The Love Below include Rosario Dawson, Norah Jones, Kelis, and Fonzworth Bentley. Songs that were to be featured on The Love Below included "Millionaire" featuring Kelis and "Long Way to Go" featuring Gwen Stefani. Those two were scrapped, and instead included in the collaborators' own albums—Tasty and Love. Angel. Music. Baby., respectively. Big Boi included André 3000 in producing and co-writing quite a bit of Speakerboxxx. On the other hand, the only song on The Love Below featuring a verse by Big Boi is "Roses".[8]

Reception

Commercial performance

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[9]
Robert Christgau(A-)[10]
Entertainment Weekly(A)[11]
The Guardian[12]
NME(8/10)[13]
Pitchfork Media(8.0/10)[14]
PopMatters(favorable)[15]
Rolling Stone[16]
Stylus(A+)[17]
Village Voice(favorable)[18]

After having had three #2 albums on the U.S. Billboard 200, OutKast enjoyed their first chart-topping album with Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. The album debuted at #1 on October 11, 2003, selling more than 510,000 copies in its first week. It became the second-biggest debut for a double album during the Soundscan era (beginning in 1991); Shania Twain's Up! had debuted with 874,000 sales the previous year.

The album sold 235,000 copies in its second week, holding its position atop the Billboard chart. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below spent the next three weeks in the top 5 before returning to the top spot for one more week. Sales remained strong, and the album would spend another four weeks at #1 between January and February of 2004. In all, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below amassed a total of seven weeks at #1, 24 weeks in the Top 10, and 56 weeks on the Billboard 200.

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below has been certified diamond and 11 times platinum by the RIAA for shipping more than 11 million units (in this case, 5.5 million double album sets, which are double-counted by the RIAA). [19]

The single "Hey Ya!" went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, topping the charts there for 9 weeks. It was the act's second #1 single, following 2001's "Ms. Jackson." "Hey Ya!" also topped the singles charts in Canada and Australia, and charted in 28 countries around the world. "Hey Ya!" was also the first platinum download on iTunes.

Followup single "The Way You Move" knocked "Hey Ya!" off the top of the charts in the U.S. in February 2004, just the seventh time a recording act replaced itself at number one. "The Way You Move" topped the singles chart for one week. The third single released from the album was "Roses" from The Love Below, which reached #9. The fourth and fifth singles released, "Prototype" (The Love Below) and "Ghetto Musick" (Speakerboxxx), did not chart.

Critical response

Very-well received by critical community in general, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll. In Australia, Hey Ya! was voted #2 on the 2003 Triple J Hottest 100, the biggest alternative music poll of its type in the country. In the jazz periodical Down Beat the album was voted as best "beyond" album. The album was nominated for a total six Grammy Awards, winning three of them (Album of the Year, Best Urban/Alternative Performance for "Hey Ya!", and Best Rap Album) (OutKast lost on the categories for Producer of the Year, and Best Short-Form Music Video and Record of the Year, both for "Hey Ya!"). It was the 2nd hip hop album to receive the Grammy for Album of the Year. (The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill being the first in 1999)

Track listing

Speakerboxxx (Disc one)

Producers are noted with superscripts:
(a) Big Boi, (b) André 3000, (c) Mr. DJ, (d) Carl Mo & Big Boi, (e) Cutmaster Swiff, (f) Big Boi & Mr. DJ.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Intro" 1:29
2."Ghetto Musick" (featuring Andre 3000 & Patti LaBelle)Bunny Sigler, Kenny Gamble, André Benjamin, Antwan Patton3:56
3."Unhappy"Antwan Patton, David Sheats3:19
4."Bowtie" (featuring Sleepy Brown & Jazze Pha)Phalon Alexander, Antwan Patton, Patrick Brown3:56
5."The Way You Move" (featuring Sleepy Brown)Carlton "Carl Mo" Mahone, Antwan Patton, Patrick Brown3:54
6."The Rooster"Carlton "Carl Mo" Mahone, Antwan Patton, Donnie Mathis3:57
7."Bust" (featuring Killer Mike)Myrna Crenshaw, Antwan Patton, Michael Render3:08
8."War"André Benjamin, Antwan Patton, David Sheats2:43
9."Church"Kevin Kendricks, André Benjamin, Myrna Crenshaw, Antwan Patton, Patrick Brown3:27
10."Bamboo" (Interlude) 2:09
11."Tomb of the Boom" (featuring Konkrete, Big Gipp, & Ludacris)Cameron K-Oz Gipp, Antwan Patton, Chris Bridges, Nathaniel Elder, Cory Andrews, James Patton4:46
12."E-Mac" (Interlude) 0:24
13."Knowing" (featuring Andre 3000)Antwan Patton, David Sheats3:32
14."Flip Flop Rock" (featuring Killer Mike & Jay-Z)Shawn Carter, Antwan Patton, Michael Render, David Sheats4:35
15."Interlude" 1:15
16."Reset" (featuring Khujo Goodie & Cee-Lo Green)Thomas Burton, Antwan Patton, Willie Knighton4:35
17."D-Boi" (Interlude) 0:40
18."Last Call" (featuring Slimm Calhoun, Lil' Jon and The East Side Boyz & Mello)André Benjamin, Antwan Patton, James Hollins, Brian Loving3:57
19."Bowtie (Postlude)"Phalon Alexander, Antwan Patton, Patrick Brown0:34

The Love Below (Disc two)

All tracks were produced solely by André 3000 except "Roses", which was co-produced by Dojo5.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Love Below" (Intro)André Benjamin1:27
2."Love Hater"Kevin Kendricks, André Benjamin2:49
3."God" (Interlude)André Benjamin2:20
4."Happy Valentine's Day"André Benjamin5:23
5."Spread"André Benjamin3:51
6."Where Are My Panties?" 1:54
7."Prototype"André Benjamin5:26
8."She Lives in My Lap"Willie Dennis, Isaac Hayes, Roger Troutman, Doug King, Brad Jordan, Eric Vidal, André Benjamin, Dino Hawkins4:27
9."Hey Ya!"André Benjamin3:55
10."Roses"André Benjamin, Antwan Patton, Matt Boykin6:09
11."Good Day, Good Sir" 1:24
12."Behold a Lady"André Benjamin4:37
13."Pink & Blue"R. Kelly, André Benjamin5:04
14."Love in War"André Benjamin3:25
15."She's Alive"Kevin Kendricks, André Benjamin4:06
16."Dracula's Wedding" (featuring Kelis)André Benjamin2:32
17."The Letter" (Interlude) 0:20
18."My Favorite Things" 5:14
19."Take Off Your Cool" (featuring Norah Jones)André Benjamin2:38
20."Vibrate"André Benjamin6:33
21."A Life in the Day of Benjamin André (Incomplete)"André Benjamin5:11

Sample credits

  • "Ghetto Musick," from "Speakerboxxx," contains samples of "Love, Need & Want You" by Patti LaBelle.
  • "She Lives In My Lap," from "The Love Below," contains samples of "Mind Playing Tricks On Me" by Geto Boys and "Pistolgrip-Pump" by Volume 10.
  • "Pink & Blue," from "The Love Below," contains samples of "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number" by Aaliyah and "Why Can't We Live Together" by Timmy Thomas.
  • "My Favorite Things" from "The Love Below" contains samples from John Coltrane's 1960 recording by the same name.

Chart history

Chart positions

Chart procession and succession

Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album
October 5–18, 2003
November 9–15, 2003
January 4–17, 2004
January 25 – February 7, 2004 		Succeeded by

Personnel

See also

References

  1. ^ Hoard, Christian. "Review: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below". Rolling Stone: 610–611. November 2, 2004. (Transcription of original review at talk page)
  2. ^ Sanneh, Kelefa. Review: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2009-10-10.
  3. ^ Cinquemani, Sal. Review: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Slant Magazine. Retrieved on 2009-10-10.
  4. ^ Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2009-07-09.
  5. ^ Staff. The Top 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade: 44) Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. NME. Retrieved on 2009-11-26.
  6. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:acfexqlaldse
  7. ^ http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,485189,00.html
  8. ^ The Last Supper? Article on Blender :: The Ultimate Guide to Music and More
  9. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Review: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-10-10.
  10. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below". The Village Voice: October 21, 2003. Archived from the original on 2009-10-10.
  11. ^ Hermes, Will. Review: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2009-10-10.
  12. ^ Lynskey, Dorian. Review: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2009-10-10.
  13. ^ Mulvey, John. Review: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. NME. Retrieved on 2009-11-26.
  14. ^ DiCrescenzo, Brent. Review: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 2009-10-10.
  15. ^ Fuchs, Cynthia. Review: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. PopMatters. Retrieved on 2009-10-10.
  16. ^ Caramanica, Jon. Review: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2009-10-10.
  17. ^ Southall, Nick. Review: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Stylus Magazine. Retrieved on 2009-10-10.
  18. ^ Tate, Greg. Review: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. The Village Voice. Retrieved on 2009-10-10.
  19. ^ http://www.riaa.com/gp/bestsellers/diamond.asp
  20. ^ http://www.answers.com/topic/ghettomusick-prototype-1
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