H.H.W. Hump Day Salute: OutKast

I dedicate the entirety of Hip-Hop Week Wednesday to the Lennon/ McCartney of hip-hop: Andre 3000 and Big Boi.

Audacious? Maybe. But "Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik" is one of the best hip-hop albums EVER; certainly one of the best debut albums in any genre. True, this was just a skosh before my time (where was I in 1994?! ahhhg) but luckily I got wise to OutKast around the "Hey Ya" era; then I found out that buried beneath that ubiquitous, monolithic Single was a thrilling double-album ("Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below") and, later digging deeper into OutKast's discography, saw a nearly reverse-chronological ascent to some of the most prolific hip-hop that, in the words of an anonymous commentor on this very blog, "these ears have been fucked-by."

"Southernplayalistic" has this smug indifference and sense of artistic entitlement that is virtually nonexistent among first albums. However, their self-assured swagger isn't about money, loot or gang notoriety like most of the hip-hop of the early 90s; it's more akin to the quiet victory of an aloof high school art freak in the face of trendy-- but stupid-- bullies... an underlying confidence that says "even though you don't get me, I kick ass."
Thus the name: OutKast. No, that's not just me trying to be clever. (Surprise!) On the poignant spoken-word piece "True Dat" (brought to us by Big Rube), we get the run-down of the word that is really more an explanation of OutKast themselves:

"An OutKast is someone who is not considered to be part of the normal world
He's looked at differently
He's not accepted because of his clothes, his hair
His occupation, his beliefs or his skin color
Now look at yourself, are you an OutKast? I know I am.
As a matter of fact, fuck being anything else."

And so it began: a career of beautifully eccentric work executed with frightening ingenuity and talent-- alongside more "mainstream" hits you might remember skewered on various "Now..." compilations (the aforementioned "Hey Ya;" "Ms. Jackson," "Rosa Parks," "So Fresh, So Clean," "Roses" et al). They reached fearlessly into every imaginable corner of the music universe, from speakeasy jazz to Hendrix-esque psychedelia to the soundtrack of the vaudevillian "Idlewild," effectively re-establisting Hotlanta as a musical hub and a hip-hop mecca.

So, OutKast, happy Hip-Hop Week, and on this Hump Day, we salute you. Thanks for over a decade of ear-fucking hip-hop.

And without further ado... Your urbandictionary.com word for Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009:
"buckin' [commemoratively selected from "Call of Da Wild" off of "Southernplayalistic..."]
1. A urban dance commonly seen in area in Memphis TN, similair to pop locking and breakdancing or the heel-toe and chickenhead all mixed into one
2. getting crunk and rebeling against the law
3. get gangsta, or show aggression. Displaying your preparedness to fight.
They were buckin so hard at the party. "
-thejunkie