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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Stankonia
by OutKast


8.4

based on 20 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 93 votes
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Rate this album

TV:

Class Of 3000

Featuring the hit singles "B.O.B." and "Ms. Jackson," 'Stankonia' was a commercial and critical hit for the innovative Atlanta hip-hop duo of Dré and Big Boi.

LABEL:	Arista/La Face
RELEASE DATE:	31 October 2000
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Rap

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Entertainment Weekly

Stankonia reeks of artful ambition rendered with impeccable skill -- or as one song title so concisely has it, ''So Fresh, So Clean.''

100

Alternative Press

Experienced, acclaimed groups rarely make albums as bold and confrontational as Stankonia, because they have too much to lose. OutKast don't care.... The Atlanta duo coalesced the political and societal challenges of hip hop's past into what is one of the genre's most artistically unortodox releases so far. [12/2000, p.108]

100

Village Voice (Consumer Guide)

There's more bounce-to-the-ounce and less molasses in the jams, more delight and less braggadocio in the raps.

100

Urb

To call Stankonia the album of the year would be easy. It would also be somewhat incomplete. The Atlanta duo's fourth album is more than simply a great record; it's a complex tome that enmeshes contemporary hip-hop values with a timeless Southern soul, while pushing the envelope damn near off the table. [#79, p.134]

100

New York Magazine

On their astonishing new Stankonia (LaFace/Arista), Outkast explore their own disappointment with hip-hop's self-satisfied acquisitiveness. But though it attacks the genre's tunnel vision, the album -- which takes its name from George Clinton's vision of funk as expressing the raw, unruly side of life -- does so with joy (and huge doses of absurdity) instead of with the polemics of Public Enemy.... Stankonia is among the most exciting albums of the year, not only because it brazenly addresses hip-hop's spiritual emptiness (other well-intentioned rappers have tried) but because it musically surpasses the most innovative work of street production dons like Swizz Beatz, Manny Fresh, and Timbaland. By offering something for both the mind and the ass, to borrow from George Clinton's slogan, Outkast, like Gang of Four and Funkadelic before them, make revolution you can dance to.

100

All Music Guide

It takes a few listens to pull everything together, but given the immense scope, it's striking how few weak tracks there are. It's no wonder Stankonia consolidated OutKast's status as critics' darlings, and began attracting broad new audiences: its across-the-board appeal and ambition overshadowed nearly every other pop album released in 2000.

100

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Many rappers derive inspiration from Clinton, but OutKast has constructed its own far-reaching and experimental mythology, drenching its surrealistic, Southern-fried flows in brilliantly executed funk, blissful soul, rattling live drums, spacey synthesizers, and psychedelic guitars.... In its messy brilliance, OutKast has created a hip-hop Sign O' The Times, a messy, vital classic and a major step forward for both its members and hip-hop as a whole.

100

Mojo

Crafting a sound that incorporates stinky Funkadelic psych with Prince harmonics and Rick James' pimp disco, this is hip hop with the power to convert even the most reactionary nonbelievers. [Jan 2001, p.107]

Vibe

Stankonia leaves nothing to be desired as it is energized by Outkast's clever lyrics coupled with their cutting edge production, which is an expansive take on the original Atlanta sound.

Village Voice

When talking about an album as multilayered, thematically diverse, and sonically rich as OutKast's Stankonia, though, the best thing is to boil it down to its essentials, its influences, its approaches. You know, the uppercase conceptual stuff. This album, the acclaimed Atlanta duo's fourth and best, contains so many hummable hooks, so many snap-your-head beats, so many break-'em-out-and-talk-about-'em metaphors, that it's easy to get lost in the sauce.

Revolver

Stankonia lays bare the group's desire to be something greater than just rap stars. No two tracks sound alike, and they've taken time in the woodshed to pen rhymes that are even more dexterous and honest than their past work--no mean feat. [#3, p.107]

CDNow

Throughout, the music (produced almost exclusively by the group and its DJ) shines with the glint of successful experimentation. However, it never outshines the words, which is where the group has as much to offer, if not more so.

Wall of Sound

Outkast's fourth album, Stankonia, is a far more complex effort than the critically acclaimed Aquemini. While Aquemini dealt with Big Boi and Dre's -- the self-described "player and poet," respectively -- contradictory personalities, Stankonia addresses the contradictory impulses of hip-hop itself.

Nude As The News

OutKast are hip hop’s version of Radiohead: the only consistently platinum act concerned with not only pushing the limits of their genre to another level, but moving music as a whole.

Select

The best tracks here are quite unlike anything else in hip hop. [Jan 2001, p.107]

Rolling Stone

One of the best albums of the year.

Q Magazine

Dre and Big Boi (alias Andre Benjamin and Antwan Patton) fill their technicolour vision with the ghosts of Sly Stone, James Brown and, most notably, Funkadelic-era George Clinton. Factor in some distinctly unorthodox production and you've rap at its risk-taking best...

Ink Blot Magazine

Scattered among the jewels are shiny bits of glass that aren't as valuable as they might be.

Sonicnet

Their songs still bulge at the seams with clever ideas, but they're veiled in deep grooves and hooks.... Outkast have developed a major sweet tooth for P-Funk, but what they've picked up from their former collaborator George Clinton isn't his low-end bounce. It's rather his hovering, serpentine vocal arrangements and his acidic political fantasies.... [but] Stankonia's conceptual sprawl isn't all good for the album -- the collection is hampered by more than a little filler.

HOB.com

As the tracks shift from smooth R&B to frantic, drum machine driven beats, Outkast prove able to pull from a big enough bag of tricks as rappers to remain unpredictable. The problem is that they come out of it all without having left any defining mark on the songs. It's almost as if Stankonia would be more memorable if the duo stuck to one sound, one rhythm, and one train of lyrical thought.

The average user rating for this album is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 93 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

scott w. gave it an8:
The best style of hiphop out. Crazy, loud,fun and with lots of melody. Most importent to note is that this albume is very funny in an artistic way that seems to be out of reach of the hiphop gener.

Greg B gave it a10:
It's not as good as Aquemini, but at that time, this was the best album of the year.

Dan A gave it a10:
Simply put, Outkast gives us one of, if not the best Hip Hop album that's ever been created. Much of it is groundbreaking, while some tracks take cliche subject matter and make them compelling through Andre 3000 and Big Boi's insane lyrical talent.

Mike gave it a6:
This album is mediocre at best, but me and the many people I know who agree must be a minority. Don't get me wrong. "Gasoline", "Ms. Jackson", "So Fresh and So Clean" are all great songs. But there is an undeniable amount of track skipping material here. You want an Outkast album that deserves a 95 Metacritic score and an 8.4 user score? Try "Aquemini", "ATLiens", or even "Southernplayalistic". The last two efforts by the duo have been underwhelming to me and other hip-hop fans I talk to, but everyone else seems to love these mediocre albums.

j d gave it a10:
this album is stunning beginning to end. this is the best rap album ever made. even 7 years on it feels revolutionary. the beats are the stuff the neptunes and timbaland with they could do. it's down and dirty . it's bizzare and cool. no 2 tracks sound the same. album of the decade.

Sushi K gave it a10:
I just heard this for the first time this year (2006) and I feal really really cheated in that I could have been listening to this for 6 years now. Co-sign all statements above... it is A LOT better than I ever could have expected. Wow, still reeling in shock. There really hasn't been anything this good since in hip hop, including all the underground and "conscious" rappers. My goal for the rest of the year is to pick up every Outkast album there is...

Roy DI gave it a10:
Hardest, Funkiest album of OutKast's career. Give's hope for the grownth of Hip Hop.

Stankonia by OutKast

Stankonia
by OutKast