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Outkast f. Raekwon "Skew It On the Bar-B"

Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Idlewild is finally in the on-deck circle, and has so far given us the tepid period piece “Mighty O” and the halftime show that is “Morris Brown,” both too caught up in high concept to appeal on anything nearing a visceral level. This makes me sort of sad—sadder than the over-appreciated Speakerboxx/The Love Below did. I fret I may never hear Andre and Big Boi rapping together on the same song ever again, or even put out a song with half the punch of “Skew It On the Bar-B” (mp3), from Aquemini (buy), which seems like it was out eons ago. With that out of the way, I feel it appropriate to highlight here what is, for me, the two at the height of their collaborative power, with, um, a verse from Raekwon in between for good measure. Aquemini (the title itself a weird but sort of sweet combination of their astrological signs) was the last Outkast record they’d release before they became mainstream icons with Stankonia and then segment into their decided roles—the Parliament/Prince clone/clown and the guy with the big rims and the pit bulls. But we still need to remind ourselves of what Outkast was when they were playing as one, er, and Raekwon. “Bar-B” has all of the signature Outkast elements within its own three-plus minutes that they’d eventually lift and separate, with a beat that snaps and pops but stays low and holds the three verses together like, well, a skewer, and a vocal hook tighter than leather pants in the dead of summer.

The first verse is pure Andre, with his trademark alliterations and non-sequitor links between disparate thoughts adding up to the same tenative hope for success and joy he expresses two tracks earlier in “Rosa Parks” and later on Stankonia’s “Mumble in the Jungle,” this song’s younger but savvier brother. When he says “I’m a star, I’d rather be a comet by far,” though, you have to wonder if at this point he would have rather shone brightly and faded away quickly than had the lasting success he clearly now has. Then, well, Raekwon stops by and drops one of the most potent speed-bag rhymes he’s ever done. Chef likes making the green stuff move, and while he’s dipping and ducking like Sugar Ray Leonard around every nook and cranny of this beat, he’s delivering lyrics with the detail of a diary entry worded to avoid outside interpretation: “Grow hydro, didn’t bag enough though/Price that longevity suggest make moves slow/Take time grow eight react nine blow.” Then Big Boi makes sure he’s noticed when he shows up, dropping the beat completely out from under his opening line before driving the song home with a shout back home, and a promise: “And I’m finna put some D’s on the ‘Lac, know dat.” Big hasn’t changed his style or content at all over the course of Outkast’s career—he’s only gotten better with experience. And he finishes this song, one of the purest Outkast did, with a verse that sits with the others now like books on a library shelf. And while I’m curious to see what Idlewild has in store, I’m still highly dubious of it, as are most fans of Outkast, who perhaps also secretly wish they’d stayed where they were here.

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