December 6, 2000

Outkast : B.O.B.

It's massive, thrilling and graced with some head-fucking rhymes...

Outkast shrug off tags - just as Kelis rewired the possibilities of R&B with her sci-fi soul on 'Kaleidoscope', so Outkast are revivifying hip hop. Their genius 'Stankonia' opus finds them crossing genres, pushing back sonic boundaries and investing their rap with the sounds of electro glitches, Prince-style cybersoul flourishes and rock dynamics.

Truly, it seems, they can do anything. Even breathless, guitar-overload rawk-rap with a huge Morris Brown College Gospel Choir chorus. That's 'B.O.B.', and it's massive, thrilling and graced with some head-fucking rhymes from Dre and Big Boi. "Power music, electric revival" they all chant as it fades out - this is hip hop, Outkast are saying, but first and foremost this is simply utterly out-there power music...

Christian Ward

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