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Stankonia is a hip-hop album by OutKast, released by La Face Records (a subcorporation of Arista Records, BMG) on October 31, 2000. The album reached number 2 on the Billboard 200 chart , selling over 530,000 copies the first week of its release. It was critically well-received, obtaining high marks from publications such as Rolling Stone and The Onion. It was also voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll and it was ranked 23 in Spin's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005". In 2003, the album was ranked number 359 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2006, Time magazine named Stankonia as one of the 100 best albums of all time.[1] The limited edition alternate album cover contains a computer-generated image of a subset of the Mandelbrot set, a fractal.
Songs and music
Stank, a commonly used word on the album, is derived from a southern U.S. pronunciation of stink, the original meaning of the word funk. George Clinton applied the term stank to the more carnal, hedonistic things in life, including funk music. "Stankonia" is the name of a fictional land at "the centre of the earth, seven light years below sea level", which is "the place from which all 'funky thangs' come", according to the album's opening lyrics. The lyrical content is divided between verses from Big Boi and André 3000. The artists describe themselves as "a player and a poet", respectively, and this is reflected in the lyrics; Big Boi tends to deal with standard gangsta fare (such as guns, hoes, and pimping on songs such as "Snappin & Trappin" and "We Luv Deez Hoez") while André 3000 talks about other elements of "stanking", using metaphors about elephants, ski slopes, and the four humours.
Part of the reason for Stankonia's acclaim and popularity was the diversity of its musical influences, which led to comparisons to Prince. It incorporates many musical genres to create a unique-sounding whole. For example, the album opens with Indian tablas and harmonium, then launching into a heavy metal-style electric guitar riff on "Gasoline Dreams" before turning to slick P-funk on the second song (fourth track overall) "So Fresh, So Clean". The album also incorporates influences from gospel, ("Toilet Tisha"), samba ("Humble Mumble") and drum and bass ("B.O.B."). This stylistic diversity was tied together by the pseudo-psychedelic samples, emphasizing trippy synthesizers, spacey sound effects, techno-tinged percussion, and weird 70s-style psychedelic funk, updated in a more contemporary hip-hop context, such as influences by Sly & the Family Stone's There's a Riot Goin' On - most evident on the title track, and from which the album cover was borrowed.
Track listing
All tracks are produced by Earthtone III, a production team consisting of OutKast and David "Mr. DJ" Sheats, except for "So Fresh, So Clean", "Spaghetti Junction", and "We Luv Deez Hoez", which are produced by Organized Noize.
- "Intro" - 1:09
- "Gasoline Dreams" (featuring Khujo Goodie of Goodie Mob) - 3:34
- "I'm Cool" (Interlude) - 0:42
- "So Fresh, So Clean" - 4:00
- Samples "Before the Night is Over" by Joe Simon
- "Ms. Jackson" - 4:30
- "Snappin' & Trappin'" (featuring Killer Mike & J-Sweet) - 4:19
- "D.F." (Interlude) - 0:27
- "Spaghetti Junction" - 3:57
- "Kim & Cookie" (Interlude) - 1:12
- "I'll Call Before I Come" (featuring Gangsta Boo & Eco) - 4:18
- "B.O.B." - 5:04
- "Xplosion" (featuring B-Real) - 4:08
- "Good Hair" (Interlude) - 0:14
- "We Luv Deez Hoez" (featuring BackBone & Big Gipp of Goodie Mob) - 4:10
- "Humble Mumble" (featuring Erykah Badu) - 4:50
- "Drinkin' Again (Interlude)" - 0:24
- "-" - 1:28
- "Red Velvet" - 3:52
- "Cruisin' in the ATL" (Interlude) - 0:19
- "Gangsta Shit" (featuring Slimm Calhoun, C-Bone & T-Mo of Goodie Mob) (Produced by Carl Mo for Earthtone III) - 4:41
- "Toilet Tisha" - 4:24
- "Slum Beautiful" (featuring Cee-Lo of Goodie Mob) - 4:07
- "Pre-Nump (Interlude)" - 0:27
- "Stankonia (Stanklove)" (featuring Big Rube & Sleepy Brown) - 6:51
Album singles
Chart history
Album
Singles
Personnel
OutKast:
Guest performers
Instrumentalists:
- Donnie Mathis - guitar
- David "Whild" Brown - guitar
- Jason Freeman - horns
- Jerry Freeman - horns
- Sleepy Brown - piano, synthesised bass
- Marvin "Chanz" Parkman - piano, keyboards
- Earthtone III & Organized Noize - keyboards
- Preston Crump - bass guitar, synthesized bass
- Aaron Mills - bass guitar
- Robert Grister - bass guitar
- Dookie Blossumgame - bass guitar
- Victor Alexander - drums
Other people:
References
External links
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