Wednesday, November 21, 2007

We Missed you Andre 3000


youheardthatnew.com may be the greatest Web site name ever. The music blogsite is full of brand spanking leaked material, such as thatnewOutkast, "The Art of Storytelling Part 4."

I'm not sure where this single came from. Could be something scrapped from their last studio album, or an outtake from what would would hope to be a new record. In any event, this new song is great for one reason: Andre 3000 completely blacks out on this song.

It starts off simple enough with some synthesized chamber music bass chord, something like what DJ Toomp, T.I.'s go-to guy, would put together. Since Andre's verse is interrupted by an annoying vocal stamp advertising the Web site, it's hard to say exactly what the opening line is, but it soon becomes apparent that he is rapping about an intimate conversation with a female (that's so Anne Frank), which leads to an indictment on the fad of "Making it Rain" in the club. Andre retorts "How dare I throw it on the floor/when people are poor/ so I write like Edgar Allen to restore."

From there it's all free-associative word play at its finest, with Andre the southern gentleman dropping heat 20-syllables a second. "It's step your game up time/these ain't no same old rhymes/to step to in the club..." To be honest, there are so many quotables, I can't listen and type fast enough to catch them all. But the money-shot comes on the last line, I started off starving/now they got me out her Bret Favre'ing/ trying to see if I still got it/got it..."

Hearing that was the first time a rapper made me say "Damn" out loud in some time. Respect due to Mr. Three-Stacks. The rest of the song features a so-so sung hook by Marcia from Floetry and a butter-smooth Big Boi verse, but make no mistake, this song is all about Andre Benjamin.

The thing that's so cool is it continues a New England Patriots-like streak of microphone dominance for Andre 3000 over the past year. Beginning with his out of left field verse on DJ Unk's "Walk It Out" and continuing with guest shots for UGK and remixes for Rich Boy and Ne-Yo, Andre has been on a tear to prove that he is one of if not the best out there still spitting it.

After veering off into space age, sexed-up funk, quasi-Prince territory (see The Love Below and Idlewild), it's like Andre's rediscovered his skills and decided to punish the current hip-hop trend market for its lack of creative merit. Here's hoping moreof thatnewOutkast reaches the masses in time for the holidays.

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