

And few do it better than Andre 3000 and Big Boi. To impart wisdom, with the goal of helping to change how the world is viewed, is one of the main reasons I love hip-hop.

At the end of a verse where he flat-out dismantles critics who pigeonhole hip-hop as only guns and alcohol, Andre shows that it can often be a better way to spread ideas and to inspire change and action. Just one more instance in Andre 3000’s long history of brilliant insights. “The game changes every day, so obsolete is the fists and marches / Speeches only reaches those who already know about it / This is how we go about it.” And of course 3 Stacks’ breakneck, staccato flow makes it easy to see how he and Sir Lucious Left Foot were able to make it rain and why Stankonia indeed made it a year not to forget. Nestled within the infectious, head-banging beat of “B.O.B.” are some dope metaphors like this one, where Andre details Outkast’s expectation-defying success as they continued to make path-breaking music without a safety net to fall back on.

“So now we sittin’ in a drop-top, soakin’ wet / In a silk suit, tryin’ not to sweat / Hit somersaults without the net / But this’ll be the year that we won’t forget.”
