I wrote this for the school paper, but there was some miscommunication
and somebody already reviewed it.  so enjoy...

"Speakerboxxx/The Love Below"-Outkast

It wasn't hard to see it coming.

As careers age and musicians mature, the music must change to keep the
fans interested in listening and the musicians interested in making
the music. Almost a decade into their career, the duo of Big Boi and
Andre finally found commercial success with their fourth album,
"Stankonia;" everybody knows 'Kast never meant to make you cry and
apologize a trillion times. The album was so successful, most
overlooked how entirely dissimilar the buttery funk of "So Fresh, So
Clean" is, compared to the rowdy lead single "B.O.B." Andre and Big
Boi had rapidly diverging artistic visions, and it only made sense
when rumors began flying about their next album actually being two
albums, one from each member.

Andre 3000's "The Love Below" is not exactly "hip-hop," but instead
resembles the modern-day incarnation of Stevie Wonder. Or maybe
Prince. (George Clinton also, but Outkast has been biting him from
the very beginning). Regardless, what could have been a disastrous
and indulgent R&B vanity project is actually very enjoyable. Andre
3000 has a passable voice, but what makes "The Love Below" so good is
the emotion with which he infuses his vocals. The beautiful single
mother ballad "She's Alive" sounds like tearful karaoke, while the
blatantly Prince-inspired "Roses" could have been sung in the shower.
"The Love Below" jumps freely between styles, from the futuristic soul
of "Dracula's Wedding," to the drum'n'bass cover of "My Favorite
Things." With so much variety, Andre's half is a bit uneven, with
some questionable choices (the folky "Hey Ya," notably), but this is
easily avoided. After all, for the first time ever, Andre was free to
make something that wasn't rap--how would he even know where to start?

Long time Outkast fans should enjoy Big Boi's half of the effort,
"Speakerboxxx." The beats are still funky, the rhymes are still fast,
and there's still plenty of talk of crocodile shoes and dancefloors.
The hooks are still soulful, with crooner Sleepy Brown singing many of
them. The best tracks are puncuated by tasty horn licks; "The Way You
Move" and "Bowtie" both draw on the Temptations or the Isley Brothers.
Most importantly, "Speakerboxxx" is solid and predictable, and
balances Andre's eccentric effort well. The chemistry between the two
persists; it's almost as if Andre and Big Boi are a college couple,
one of whom has gone abroad for a semester. The two have repeatedly
asserted in interviews that Outkast is still together, and the few
tracks where Andre does rap don't dissapoint. Whether or not the two
reunite on the next joint, or if they go their seperate ways,
"Speakerboxxx" and "The Love Below" are both seriously good albums;
even if the latter strays from hip-hop, the total package is still
definitively an Outkast work.