Review Summary: Its flaws in composition are made up for in pure skill, power of reference, and like-ability.
It’s such a disappointment to see Outkast now longer fit together as a group really. Both members, Big Boi and Andre 3k, show pleasant potential as solo artists, but together on classics like
Aquemini and
ATLeins they showed what they could truly create as a group. Seeing them fall apart a bit after the years is a bit saddening hearing both of these albums. However, Big Boi is here once again to release
Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty, an album that is considerable proof that Big Boi might’ve been the best member of Outkast anyways.
The flaws of the record may be things that Andre 3000 could've fixed (cohesiveness, lack of unique song structures, subjects), but that just proves why I always liked Big Boi more. Big Boi’s rapping has always sounded more effortless than Andre’s ever did, where Andre tries to make something that would grip our hearts and make our brains think, Big Boi is the epitome of why southern rap works; it lets the listener have fun. There are thought inspiring moments (“Fo Yo Sorrows” mostly), but it’s a record mostly inspired by Big Boi’s love of just having fun and goofing off on the mic while still killing it. Nothing says this better on the record than “Shutterbug”, a vocoder funk jam, surprisingly produced by former Roots keyboardist Scott Storch. Big Boi’s awkward pushing of wordplay and sing-songy delivery sways over this lush groove with precision, with the Roger Troutman-esqe vocoder giving the listener a healthy injection of funk nostalgia. It’s a piece of songwriting perfection that sounds just easy.
Where Big Boi lacks in perfect composition ability, he makes up for in his ability to reference and add upon the already diverse library of hip hop. “Shine Blockas”, a song that feels like a montage to “International Players Anthem”, adds on a slurred Gucci Mane chorus and some Big Boi verses that indulge both in some bizarre description (“with my southern drawl, awkwardly I spray, like the backside of a skunk”) and some inspiring lines with wordplay inside (“we chose to lead not to follow/it’s hard pill to swallow/ better get prescriptions filled, because there might not be tomorrow”). He borrows some of
Cuban Linx’s huge theatrical thump on “General Patron”, and manages to make it his own piece dismantling the wack and fake MC’s. “Tangerine” is a mindless dance jam that is laced with irony, written over a dark African drum groove, and yet this horror African instrumental piece manages to work well with Big Boi’s speedy rapping. “Hustle Blood” works as a swerving reggae-tinged ballad inspite of two artists that would expectantly put together a crap track on their own (Jamie Foxx and Lil’ Jon), but together with our hero sound fantastic.
If this album was meant to prove anything, it’s that a great rap album can be made despite cohesive subjects or even cohesive songwriting. None of the songs sound much a like, most of them sound slopped together with little regard for order and it sounds like pure chaos. But of course, Big Boi is a spastic writer; he was obviously aiming for this. The spazzy switches in moods and tempos and feelings makes the whole thing nearly unpredictable. What can you expect from the T.I. featured “Tangerine”? or a Too $hort, George Clinton, and Sam Chris featured “Fo Yo Sorrows”? It’s been a while (or at least, since the last real Outkast album), that an album has been this unpredictable just from its track list. Even with it’s lack of a cohesive nature, it doesn’t matter because all of the songs on their own are well structured in a workmanlike fashion, and are great pieces. Only “Theme Song” (a bonus track) and the chorus of “Follow Us” don’t really sound that great, and even then, it’s not a big deal.
Sir Luscious Left Foot is a fantastic, spazzy summer hip hop album, and it just proves to us why we should re-listen to Outkast records and consider that, maybe; Big Boi was the better rapper after all. Anything could happen.
