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OutKast is so much more then a hip-hop group. Andre and Big Boi captivate their audience with
growing momentum with their smooth southern sounds mixed with blues, gospel, jazz, rock, and soul, OutKast distinguishes themselves as musically diverse, creative, and unique. Beyond the music and beyond the fame, Big Boi and Andre compose eloquent, complex, and powerful statements directed at social, cultural, and generational problems. ... Outkast speaks to more people than the president, as their albums will no doubt combine to be the most successful and unique southern hip-hop sound to every grace the Southern silence. Like an elevator, Outkast pushed the button to the top, reaching millions of listeners as the volume is cranked up and the bass vibrates the soul. ... ATLiens, specifically, is the album celebrating both of the artists home, Atlanta Georgia. ... ATLiens signifies not only hometown pride, ATL, but also feeling of being alien; to be Outkast. ... By understanding the history that allowed these two very different artists to converge as a dynamic powerful duo, and looking at the introduction of a song titled "The 13th Floor / Growing Old", we see that Outkast perpetuates a culturally encoded form of communication directed at younger generations, that helps provide a stable foundation, promoting unity, equality, and humanity against the remnants of an exploitative system. ... In VH1s special on Outkast, the three bedroom house where Antwan, his mother, and fifty others shared the tiny space within the crumbling walls is astonishing. ... One of the artists lived with his grandmother, who allowed the transformation of the medieval basement into the first studio of the soon to be OutKast. ... Two Shades Deep, changed their name to Outkast because in their words, " Its us as a people since were born". ... Reid saw the new improved OutKast at a concert months later and was in awe, immediately signing them as his first hip-hop group. ... Finally, ATLiens was released in 1999, as America was blessed with a powerful series of sermons and testimony, of the harsh state of reality that plagues America, and particularly the South. ...
The entire album is filled with proverbial references and keen assessments of cultural and social problems plaguing Atlanta. ... Their music, unlike most of the mainstream hip-hop and rap, refers to social issues, current problems, and a general concern for the direction society is headed. ...
These lines had a profound impact on me, raising the hairs on my arms with their eloquence and sincerity. ... OutKast, with their roots in Atlanta , may be insinuating that the divisions between different skin tones of blacks have distracted African Americans from organizing to form a single unified power. ... Outkast asks, What are we doing if we want to be at a presidential level? ... (Internet 2) Outkast refers to this character, who created Babylon, indicates a fear of becoming evil and immoral as a result of life threatening conditions. ... Outkast fears a situation where materialism overpowers everything that is good, forcing one to be a hunter as Nimrod; committing murder, burglary, or dealing drugs. ... The reference of the hunter continues with changing of the season, but it is a criticism about not challenging the inhumanity that exists, not challenging the social inequalities, and not challenging a system that refuses to fix the problems that were created through centuries of exploitation. ... With so many indications that Outkast supports people to be themselves, it is likely that the same people that portray this tainted picture are the same people that are blind to human rights. ... The people must recognize that Outkast speaks the truth, and the horror of reality, known as mankind, will reveal all of the revelations. ... (Internet 3)
In twenty-nine lines Outkast preached an entire sermon. ... Outkast urges the people to demand for something better. ... They are preachers to an upcoming generation who refuses to accept social inequality and cultural inhumanity.
Approximate Word count = 4421
Approximate Pages = 17.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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