Listen Up: Aquemini by OutKast

“Aquemini” is Southern hip-hop’s genre-blurring magnum opus by the Atlanta duo Outkast released by LaFace Records on September 29th, 1998. “Aquemini” blended the vast personalities of both Andre 3000 and Big Boi, putting Atlanta on the map and more widely proving the South had something to say.

The album title represents the blend of personalities: Big Boi the Aquarius and Andre the Gemini. The complimentary album cover looks as if it were from a cult-classic 70’s blaxploitation film.

In my opinion, the production is some of the finest work to come from Atlanta. It features an A-List cast of hometown legends ranging from the producer trio Organized Noize (Rico Wade, Ray Murray & Sleepy Brown) who laced four tracks including “Skew It on the Bar-B” with a legendary appearance from New York’s own Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan. Mr. DJ produced three tracks including my personal favorite “Da’ Art of Storytellin, Pt. 2”. Last, but not least Outkast produced the bulk of the album themselves at Atlanta staple Tree Sound Studios in Norcross, GA, which engineer Paul Diaz founded in 1988. One defining approach that set this album and Outkast apart from their peers was integrating hip-hop samples and drum programming with an all-star cast of Atlanta musicians, including Vincent Alexander (Drums), Omar Phillips (Percussion), LaMarquis Jefferson & Preston Crump (Bass), Marvin “Chanz” Parkman (Keys), Tomi Martin & Craig Love (Guitar), amongst many others. Songs such as “Aquemini,” “SpottieOttieDopaliscious,” and “Liberation” truly highlight this all-star cast of musicians. The recording and mixing sonically stand out to me among any hip-hop album to date, thanks especially to engineer Neal Pogue.

Dungeon Family members Goodie Mob (T-Mo, Khujo & Big Gipp) all make an appearance on “Y’all Scared.” Cee-Lo also makes an incredibly soulful appearance on “Liberation.” Not to mention funk legend George Clinton on Synthesizer.

This album felt to me like the moment Atlanta stopped asking for recognition and started defining hip-hop’s future direction. I highly recommend this album if you haven’t had the pleasure of hearing it.

~Gordon Hogan

👉Listen on Tidal: https://tidal.com/album/43868/u