There’s a mix of synthetic and live instruments on all their albums. I LOVE Southernplayalistic, but you can tell everyone involved was still growing and nowhere near their peak.
It was a hell of a statement from Atlanta, and went a long way towards staking our place in beyond R&b and bass.
If Southernplayalistic could be considered a peak, then ATLiens broke that ceiling by the end of Big’s opening verse.
The production was much richer, diverse, and unpredictable. Organized Noise pushed the envelope beyond what anyone could have expected. ATLiens started openly funky then quickly descended into darkness, only coming back up to offer peace. Aquemni took on a sound that was somewhere different entirely.
Southernplayalistic’s sound existed in a framework of funk and gangsta rap. ATLiens, and subsequently Aquemni, ripped that framework to shreds and then wore the scraps like celebratory confetti.
Aside from that ATLiens was Dre coming into his own to finally match Big’s contributions and personality. His rhymes came off effortlessly remarkable because he didn’t have to try so hard to be somebody he wasn’t. OutKast was truly turning into the “The pimp and the Poet” personas we came to love so much on Aquemni.
Aside from all that SouthernPlayalisticCaddilacMuzik might be one of the most iconic foundational albums in all of hip hop.
