Don'tcha just love it when you know you're gonna love a record, then ya hear it and you know you were right?

I'm in the middle of Outkast's "The Love Below" disc, and it's the sound of a thousand golden-age Prince b-sides escaping the grave and bursting forth with orgasmic multiplicity. If Andre 3000 was on to something when he mentioned sending Pink to "Prince class" in this week's issue of "Entertainment Weekly", then he musta passed the course with flying colors. Wow.

And I still have Big Boi "Speakerboxxx" disc to get through. Yum.

If you don't know much about this album, you have no idea what you're in for. Even if you DO know, you're in for some surprises. I'm loving this. It came out today - GET IT.

Ok AnX - gonna buy that mutha 2morrow, when I get in2 work!

bananacologne said:

Ya gotta. Dang. I've been waiting for an album to sound like this for like a decade, at least.

Anxiety said:

I ABSO-F***IN' - LUTELY AGREE

By The way...don't be expectin' Big Boi's disc to give ya the same feelin'...this album is ALL about Andre!

Anxiety said:

damn

u know how 2 create anticipation

go andre

do the damn thing!

eleven said:

From everything I've heard about Big Boi's disc, it's a lot better than people might give it credit for. I get the idea that the Andre disc is the showstopper and the Big Boi disc is the sleeper that'll grow on you once the novelty of "The Love Below" wears off. I haven't listened to "Speakerboxxx" yet, so the jury's still out where I'm concerned...

Take it from a guy who doesn't like hip hop- "The Love Below" is the real deal. Andre 3000 is a force to be reckoned with...

I'm listening to it right now. I don't think Prince would be this rauncy though. It kind of reminds of me a totally sexed up TRC (the fact that there are a lot of interludes, great music, it has a story, etc). I'm only on "She Lives In My Lap". Amazing. I don;t think anyone bought this album for the Big Boi disc but it might be good.

VinnyM27 said:

Nah, current day Prince wouldn't come up with some of this stuff, but the Prince of "Scarlet Pussy" and "Shockadelica" is right THERE. I hope I can give the Big Boi disc a fair listen after digging on this disc...

So Andre fucks with a few acoustic guitar riffs and a couple of keys and now he's made a "Prince" album? The Love Below is one of the biggest Twinkies I've ever bought, golden on the edges but filler in the middle. It has it's moments (i.e. Prototype, She Lives In My Lap, Love Hater) but the sad thing is that Outkast will go several times platinum for this and it's no where near up to par with Aquemini nor Stankonia. Big Boi and Andre should have whittled the material down to one disc in order to make another classic.

send the discs to me then? i'm broke,

Big Boi's CD has it's get-down moments. But Dre...I mean, come on, dude. He's taking it to the next level. If he is trying to bring back that old school Prince funk, then he's doing a bang-up job. As I said in another post regarding this subject, Sparkboxxx/The Love Below is the best hip-hop album of 2003.

Andre 3000's disk is a perfect Prince fans disk.. but I must tell ya, as much as I love the disk.. It still doesnt compare to Prince music.. I think its because its new, and all that crap that follows, everyone is freakin out..

Besides that, its a great disk.. highly recommended.!!

4 stars

In some respects "The Rainbow Children" was Prince's answer to Neo-Soul especially of the D'Angelo "Voodoo" variety, where spoken word artist Saul Williams called Prince out for laxness in the liner notes to "Voodoo." A lot of other things, too, but that was a flashpoint.

For years Neo-Soul artists had hailed Prince as one of their forerunners, and in many noticeable ways, hey drew inspiration from aspects of his vocals, instrumentation, songwriting, and production.

All the drama over the JW lyrics aside, "The Rainbow Children" was critically hailed. It was a classic Prince album with a Neo-Soul twist. Or a classic Neo-Soul album with a Prince twist.

Now, Andre brings the electro-psycho funk rock pop (with a hip hop twist no less) and one wonders, if Prince is listening to Andre's many shout-outs to him in "The Love Below." Not a direct critique like Saul Williams/Questlove/D'angelo... but hopefully a refresher on what about Prince's music could get people feeling happy, get the clubs moving, and force itself into the masses ear tastebuds.
.
[This message was edited Tue Sep 23 14:16:02 PDT 2003 by NuPwrSoul]

Anxiety said:

YOU SAID IT! It's been a long time since i've been this excited about a disc. it's fantastic, to put it mildly.

Its just what my ears have been itching for (too bad, or thank goodness) for Andre. And for $11.88, 2 cd, my top 5 of the year just got tighter.

and BTW, its not P by any means, its just Andre on the top of his game

.
[This message was edited Tue Sep 23 15:23:54 PDT 2003 by jthad1129]

the love below sounds like it got a 3 on it 2 me...patiently waiting 4 the new d'angelo album aka NOW THIS is the best album that Prince never made or will it be Maxwell's next one or wait will it be Raphael Saadiq's project?

Give the Speakerboxxx disc a chance it's a very solid hip hop album.

classic77 said:

I am about 2 listen 2 that cuz "Ghetto Muzik" is THE JAYM!


Anyway, I thought Andre's The Love Below was very very refreshing, very musically talented, catchy, and INSPIRATIONAL most of all.

I hope these MTV TRL fam idiots will fall in2 the realness that Andre is presenting on here, or they may leave this classic in the dust, but fuck them, that's more 4 us!.


I didnt compare this 2 Prince like u guys did, although about 3 or 4 songs sound like P would hav dun it, but Andre is ON HIS OWN, and is holing his own 2 feet, and that what makes this a classic album. A Metamorphosis, A calling from the roots.

classic77 said:

I gave it a listen this afternoon, after digesting Andre's disc and some other new stuff I bought today...I really like "Speakerboxxx" - it's a lot of fun; good party music, kinda on a Missy Elliot level - my only problems with it is that it gets a little samey near the middle, and I hate when a good groove starts building on an album and some goofy interlude skit comes in and breaks it up. Yeah, there's skits on the Andre disc too, but it flows better (in my opinion).

I think both discs are going to grow on me, though - I'd love to meld them into one disc with selections from both albums.

I'm watching Outkast's live appearance on 106th & Park on BET right now. They look sooo cool. They'zzz da joint!!!

I'm SO disconnected right now - gotta get this, Badu, make a major trip to da wrekkasto

The best part...it was only $10.99 at Best Buy today!

TRON said:

SAY WHAT!!!???

OutKast was quoted as saying that "hip-hop is dead," apparently trying to emulate Miles' seismic shot. But I love the fact they're trying to do something different. I have seen the videos Dre3K and Boi's lead singles, and they're both hot. I am looking forward to getting this set.

Man, in the course of 3-4 weeks, we get new OutKast, Sting, Badu and Me'Shell? Consider us lucky.

namepeace said:

There's a new Meshell??!!!

ok, so i'm on the last track of the disc and it was such a fun cd. and at the core, it seems kinda deep but i need to think on that one. its not very prince-y in my opinion...much more like cameo and rick james and p-funk...but i recognize that this is a prince fan site and it is only normal that things are compared to his work. i have not even listened to big boi's disc yet...can't wait for that!

eleven said:

I like Big Boi, his voice n flow is hot. Who is really producing the tracks though, Dre n Big Boi, or the beat makers at Arista? The artists have input, but there are so many other folks involved

imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty said:

Yeah, true enough, and on repeated listens all the other sounds and influences and intentions reveal themselves - in several places, Andre's phrasing is a lot like that of Rick James, and it would be simplistic to say that this is a 21st Century version of Ready For The World.

I think my point was more that the spirit of fun, the sexy psychadelic funk, the fusion, the experimentation...all the moods that made Prince's classic stuff the most fun (for me, anyway) feel present on "The Love Below". When I listen to this, I can feel the fun they had making it.