All posts tagged: OutKast

10 Movies…With Amusing Fictional Presidents

Published by Brian Boone

As Americans we like our president to be some combination of likable and better than us. Our last two presidents got in this way, albeit in very different ways — Obama shoots hoops and cracks jokes, but he also used to be a Harvard Law professor. George W. Bush was a guy you could get a beer with (nonalcoholic) but he was also from a dynastic political family. It’s a delicate balance to maintain — be an American while also being the Best American — and this weekend, Jamie Foxx gives it his best attempt in White House Down. He’s the president in need of help of getting to safety, so he’s the audience surrogate. But he also has to help Channing Tatum kick some terrorist ass. Go president! Here are 10 other memorable (fictional) movie presidents. Idiocracy I wish the real president was sponsored by Mountain Dew and wore the presidential seal around his neck. I mean, again. That’s how FDR got re-elected three times. Dr. Strangelove Of Peter Sellers’ 14 roles in probably …

Greatest Un-Hits: The Coup’s “Everythang” (2001)

Published by Brian Boone

Rap shifted out of the gangsta and East Coast/West Coast stuff in about 2000 and into a more rounded world where different styles had a shot at the mainstream. Outkast, Eminem, and Missy Elliott, for example, all enjoyed critical and commercial peaks. Slightly controversial subject matter could even have a place on commercial radio, what with D12’s “Purple Pills,” a song about purple pills. Factoring in rap-rock, Rage Against the Machine had long established itself as a well-liked, middle-of-the-road act, despite its vitriolic agit-prop leanings that called for leftist causes and revolutions in places most of its teenage listeners had never heard of. Basically, if there was ever a time for the Coup, an openly, bluntly, and coldly Marxist rap duo (but with a sound decidedly more funky and bubble-pop-electric than anything Leon Trotsky ever put out, either with his band or solo) to have a hit, it was in 2001. Planned for release in September 2001, the original cover of their fourth album Party Music expressed its feelings about government and business quite succinctly: …

Greatest Un-Hits: OutKast’s “The Mighty O” and “Morris Brown” (2006)

Published by Brian Boone

Before 2000, OutKast wasn’t known much outside of the rap world, as it was a southern-fried, alien-obsessed duo successfully reconciling gangsta swagga and innovative weirdness. Two breakthrough hits in 2001 brought mainstream attention: “Ms. Jackson,” a #1 hit, and the furiously brain-scrambling “B.O.B.,” which Blender once named the best song of the last two decades. (And it probably is.) Big Boi and Andre 3000 capitalized on the attention and interest in their next project…this time. Instead of collaborating, they announced that their 2003 album would be a double-disc, with each record being a solo work by each guy. Big Boi’s was a fairly straightforward but bouncy and accessible rap LP called Speakerboxx, while Andre 3000 took on a genre-mixing, genre-bending, genre-defying Marvin Gaye by way of Bobby Digital approach on The Love Below. In short order, he became the hottest star in music: as weird as Prince in the late ’80s, but as likable as Michael Jackson in the early ’80s.

He also was responsible for the first single …

Friday Night Videos!: New Year’s Edition

Published by Popdose Staff

“This list makes me sad.” – Kelly Stitzel It started off as a good idea, doing a special FNV highlighting the top 100 of 2001, what will be ten years ago tonight. And then we took a look at the list of what we had to work with and got a little nauseous. Out of 100 choices, only 36 titles were worthy of a vote, and of them, 16 titles had consensus, while the rest sort of flopped around helplessly, like a one-legged horse in a stampede (whoa, Nelly). So, refresh your drink, refresh it again, and again, and join us as we count our way down to the dawn of 2011… And take into account another great quote, this time from Ken Shane: “Things that sucked in 2001: 1. 9-11, 2. The shutdown of the original Napster, 3. This list.“ Five! Outkast – Ms. Jackson: Are you fo’ real?   Four! U2 – Beautiful Day: The Second Coming of St. Bono… with guitars!!   Daft Punk – One More Time: Daft Punk is French. …

CD Review: Big Boi, “Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Son of Chico Dusty”

Published by Mike Heyliger

While his partner in OutKast, Andre “3000” Benjamin, indulged increasingly bizarre flights of fancy, ranging from grass skirts and shoulder pads to Beatlesque jangle pop, Antwan “Big Boi” Patton was the one who ultimately became responsible for maintaining the group’s street credibility. For over a decade the two were able to satisfy both sides, and the dichotomy between the two members — one that seemed to sharpen with each successive album –ultimately led to one of the most legendary careers in hip-hop history, balancing critical cred and extreme commercial success. However, Andre and Big Boi haven’t recorded a complete album together since 2000’s Stankonia; the last two OutKast LPs, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003) and Idlewild (2006), saw the two collaborating on only a handful of tracks. It seemed like it was just a matter of time before one or the other released an album under his own name. It took a couple of years to emerge, but after numerous delays and a label switch from OutKast’s longtime home, Arista, to Def Jam, which is back under …

The Thirteenth Day of Mellowmas: Hayo! Haya!

Published by Jeff Giles and Jason Hare

We know, we know: sure, Mellowmas is filled with Christmas dreck — but what about the Jews?  Well, today, the Jews be representin’.  Although after hearing this one, you may want to renounce religion altogether. Peter, Paul & Mary — Hayo, Haya (download) From A Holiday Celebration With the New York Choral Society Amazon iTunes Jason: “Hayo, Haya.” Jeff: What does that even mean? Jason:Is this an Outkast cover? Jeff: Ha ha ha! I hope so! Jason: God, how awesome would that be? Jeff: I’d love it. Let’s e-mail them and tell them to do it. Mellow Gold musicians take our advice seriously now. Jason: Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Jeff: Shit, who let the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in here? Jason: It’s actually the New York Choral Society. Jeff: SPEAK ENGLISH! Jason: Ha ha ha ha ha! Way to rip on Hebrew, Jeff! Jeff: You can’t fool me. They’re all the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Reign of terror? Oh, no. Jason: Reign of terror! Reign of terror! Jeff: Are we back in Sarajevo, Jason? Jason: …

Chartburn: 9/12/08

Published by The Chartburn Panel
Mainstream Rock: Robert Palmer, “Simply Irresistible” (1988) Dw. Dunphy: Simply inescapable. It’s a big old, synth-laden AOR kind of rocker that does what it has to do. I can’t say that I either like or hate the song — it just is. It’s just a shame that for all the music Palmer made in his life, he’ll be remembered primarily for this and “Addicted To Love.” Will Harris: I can’t believe we live in a world where Heavy Nova is currently unavailable on iTunes, but such is the case. This song suffered a major blow to its credibility upon its initial release because of its association with a Pepsi commercial, but it’s aged really well, I think. I have a suspicion that some of the women in the video still consider this video to be the highlight of their career, however, and that makes me a little sad. Zack Dennis: I think it’s pretty amusing that only the models in the back row are allowed to dance. The frantic …