OutKast - Stankonia (Deluxe)

You’d be hard-pressed to find a music fan who was around for Outkast’s 2000 opus Stankonia and doesn’t remember that album’s impact. The Aquemini follow-up catapulted the Atlanta duo from their status as the foremost spokespeople for Southern hip-hop to bona fide pop-culture celebrities whose reach and influence-though still very much rooted in rap-extended far beyond a single genre. Stankonia’s singles were monsters, to be sure, but once you get past the apocalyptic frenzy of “B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad),” the off-kilter balladering of “Ms. Jackson,” and the snap-along funk of “So Fresh, So Clean,” what do casual fans actually remember about Stankonia?

Can they call out the alien synth warbles and fiery Killer Mike verse of “Snappin’ & Trappin’”? Do they remember the cacophonous beat switch for André 3000’s verse on “Humble Mumble”? Do they scrunch up their faces when they think of the hard-as-nails posse cut “Gangsta Sh*t”? Would their hearts sink if you were to bring up “Toilet Tisha”? Outkast had always gone their own way, but the album that would land them a KIDZ BOP rendition also has guest verses from steely rap veterans B-Real and Khujo Goodie, a song entitled “?” where Andre alone sounds off for a single fitful verse, and “I’ll Call B4 I Cum,” featuring the queen of Memphis hip-hop Gangsta Boo.

Stankonia’s sonics are built on fuzzy rock guitar and unendingly funky basslines directly descendent from Parliment-Funkadelic’s trippiest material, and it sounds as otherworldly decades later as it did when it was up against other chart-shaking, much more straight-ahead projects of 2000, like Nelly’s Country Grammar, Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP, and JAY-Z’s The Dynasty - Roc La Familia. Outkast is well aware of what Stankonia's singles mean to fans both diehard and casual, which is why they added remixes of "Ms. Jackson," "So Fresh, So Clean," and "B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)” to the deluxe version marking the album's 20th anniversary, along with a cappella versions of these songs. Enjoy them at your leisure, but the next time you fire up the album, be sure and go deep. There’s a lot to process.