Big Boi - Lines (feat. A$AP Rocky & Phantogram)

Thank goodness Guilty Pleasures Week is over. I’m ready to move on from being embarrassed by what I subjected you folks to last Tuesday. Sound like a plan? Good. Now that that’s been addressed…

There used to be a time when I didn’t listen to hip hop. I thought that most music other than rock wasn’t “artistic” enough, that it had no creative value. I was young, of course. I got older. My tastes shifted and grew quite a few times (notice the lack of rock on Tuesdays?). Three years ago a friend of mine at boarding school introduced me to Kid Cudi, which led to a renewed interest in Kanye West. I’ll admit that despite not listening to hip hop at the time, Jesus Walks was my seventh grade football pump up song… It naturally progressed from there. When I was younger, though, there were a few exceptions to my irrational bias. Outkast was one of them. When I was in middle school and everyone was obsessing over Hey Ya, I found out that the prolific duo had an album called Stankonia, which, with my last name being Stanko, was just the coolest at the time. When I started gaining an interest in hip hop, I found myself delving into Outkast’s discography.

I still love them (yes, even Hey Ya), and the slightly-less-prominent-but-every-bit-as-talented half, Big Boi, put out my second favorite hip hop album of 2010. I mean, there isn’t much that can top Ye’s Dark Fantasy, but Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty was just so damn good. While it was notorious for taking far too long to be released due to a strong current of label drama, it broke perceived boundaries on what Big Boi could really do in terms of creating a full sound. His rapping was crisp and smart. His beats were catchy and inventive. The features were great. The production was tight. This finished product had Big Boi wildly expanding in terms of creativity, and it doesn’t look like he’s slowing down. His follow-up, the far-too-cool-titled Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors, is set for a December 11 release. He’s already released a few tracks, as well as a video. On this particular one, he teams up with one of my other documented favorites, A$AP Rocky, and surprisingly, indie pop duo Phantogram. Unsurprisingly though, Big Boi and Rocky spit absolute fire against a slick and fierce background while the choruses keep the song grounded. It’s fantastic, and if you dig it, check out the link to the visually gorgeous video for Mama Told Me below, another one of his new tracks featuring the wonderful Kelly Rowland.

Enjoy!

-Andrew

(Mama Told Me)

(Source: soundboard / Big Boi)