Anti
2005
The Craft
About This Album
OutKast was only one of many rap artists to gain a profile among music fans of all stripes, even as they sold millions of records, but it must have been difficult for those in the hip-hop underground to greet their general commercial breakout with equanimity rather than jealousy. Big Boi and Andre 3000 became paragons of cool among teenagers and 30-somethings, owned the ears and wallets of generalist listeners as well as the critical cognoscenti, and earned glowing features in The Source and Rolling Stone. No doubt the San Francisco duo Blackalicious were watching OutKast as first Stankonia and then Speakerboxxx/The Love Below began crossing over, and though Blackalicious already commanded respect from thousands of hip-hop fans, their third full LP found them seeking out new audiences with a slightly greater emphasis on radio-ready pop (courtesy of soon-to-be single "Powers," a dead ringer for "Hey Ya"). For several tracks, producer Chief Xcel recruited the elements of a funk band to shoulder the weight usually carried by his unerring sampling sense, and the guitars-and-beats formula works very well (not least because Xcel and rapper Gift of Gab feel free to desert the formula periodically).
Track List (try tracks 2,4,6,8,9,11 and 14)

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