past: Outkast's Andre 3000, The Love Below
present: Outkast's Big Boi, Speakerboxxx
future: Nappy Roots, Mya, Anthony Hamilton

This double CD set should have been called, Having Our Cake and Eating It, Too. Big Boi complements Andre on Speakerboxxx, his finger in the Outkast pie. Let's go through it blow by blow.

GhettoMusick leads us into the fantastic. Unhappy according to Big Boi is merely a state of mind. Reminding us that we might as well have fun, we should also understand being dresseed to impressed with Bowtie. Sleepty Brown along with Jazzy Pha drops vocals. Along with the horns, it's enough to get crunk. Continuing on, The Way You Move segues in with a continuation of Sleepy's croonin' ("can you feel that b-a-s-s bass?"). It's lit, y'all. In The Rooster, Big Boi laments about splitting up in the most musically inducing way.

Bust with Killer Mike lights the fire again. The fire rages with intensity in War, in which he defiantly states, "basically, America, we got f****d". By this time, all bets are off for me. "What about repenting?" he asks during the tune Church. I wouldn't be surprised if I heard this in every house party down here in the ATL for the next year. His little son Bamboo interludes at this time, then bringing us into Tomb of the Boom, which, in my opinion, will be the next release. With Ludacris, Konkrete, and Big Gipp in the mix, it's a done deal.

Knowing throws us into Flip Flop Rock, sharing the mic with Jay-Z and Killer Mike. Absolutely flawless. Reset, an absolutely fantastic, and possibly my favorite track, lets you know that everything happens for a reason. Khujo Goodie says his piece, leading into Cee-Lo's sermon. D-Boi leads us into Last Call, which has many things going through it. This song may be the singular indiscretion. It's merely great.

I don't need to tell you how much I love this CD. It's written all over the place. I refuse to compare the two. I'll just say that comparisons between the two alert me to one thing - that they are great together and separate. Rare to find. Makes me proud to be a southern boy.

e-scale.... 9/10

ej wants you to share your world. Express yourself to eXponent. It's a good thing.