In my book Outkast will go down as the greatest hip-hop duo to ever grace a mic. Their influence on the culture is immeasurable; they were doing things in their day that weโre only now starting to see on a consistent basis and they did it at a time when the south wasnโt very respected. They essentially put Atlanta on the map. Andre 3000 is often mentioned among the greatest to ever do it, and rightfully so, but Big Boi is often regrettably overlooked, as ifย Speakerboxxx wasnโt complete fire. Now, I donโt think itโs follow-ups,ย Sir Lucious Left Foot orย Vicious Lies quite reached that high bar, there were still signs of something special and I still held out hope thatย Boomiverse could get close to that mark again.
As Outkast, Andreโs move towards more futuristic sounds and Big Boiโs love for old school country rap and funk created something truly special, the likes that will probably never be heard again. But, with Big Boi left to his own devices his sound has really gone all in on his funk inspirations. Itโs always been there, but now that music is starting to circle back to funk again itโs never been a better time for his sound. While I expected a big funk filled rap experience,ย Boomiverseย turned out to be the most modern sounding solo album yet.ย Thatโs not to say it doesnโt have groove, because it does on songs like โMic Jackโ, โGet Wit Itโ, and the aptly named โFreakanomicsโ, itโs just more secondary than Iโve ever heard from him. It feels like a grab bag of sorts of Big Boiโs version of todayโs hottest sounds. Hell, he even threw in an EDM record. Itโs not necessarily a bad thing as I really like โMade Manโ, โFollow Deezโ, and even โChocolateโ, but it just didnโt feel like a Big Boi album. That dissonance becomes even stronger on the very average โOrder of Operations.โ Itโs a hard balance to manage your own sound while staying modern and I think he strayed a little too far from what makes him special without doing anything particularly special with the more modern songs. BUT in the end it did produce one of my favorite songs of the year with โKill Jillโ, so thereโs that.
โRestitution ainโt solution for the lives that have been lost
By the time you hear this song
Thereโll be plenty niggas gone
Talkinโ โbout six feet under grass
While the killers be at home
Now my dealers keep that chrome
And my pimp niggas keep them hoes
Iโm gonโ keep on pushinโ this pen
I donโt write on no iPhone
Alright, alright, Iโm old-fashioned
But my style cannot be cloned
Timeless classics on you bastards
Jedi rap shit all day longโ
Big Boi is criminally underrated when it comes to the bars. He may not be as out there or lyrically creative as Andre 3000 but I donโt think Iโve ever heard a single wack verse from the man in my life, and thatโs a lot of verses. Heโs sharp as ever onย Boomiverse and while thereโs not a single song without a feature, he stands toe to toe with every single person who shares a song with him. I get goosebumps every time I hear Killer Mike and Big Boi together, they sound amazing and I think itโs high time we got an official joint album, or at least an EP.
Have you heardย Boomiverse? Whatโd you think about it? Do you think he found the right balance between his sound and the more modern stuff? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to leave your own reaction and rating for the album.
