Da Art of Storytellin' (A Prequel)

December 15, 2015 9:18 AM

I already knew OutKast; I loved their first album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, in part because of the clever way they interpolated funk and soul into rap. ATLiens, however, sounded unlike anything I’d ever heard or imagined. The vocal tones were familiar, but the rhyme patterns, the composition, the production were equal parts red clay, thick buttery grits, and Mars. Nothing sounded like ATLiens. The album instantly changed not just my expectations of music, but my expectations of myself as a young black Southern artist.
posted by ellieBOA (9 comments total)

This whole issue is so good. Regina Bradley's piece is awesome. We had the editors on to talk about the magazine a couple weeks ago.

And if you're looking for more good writing about Southern hip hop, the cover story for this week's Creative Loafing puts forth that Goodie Mob's Soul Food is the greatest Atlanta rap album of all time (written by Rodney Carmichael, who also appears in this issue of OA).
posted by Maaik at 9:42 AM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

This is great stuff. Thank you.
posted by Strange_Robinson at 9:43 AM on December 15, 2015

That is some fantastic, moving writing.
posted by naju at 9:51 AM on December 15, 2015

Oh man that last 'graph.
posted by Maaik at 10:01 AM on December 15, 2015

I miss OutKast.
posted by the painkiller at 10:18 AM on December 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

That's a fine essay; thanks for posting it.
posted by languagehat at 10:48 AM on December 15, 2015

This is so wonderfully written and makes me want to write music essays. Wow. Seriously amazing.
posted by gucci mane at 12:20 PM on December 15, 2015

That's probably one of the best pieces I've ever had the pure pleasure of reading. My grandmother was named Catherine. She was pretty fresh too.
posted by pearlybob at 8:59 PM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

ATLiens is still a crazy, jarring, fantastic album.
posted by shakespeherian at 9:31 PM on December 15, 2015