Stankonia
Encyclopedia
Stankonia is the fourth studio album
by American hip hop
duo OutKast
, released October 31, 2000 on La Face Records. The album debuted at number 2 on the U.S. Billboard 200
chart, selling over 530,000 copies the first week. Stankonia received general acclaim from music critics, based on an aggregate score of 95/100 from Metacritic
. It received rave reviews from publications such as USA Today
and the Los Angeles Times
. It was also voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice
Pazz & Jop
critics' poll. In 2003, the album was ranked number 359 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
.
. 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 center 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 gun
s, hoes, and pimp
ing on songs such as "Snappin & Trappin" and "We Luv Deez Hoez") while André 3000 talks about other elements of "stanking", using metaphor
s about elephants, ski slopes, and the four humours.
Part of the reason for Stankonias 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 tabla
s 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 production, emphasizing trippy synthesizers, spacey sound effects, techno-tinged percussion, and weird 70s-style psychedelic funk, updated in a more contemporary hip-hop context. The album's cover is an homage to Sly & the Family Stone
's There's a Riot Goin' On
.
, a fractal
.
of The Village Voice
gave it an A rating and described Stankonia as "comic and expansive P-Funk
". Allmusic gave the album 5 out of 5 stars and wrote "given the variety of moods, it helps that the album is broken up by brief, usually humorous interludes, which serve as a sort of reset button. It takes a few listens to pull everything together, but given the immense scope, it's striking how few weak tracks there are". Entertainment Weekly
s Ken Tucker wrote that "Stankonia reeks of artful ambition rendered with impeccable skill" and gave the album an A rating. Stankonia is the eleventh-highest ranked album of the century on Metacritic
with a score of 95, indicating "universal acclaim".
In 2006, Time
magazine named Stankonia as one of the 100 best albums of all time. In 2009, Pitchfork Media
ranked Stankonia #13 on its list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s, and Rhapsody
ranked it at #12 on its "100 Best Albums of the Decade" list. Rhapsody also ranked the album #6 on its "Hip-Hop’s Best Albums of the Decade" list. Entertainment Weekly
put it on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list, saying, "With hummable hits ('Ms. Jackson') and out-there experiments ('B.O.B.'), the rap duo gave us all a visa to the funky if fictional land of Stankonia in 2000." Along with the album being certified quadruple Platinum, it continued Outkast's streak of one album outselling the previous album.
Guest performers
Instrumentalists:
Other people:
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by American hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
duo OutKast
OutKast
Outkast is an American hip hop duo based in East Point, Georgia, consisting of Atlanta native André "André 3000" Benjamin and Savannah, Georgia-born Antwan "Big Boi" Patton. They were originally known as Two Shades Deep but later changed the group's name to OutKast...
, released October 31, 2000 on La Face Records. The album debuted at number 2 on the U.S. Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, selling over 530,000 copies the first week. Stankonia received general acclaim from music critics, based on an aggregate score of 95/100 from Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. It received rave reviews from publications such as USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
and the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
. It was also voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
critics' poll. In 2003, the album was ranked number 359 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
.
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 funkFunk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
. George Clinton
George Clinton (funk musician)
George Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...
applied the term stank to the more carnal
Carnal knowledge
Carnal knowledge is an archaic or legal euphemism for sexual intercourse. The term derives from the Biblical usage of the verb know/knew, as in the King James and other versions, a euphemism for sexual conduct...
, hedonistic
Hedonism
Hedonism is a school of thought which argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good. In very simple terms, a hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure .-Etymology:The name derives from the Greek word for "delight" ....
things in life, including funk music
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
. "Stankonia" is the name of a fictional land at "the center of the earth, seven light years below sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
", 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
Big Boi
Antwan André Patton , better known by his stage name Big Boi, is an American rapper, song-writer, record producer and actor, best known for being a member of American hip hop duo OutKast alongside André 3000. His work in the duo has produced six studio albums. During the duo's hiatus, he and André...
and André 3000
André 3000
André Lauren Benjamin , better known by his stage name André 3000 is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor, best known for being part of American hip-hop duo OutKast alongside fellow rapper Big Boi...
. 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
Gangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....
fare (such as gun
Gun
A gun is a muzzle or breech-loaded projectile-firing weapon. There are various definitions depending on the nation and branch of service. A "gun" may be distinguished from other firearms in being a crew-served weapon such as a howitzer or mortar, as opposed to a small arm like a rifle or pistol,...
s, hoes, and pimp
Pimp
A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
ing on songs such as "Snappin & Trappin" and "We Luv Deez Hoez") while André 3000 talks about other elements of "stanking", using metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
s about elephants, ski slopes, and the four humours.
Part of the reason for Stankonias acclaim and popularity was the diversity of its musical influences, which led to comparisons to Prince. It incorporates many musical genres
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
to create a unique-sounding whole. For example, the album opens with Indian tabla
Tabla
The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
s and harmonium, then launching into a heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
-style electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
on "Gasoline Dreams" before turning to slick P-funk
P-Funk
P-Funk is a shorthand term for the repertoire and performers associated with George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic collective and the distinctive style of funk music they performed...
on the second song (fourth track overall) "So Fresh, So Clean". The album also incorporates influences from gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
("Toilet Tisha"), samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
("Humble Mumble") and drum and bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
("B.O.B."). This stylistic diversity was tied together by the pseudo-psychedelic production, emphasizing trippy synthesizers, spacey sound effects, techno-tinged percussion, and weird 70s-style psychedelic funk, updated in a more contemporary hip-hop context. The album's cover is an homage to Sly & the Family Stone
Sly & the Family Stone
Sly and the Family Stone were an American rock, funk, and soul band from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of soul, funk, and psychedelic music...
's There's a Riot Goin' On
There's a Riot Goin' On
There's a Riot Goin' On is the fifth studio album by American funk and soul band Sly & the Family Stone, released November 20, 1971 on Epic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place primarily throughout 1970 to 1971 at Record Plant Studios in Sausalito, California...
.
Artwork
Its limited edition artwork features a computer-generated image of a subset of the Mandelbrot setMandelbrot set
The Mandelbrot set is a particular mathematical set of points, whose boundary generates a distinctive and easily recognisable two-dimensional fractal shape...
, a fractal
Fractal
A fractal has been defined as "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is a reduced-size copy of the whole," a property called self-similarity...
.
Critical reception
Robert ChristgauRobert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
of The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
gave it an A rating and described Stankonia as "comic and expansive P-Funk
P-Funk
P-Funk is a shorthand term for the repertoire and performers associated with George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic collective and the distinctive style of funk music they performed...
". Allmusic gave the album 5 out of 5 stars and wrote "given the variety of moods, it helps that the album is broken up by brief, usually humorous interludes, which serve as a sort of reset button. It takes a few listens to pull everything together, but given the immense scope, it's striking how few weak tracks there are". Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s Ken Tucker wrote that "Stankonia reeks of artful ambition rendered with impeccable skill" and gave the album an A rating. Stankonia is the eleventh-highest ranked album of the century on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
with a score of 95, indicating "universal acclaim".
In 2006, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine named Stankonia as one of the 100 best albums of all time. In 2009, Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
ranked Stankonia #13 on its list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s, and Rhapsody
Rhapsody (online music service)
Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody officially declared its independence from RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version...
ranked it at #12 on its "100 Best Albums of the Decade" list. Rhapsody also ranked the album #6 on its "Hip-Hop’s Best Albums of the Decade" list. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
put it on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list, saying, "With hummable hits ('Ms. Jackson') and out-there experiments ('B.O.B.'), the rap duo gave us all a visa to the funky if fictional land of Stankonia in 2000." Along with the album being certified quadruple Platinum, it continued Outkast's streak of one album outselling the previous album.
Track listing
Notes- Earthtone III is a production team consisting of OutKast and David "Mr. DJ" Sheats.
- "So Fresh, So Clean" contains a sample of "Before the Night is Over" by Joe SimonJoe Simon (musician)Joe Simon is an American chart-topping, Grammy Award winning, soul and R&B musician. Amongst other chart singles, Simon secured three number one hits on the US Billboard R&B chart between 1969 and 1975.-Career:...
. - "Ms. Jackson" contains a sample of "Strawberry Letter #23" by The Brothers Johnson.
- "We Luv Deez Hoez" contains a samples of "Worldwide" by Allen ToussaintAllen ToussaintAllen Toussaint is an American musician, composer, record producer, and influential figure in New Orleans R&B.Many of Toussaint's songs have become familiar through numerous cover versions, including "Working in the Coalmine", "Ride Your Pony", "Fortune Teller", "Play Something Sweet ", "Southern...
.
Chart performance
| Chart (2000) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
2 |
| U.S. Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums | 2 |
| Top Canadian Albums | 4 |
Personnel
OutKast:- Big BoiBig BoiAntwan André Patton , better known by his stage name Big Boi, is an American rapper, song-writer, record producer and actor, best known for being a member of American hip hop duo OutKast alongside André 3000. His work in the duo has produced six studio albums. During the duo's hiatus, he and André...
(Antwan Patton) - vocals, productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - André 3000André 3000André Lauren Benjamin , better known by his stage name André 3000 is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor, best known for being part of American hip-hop duo OutKast alongside fellow rapper Big Boi...
(Andre Benjamin) - vocals, synthesisers, production - Mr. DJMr. DJMr. DJ, born David Sheats, is a Grammy Award-winning American hip-hop record producer and DJ from Atlanta, Georgia.-Biography:Raised on the southside of College Park, Georgia, Mr. DJ entered the music industry as a DJ for Atlanta-based hip-hop group OutKast. According to Sheats,After touring with...
(David Sheats) - production
Guest performers
- Sleepy BrownSleepy BrownPatrick "Sleepy" Brown is an R&B singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is one-third of the successful Atlanta-based production team of Organized Noize, which has created hits for acts such as OutKast, Goodie Mob, and TLC...
- Khujo Goodie
- Killer MikeKiller MikeMichael Render , better known by his stage name Killer Mike, is an American rapper, signed to Grind Time Official through the SMC/Fontana Distribution...
- J-Sweet
- Gangsta BooGangsta BooGangsta Boo, also known as Lady Boo was the first female member of the Memphis, Tennessee-based rap group Three 6 Mafia...
- Eco
- B-Real (of Cypress HillCypress HillCypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Latino hip-hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide...
) - Erykah BaduErykah BaduErica Abi Wright , better known by her stage name Erykah Badu , is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Her work includes elements from R&B, hip hop and jazz. She is best known for her role in the rise of the neo soul sub-genre, and for her eccentric, cerebral musical...
- Backbone
- Big GippBig GippThis article is about the American rapper. For the Notre Dame football player, see George Gipp. For the Iowa State Representative see Chuck Gipp.Big Gipp , is an American rapper from the South...
- Slimm Calhoun
- C-Bone
- T-Mo Goodie
- Cee-Lo Green
- Big Rube
- JoiJoi (singer)Joi Elaine Gilliam , better known by her stage name Joi, is an American R&B/Rock singer, songwriter and record producer associated with the Dungeon Family collective based in Atlanta, Georgia, and as such often performs with OutKast, the Organized Noize production team, and Goodie Mob Joi Elaine...
Instrumentalists:
- Donnie Mathis - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- David "Whild" Brown - guitar
- Jason Freeman - hornsHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
- Jerry Freeman - horns
- Sleepy Brown - pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, synthesised bass - Marvin "Chanz" Parkman - piano, keyboards
- Earthtone III & Organized Noize - keyboards
- Preston Crump - bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, synthesized bass - Aaron Mills - bass guitar
- Robert Grister - bass guitar
- Dookie Blossumgame - bass guitar
- Victor Alexander - drums
Other people:
- Rosalin Heard - backing vocals
- Paul Douglas-Feddon-backing vocals
- Myrna "Screechy Peach" Crenshaw - backing vocals
- Cutmaster Swift - cuts
- Michael LavineMichael LavineMichael Lavine is a portrait photographer based in New York City. He grew up in Denver, Colorado, and graduated from Denver's South High School in 1981....
- photography
External links
- Stankonia at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Playing God: Stankonia at Stylus MagazineStylus MagazineStylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
- Album Review at Yahoo! MusicYahoo! MusicYahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...