OutKast is the greatest rap tag team in history. Few proclamations that bold hold true, but you’d be hard pressed to find two MCs with two unique and distinct styles that rap as well as Antwan “Big Boi” Patton and Andre “Andre 3000” Benjamin. Over almost two decades, OutKast has amassed a massive catalog that has made them one of the most successful rap groups of all-time. The group has a spacey southern flair that defies convention, and the fresh, imaginative approach to rap music has made the duo a critical and commercial smash. We broke down the group’s extensive discography and ranked its greatest records. Without further ado, I present the 25 Best OutKast Songs.
25. “Flip Flop Rock” (Feat. Killer Mike & Jay-Z)
Big Boi is a master of rapping at a relentless pace, and “Flip Flop Rock” is a display of that mastery. Though rather scattered conceptually, the song gets major contributions from Jay-Z and frequent OutKast collaborator, Killer Mike.
Producer(s): Big Boi, Mr. DJ
Album: Speakerboxxx
Chart Position: N/A
Best 3K Bar(s): N/A
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “We drop a little science off in every verse / They put that P.A. sticker on it cause they scared we gon’ curse / But the knowledge is the power, the cowards get devoured / Any hour, any cipher, any way to any height”
24. “Jazzy Belle”
“Jazzy Belle,” a smooth, almost hypnotizing cut, speaks in depth about the growing promiscuity of young women. It’s a deep record that requires very little dissection. Andre and Big Boi share tales of debauchery before going toe-to-toe in the third verse, approaching the subject from different angles (Andre talks of relationships with old flames before fame, Big Boi addresses golddiggers).
Producer(s): Organized Noize
Album: ATLiens
Chart Position: #52 on the Billboard Hot 100, #25 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
Best 3K Bar(s): “Went from yelling crickets and crows, bitches and hoes to queen thangs / Over the years I been up on my toes and yes I seen thangs / Like Kilroy, chill boy because them folks might think you soft / Talking like that man fuck them niggas I’m going off / And coming right back / Like boomerangs when you throw ‘em / With these old ghetto poems / Thinking it’s better for ‘em”
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “Having no mercy for the disrespectful ones, some / Be hanging around the crew looking for funds, dumb / Deaf and fine, they be asking me all about mine / How she doing how she be / I know she’s sipping that wine / Behind my back they squawk like vultures / Off and On like Trendz of Cultures”
23. “Ghetto Musick”
Andre 3000 doesn’t rap in “Ghetto Musick,” but his fingerprints are all over the track. From the high octane instrumental to the ballad-like bridge, there is no question that this song, which appeared on Big Boi’s half of the group’s 2003 double album, is a true OutKast song. ‘Twan’s sharp lyricism and fiery delivery pierce through a beat seemingly devoid of pockets to flow in and out of. It’s fresh and a bit unorthodox. That’s what makes it so fun.
Producer(s): Andre 3000
Album: Speakerboxxx
Chart Position: #93 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
Best 3K Bar(s): N/A
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “Fight off the shit and flush the waste down / The pipes of my life flow deep into the ground / Find my purpose on the surface of this Earth, this / Planet’s standards to us they have no purpose.”
22. “Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik”
The title track from the debut album, “Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik” has aged gracefully despite featuring a Big Boi that hadn’t quite grown into his voice yet and an Andre severely lacking in other-worldliness. The song reeks of charm with its super funky bass line and infectious hook, and though it isn’t on par with the music they would later make, it’s still a hell of a tune.
Producer(s): Organized Noize
Album: Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik
Chart Position: #74 on the Billboard Hot 100, #41 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
Best 3K Bar(s): “Step up in my shoes you crews sitting on Trues / And Vogues for the hoes only when we rolling through / Atlanta skies be blue / The sun is beaming it seeming / That I glisten, rather gleaming / 20/20 got me leaning to the side / Full of pride / Now ain’t that something / I’m dipping into your hood / This ain’t Braille but I’m bumping / Thumping out the roaches / Dungeon if ya’ll missed it / Big Gipp, Goodie Mob, PA, Outkast / Southernplaylistic.”
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “I take my time cruising round the city malls / And under my seat for you suckers it’s your final curtain call / The one two to the gauge p-u-m-p / You want to do a jack / I heat the barrel ‘til it’s empty, get me.”
21. “Humble Mumble” (Feat. Erykah Badu)
“Humble Mumble” is practically two different songs. ‘Dre and ‘Twan take their very distinct styles and drape them over two variations of the same track, bringing us poetry in motion. Both MCs move full speed ahead, allowing syllable after syllable to crash into our eardrums. Oh yeah, and then there’s some Erykah Badu, too.
Producer(s): Earthone III (OutKast)
Album: Stankonia
Chart Position: N/A
Best 3K Bar(s): “Blue-collar scholars, who’ll take your dolla, and wipe my ass with it / You living for the lotto never hit it, I met a critic / I made her shit her draws / She said she thought Hip Hop was only guns and alcohol / I said “Oh hell nah,” but yet it’s that too / You can’t discrima-hate ‘cause you done read a book or two”
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “Fuck wishing, you missing the ambition on your mission / Now you switching why you quitting cause it’s heated in the kitchen / Sloppy slipping in your pimping, nigga / You either pistol whoop the nigga or you choke the trigger”
20. “Chonkyfire”
“Chonkyfire” is a six-minute epic with roughly only two minutes of actual rapping. That’s because the instrumental is absolutely insane. The rapping is pretty stellar itself, though. There are few moments more colossal than Big Boi spitting some of the best bars of his storied career over the beat’s breakdown–it stands among one of the greatest outros ever The immortal skit at the end (“I wanna return this CD, man” “The Pimp Trick Gangsta Clique CD?”) makes the track even more classic.
Producer(s): OutKast
Album: Aquemini
Chart Position: N/A
Best 3K Bar(s): “This is my story, this is my song / And to them rudypoots don’t attempt to try this at home / It’s just a poem until y’all learn right from wrong / Know when to bless a situation, when to grab the chrome”
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “But you still stay with mom though playing the King like Don doe / You chocked up, you was the nigga that supposed to be loked up / Makin’ them think Hip Hop is dead, exhume the body if you ain’t scared / And if I see you in the streets I’d dap you down like you was bread”
19. “Wheelz of Steel”
Scratching has been an instrumental part of hip-hop since its inception. It has played a big part for OutKast, specifically. “Wheelz of Steel” features premiere scratching over a sample from progressive Dutch rock band Focus, and incorporates a rather sultry guitar riff. The duo plays off each other expertly, taking turns ripping the second verse. Both wit and charm are on full display (“We take no shit, like, umm, stopped up commodes”).
Producer(s): Earthtone Ideas (OutKast)
Album: ATLiens
Chart Position: N/A
Best 3K Bar(s): “The Pope and his folks got us under a scope / But for unknown reasons cause we don’t sell dope / That you distribute, we don’t contribute, to your clandestine / Activity, my soliloquoy, may be hard for some to swallow / But so is cod liver oil.”
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “It took your momma nine months to make it / But it only took a nigga thirty minutes to take it / Cut that crow, clean up I did, but I did so not safely / Don’t want no AIDS, no claps, or no rabies.”
18. “Knowing”
Frequent OutKast collaborator, Mr. DJ, is very good a making groovy records with hard-hitting drum programming and “Knowing” is no exception. Andre is his typical brilliantly peculiar self, lending his wailing falsetto for a decorative hook. Big Boi takes center stage, however, flowing steadily, once again displaying an incredible knack for the art of storytelling (consider this a bit of foreshadowing).
Producer(s): Mr. DJ
Album: Speakerboxxx
Chart Position: N/A
Best 3K Bar(s): N/A
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “Well here’s a formal introduction, something to make you ponder / The situation’s ugly, like In Living Color’s Wanda”
17. “Player’s Ball”
Basically, “Player’s Ball” is the original Outkast song. Though there are no traces of what their sound would eventually become, it without question showcased two talented MCs in all their uncanny chemistry. Perhaps the fluffy, gray Kangol Andre wore in the video should’ve been an early red flag that something strange and wonderful would soon take place, but not even that could’ve prepared us for the space aged titans of rap the duo would evolve into. There is something untamed about a young Big Boi’s flow, almost like he couldn’t quite control it yet. Still, there are signs that these kids from Georgia would be something formidable, and, in hindsight, it’s very exciting to listen to it when you know what’s coming down the road.
Producer(s): Organized Noize
Album: Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik
Chart Position: #37 on the Billboard Hot 100, #12 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
Best 3K Bar(s):
It goes, give me ten, and I’ll serve you then, now we bend / The corner in my Cadillac, my heart does not go pitty-pat for no rat / I’m leaning back my elbows out the window / Coke, rum and indo fills my body, where’s the party
Best Fat Sax Bar(s):
Ain’t no chimneys in the ghetto so I won’t be hanging my socks / On no chimney, I’m fit as a tick, fix me a plate / I got the remedy, some greens and that ham, not / Don’t need no ham hocks, don’t play me like I’m smoking rocks / I got the munchies, we got the Mary Jane in the Dungeon / Just to let you niggas know in 93, that’s how we coming
16. “Synthesizer” (Feat. George Clinton)
“Synthesizer” is one of the more slept on records in the OutKast discography. Discussing how fake the world is getting, Andre and Big Boi break down the pitfalls created by a society built on instant results, and one that focuses on the superficial rather than the substantial. George Clinton is a welcome addition as the duo advocates for records of substance over fluff pop records. Ironically, the synthesizer is just the mouthpiece for the message (don’t shoot the messenger, T-Pain).
Producer(s): OutKast
Album: Aquemini
Chart Position: N/A
Best 3K Bar(s): “Virtual reality, virtual, bullshit! / Synthesizer preachers can reach you up in the pulpit”
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “You want me to lolligag and talk that bullshit? / I refuse to play so I’m gon’ speak that Southern good shit / That harder than yo’ hood shit, lil’ shit / That make y’all niggas think about the trigger / Before you pull it, on liquor stores and banks / Them folks got more than enough bullets to put that ass off in the slang”
15. “A Life In The Day Of Benjamin Andre (Incomplete)”
“A Life In The Day Of Benjamin Andre (Incomplete)” is basically a complete dissection of Andre 3000’s life covering both the professional and the personal. Over an eerie arrangement of synths, Andre exudes wit and charm addressing details of his life previously untouched in such a direct manner. His erratic flow is surprisingly easy to follow, and it drives the story forward–a fitting match for the haunting track. What’s even more fitting, though, is how the song, like Andre’s life and career, remains unfinished, to be continued.
Producer(s): Andre 3000
Album: The Love Below
Chart Position: N/A
Best 3K Bar(s): “You’d dropped me off by the dungeon / Never came in, but I knew that you were wondering / Now are these niggas in this house up to something / Selling crack sack by sacks so they could function? / Well, yes and no / Yes we were selling it / But no it wasn’t blow / Cook it in the basement then move it at a show / Then grab the microphone and everybody yelled, “Ho!”
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): N/A
14. “Two Dope Boyz (In A Cadillac)”
In the middle we stay calm we just drop bombs. “Two Dope Boyz (In A Cadillac)” produced not only one of the most memorable choruses in the history of our genre; it also spawned one of the more popular rap blogs on the web today (2Dopeboyz). The two MCs both spit with great gusto and vigor, as if they are a unit proving their superiority to every single rapper except each other. This is pure, sub-woofer rattling goodness.
Producer(s): Organized Noize
Album: ATLiens
Chart Position: N/A
Best 3K Bar(s): “Yeah tight like nuts and bolts, sluts and hoes that get evicted / I’m dealin wit Queens in my castle ain’t worth to risk it / Now tricks be lookin’ at me like I’m they way up out the pro-jects / Can’t put you on my payroll, and no I ain’t got no Rolex”
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “Enough of the verality, fallacy, butter we speak not fiction / Speakin of pullin yo’ girl lookin at Jheri curls you bitches”
13. “Roses”
“Carolineeeeeee! She’s the reason for the word ‘bitch’.” Real guys go for real down to Mars girls, and “Roses” helped to expose this truth. A song constructed entirely on the notion that some women get a little too caught up in their own hype, it is as much a character study as it is a lecture. Big Boi, as he so often does, finds a way to perfectly round out the record with a stellar verse detailing his interactions with a gold digger. Together, they sent a not so subtle message to a large percentage of the women that choose to involve themselves with the men of music industry, the ones circling like vultures. Honesty is the best policy, especially when it makes for great music.
Producer(s): Andre 3000
Album: The Love Below
Chart Position: #9 on the Billboard Hot 100, #12 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
Best 3K Bar(s): N/A
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “No go on the raw sex, my AIDS test is flawless / Regardless, we don’t want to get involved with all them lawyers / And judges just to hold grudges in a courtroom / I wanna see your support bra, not support you”
12. “Git Up, Git Out” (Feat. Goodie Mob)
Goodie Mob + Organized Noize + OutKast = a true Dungeon Family collaboration. Phenomenal showings from, well, basically everybody make this song one of the best collaborations produced by the south to date. The record has a very positive message that’s relatable on any level–get up, get out, and get something. The record is conscious and inspirational without being preachy. Oh, and will someone please convince Cee-Lo to rap again? Please?
Producer(s): Organized Noize
Album: Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik
Chart Position: #109 on the Billboard Hot 100, #59 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
Best 3K Bar(s):
Never smelled aroma of diploma, but I write the deep ass rhymes
Best Fat Sax Bar(s):
Well, uh, git up, stand up. So what’s said, you dickhead / See when I was a youngsta, used to wear them fuckin Pro Keds / My mama made me do it, but the devil, he made me smart / Told me to jack them weak ass niggas for they fuckin Starters
11. “Return of the “G””
Sinister and menacing, “Return of the “G”” is both a woeful recounting of street malevolence and an honest admission of mobbing out of necessity. Much like Andre 3000 and Big Boi, the song represents two sides of the same coin. Andre dissects urban life and raises many important questions concerning its many problems. On the other hand, Big Boi speaks from the perspective of a gangster that doesn’t necessarily want to come up off the next man, but will for the sake of his family. Few songs are more polarizing or more fascinating.
Producer(s): Organized Noize
Album: Aquemini
Chart Position: N/A
Best 3K Bar(s): “Return of the gangsta, thanks ta’ / Them niggas that think you soft / And say y’all be gospel rappin’ / But they be steady clappin’ when you talk about / Bitches & switches & hoes & clothes & weed / Let’s talk about time travelin’, rhyme javelin / Somethin’ mind unravelin’ get down”
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “Don’t want that, but it comes though, most of the time you don’t know / Stickin’ together like flour and water to make that slow dough / We worked for everything we have and gon’ stick up for / Each other, like we brothers from another mother / Kind of like Mel Gibson and Danny Glover / Strictly for the Caddy lovers / And never the nut huggin’ punk motherfuckers”
10. “ATLiens”
The OutKast anthem that unpredictably spawned a term for Atlanta natives, “ATLiens” was one of the first tastes of the space-laced funk that the group would perpetually churn out following Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. Sampling Attillo Mineo’s “Around The World” (from a CD aptly titled Man In Space With Sounds), the group made a transition into a new age. It was with “ATLiens” that the question was first posed: how can the group be so out of this world, but still remain so down to earth? OutKast is perpetually ahead of the curve, yet always cognizant of its past.
Producer(s): Earthtone Ideas (OutKast)
Album: ATLiens
Chart Position: #35 on the Billboard Hot 100, #23 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
Best 3K Bar(s): “Now, my oral illustration be like clitoral stimulation / To the female gender, ain’t nothin better / Let me know when it’s wet enough to enter”
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “So go get your fuckin’ shine box, and your sack of nickels / It tickles to see you try to be like Mr. Pickles / Daddy Fat Sax, B-I-G B-O-I / It’s that same motherfucka that took them knuckles to your eye”
9. “The Way You Move”
Show me a person that doesn’t like “The Way You Move” and we’ll show you someone that is thoroughly unhappy with his or her life. Honestly, how can you dislike a song filled with this much positive energy? The lyrics are fun, the hook is filled to the brim with shameless “sing-in-the-shower” liveliness, and the beat itself is something you can dance to anywhere from a club to a 6th grade dance. The consistently underappreciated half of OutKast proved he was good for more than just mop-up duty with this undeniably infectious crossover hit. This is what is referred to as a timeless record. You can drop this in any year and it’s still a smash.
Producer(s): Carl Mo, Big Boi
Album: Speakerboxxx
Chart Position: #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, #2 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
Best 3K Bar(s): N/A
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “Skinny slim women got the cameltoe within them / You can hump them, lift them, bend them, give them / Something to remember, yell out / Timber when you fall through the chop shop”
8. “Elevators (Me & You)”
Probably the grooviest record in the entire OutKast discography—and that’s saying something—“Elevators (Me & You)” may also be one of the duo’s most well written songs. OutKast is big on the use of symbolism, and the elevator represents the rise out of the basement to the figurative penthouse, reflecting the group’s growing success. The song’s lyrics touch on various aspects of the group’s ascension, and also cover the troubles of success. It’s the thinking man’s approach to braggadocio.
Producer(s): Earthtone Ideas (OutKast)
Album: ATLiens
Chart Position: #12 on the Billboard Hot 100, #5 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
Best 3K Bar(s): “True, I’ve got more fans than the average man / But not enough loot to last me to the end of the week / I live by the beat, like you live check-to-check / If you don’t move yo’ feet then I don’t eat, so we like neck-to-neck”
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “A 1 2, a one two dope niggas / In the Cadillac” they call us, went from Player’s Ball to ballers / Putting the South up on the map was like Little Rock to bangin / Niggas say motherfuck that playin, they payin / We stay in, laying vocals, locals done made it with them big boys / Up in this industry, “Outkast, yea them niggas they makin big noise” / Over a million sold to this day, niggas they take it lightly / ’96 gonna be that year that all y’all player-haters can bite me”
7. “Skew It On The Bar-B” (Feat Raekwon)
There are few greater cosigns than one from the Wu, especially for a group from the South (in the 90s no less), where the music is viewed as all bounce with no substance. Raekwon, the Chef himself, blessed OutKast with a verse on the thumping “Skew It On The Bar-B,” and both the record and the world are all the better for it. Raekwon is surprisingly comfortable on this groovy southern cut, which takes its sample from a 70’s TV show: Police Woman. Andre is in rare form on the song–which is really saying something, given his standard of excellence–as if to refuse to be outdone by anyone, even another rap legend. His competitive fire kicks off the record, and once the song is in high gear it just keeps moving.
Producer(s): Organized Noize
Album: Aquemini
Chart Position: N/A
Best 3K Bar(s): “The common denominator, the nigga numerator / Never know who the hater, niggas cater to your ego / I’m sorry like Atari whose the cousin to Coleco…Vision / Caught a Rico, back on the street like Chico…DeBarge / He large and got a ‘Llac in the garage /Few parts here and there, I declare hard, my lawd”
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “I bust raps like D-boys bust gats, shit / We the type of people that don’t bury the axe / Or the hatchet, every time we see your link we snatch it / Ridin’ round our hood talkin’ that dumb shit, your cabbage / Is cracked, like plumber’s ass, and summer’s grass / I been in the game for a minute, seen some suckaz like y’all passin’ / Thinkin’ you’re light skinned, aight then, lil’ boy why you frightened? / The Dungeon Family gon’ be here nigga so keep writing”
6. “So Fresh, So Clean”
“So Fresh, So Clean” is just plain cool. The snares and hi-hats serve as the perfect pulse for the group’s unbelievably permeating funk. The title is quite fitting; no other group could make a vintage 70s interpolation feel this original and uncontaminated. Few artists would even attempt it with such confidence. There is a certain air of effortlessness that comes with being cool and knowing it, and “So Fresh, So Clean” masterfully captures that and bottles it. By the time Andre starts crooning on about how they’re the coolest muthafunkers on the planet, you’ve already been convinced for quite some time.
Producer(s): Organized Noize
Album: Stankonia
Chart Position: #30 on Billboard Hot 100, #10 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
Best 3K Bar(s):
Those huge baby eyes, get to runnin off at they mouth / And tellin me everything that’s on yo’ nasty mind / They say you’re malnutritioned in need of vitamin D / And invitin’ me to that tingle in your spine
Best Fat Sax Bar(s):
Canary yellow seven-nine Seville is on display / My nigga Bongo hooked it up, Omar gon’, dip my rims today / So a nigga can, ride out to the Honeycomb, Hideout / I’mma show you how to, wild out like Jack Tripper / Let me be bambino on your snipples
5. “Da Art Of Storytellin’ (Part 1)”
“Da Art Of Storytellin’ (Pt. 1)” lives up to its billing, displaying the incredible finesse required to manipulate the subtle nuances of details to effectively capture a scene. The second verse piggybacks on the first perfectly, and the central theme is conveyed throughout the song with a rather dexterous display of lyricism. The woozy instrumental is subduing, and it serves as the perfect bedrock for the duo to exhibit their artistry.
Producer(s): Mr. DJ
Album: Aquemini
Chart Position: #67 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
Best 3K Bar(s): “All of the bullshit we on our back staring at the stars above / Talking bout what we gonna be when we grow up / I said what you wanna be, she said, “Alive” / It made me think for a minute, then looked in her eyes / I coulda died, time went on, I got grown / Rhyme got strong, mind got blown, I came back home / To find lil’ Sasha was gone”
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “Not no parks, backseats or things of that nature / Had to hate ya player, I’m dicking the ho down never said I paid her / Straight laid her, slayed the bitch like Darth Vader, made her / From College Park and Fayette, all the way down to Decatur”
4. “Hey Ya!”
No matter how you slice it, “Hey Ya!” was an absolute mega-hit; a song with universal appeal that made the masses fall in love. Armed with a very clear-cut message and super catchy lyrics the song reached unparalleled heights for the group, spending nine weeks at #1 and going platinum. Andre took his genre-bending to new levels with this one, and was rewarded magnificently
Producer(s): Andre 3000
Album: The Love Below
Chart Position: #1 on Billboard Hot 100, #9 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
Best 3K Bar(s): N/A
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): N/A
3. “Ms. Jackson”
Forever. Forever, ever. Forever, ever? The song that catapulted OutKast to mainstream success is also the group’s most moving record to date. “Ms. Jackson,” inspired by Andre’s actual tug of war with neo-soul singer/songwriter Erykah Badu and her mother over the welfare of their son, is a testament to the old adage that great music comes from pain. Big Boi expertly weaves his own tales of struggle in, but smartly plays a supporting role. 3K is the star here. Together, the two MCs mold a record fashioned to withstand the test of time, one that may actually live forever.
Producer(s): Earthtone III (OutKast)
Album: Stankonia
Chart Position: #1 on Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
Best 3K Bar(s): The whole damn verse.
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “She need to get a piece of the American pie and take her bite out / That’s my house, I’ll disconnect the cable and turn the lights out / And let her know her grandchild is a baby, and not a paycheck / Private school, daycare, shit medical bills I pay that”
2. “Bombs Over Bagdad”
No song better summarizes and epitomizes what OutKast is than “Bombs Over Bagdad.” The song is as eclectic and unmistakable as the artists it embodies. Both Andre and ‘Twan use sporadic flows over an even more erratic drum programming to describe the same streets in very different ways. The pace is almost frantic, but you’re given just enough time to catch your breath before the gospel-esque vocals bring the song home. Hendrix-era guitar riffs at near hyper speeds seal the deal.
Producer(s): Earthtone III (OutKast)
Album: Stankonia
Chart Position: #69 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
Best 3K Bar(s): “Get a life, now they on sale / Then I might cast you a spell, look at what came in the mail /A scale and some Arm and Hammer, soul gold grill and a baby mama / Black Cadillac and a pack of pampers / Stack of questions with no answers”
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “Like that there boy and will still stay street / Big things happen every time we meet / Like a track team, crack fiend, dyin’ to geek / Outkast bumping up and down the street / Slantback, Cadillac, ’bout 5 niggas deep / 75 MC’s freestyling to the beat”
1. “Rosa Parks”
“Rosa Parks” is one of the greatest rap songs ever made. Completely crafted by the legendary duo both conceptually and sonically, the record symbolizes a transition from the old guard into a new age. Both verses mirror each other, explaining why OutKast pursued making such wildly different (and fantastic) music following Southernplayalisticadillacmusik, and they find each lyricist at his most potent. The two styles are as distinct as ever, and the song is as good now as it was when it was released in 1998. That’s why it’s hands down the best OutKast song of all-time.
Producer(s): OutKast
Album: Aquemini
Chart Position: #55 on Billboard Hot 100, #19 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
Best 3K Bar(s): “I met a gypsy and she hipped me to some life game / To stimulate then activate the left and right brain / Said baby boy you only funky as your last cut / You focus on the past your ass’ll be a has what”
Best Fat Sax Bar(s): “Many a day has passed, the night has gone by / But still I find the time to put that bump off in your eye / Total chaos, for these playas, thought we was absent / We takin’ another route to represent the Dungeon Family / Like Great Day, me and my nigga decide to take the back way / We stabbing every city then we headed to that bat cave / ATL, Georgia, what do we do for ya / Bulldoggin’ hoes like them Georgetown Hoyas”
You might also like
More from Features
As DOJA CAT Breaks the Charts with Elvis, RESPECT. Rereleases Exclusive Interview!
As our Hip-Hop diva cover girl, Doja Cat, solidifies herself with the most #1 slots for any female at pop …
CASH MONEY Lens Man DERICK G is Photo Rich and Doesn’t Die Tryin’
IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT. Whether he's directing a photo shoot or racing though the streets in his whip, Derick G always …
The Photo Click: BEN WATTS Snaps Hip-Hop Royalty Mary J, Andre 3000 & TI
THIS ENGLISHMAN DOESN’T TAKE PICTURES. He tries to catch lightning in a bottle and then take a flick of that.
3 Comments
Rosa Parks is the best song ever.
[…] (get your tutorial on via Respect Mag) […]