On “Chonkyfire”, the closing track of OutKast’s third album Aquemini, Andre 3000 says “This is my story this is my song”.  But 3 Stacks didn’t mention that this is also OutKast’s masterpiece.

When Aquemini was released in 1998, I was still picking my nose in preschool graduation photos. At four years old, I was more likely to seek out a fresh VHS tape of Peter Pan than a new OutKast album.

By the time Aquemini finally hit my ears, I passed through several phases of childhood and the legendary rap duo was no longer making new music.

Over time, a lot of high-quality hip-hop loses its appeal. Sounds that were once innovative are copied countlessly until they’re stale to new listeners. It’s the type of sensation that leads to criticism of up-and-comers for their ignorance of the genre’s history.

Music is an inherently subjective and personal medium. Our thoughts about an artist or an album or a song are so tied to our own taste and experiences that technical greatness tends to matter less.

In twenty years, the new generation of hip-hop fans won’t have the same memories I have of driving around town blasting Return of 4eva with their friends or refreshing their Twitter feeds every five seconds waiting for good kid, m.A.A.d city to leak. They may even think Kendrick Lamar is bad and I will inevitably find that infuriating. But our relationship to the release of music matters, except for the rare times when it doesn’t. 

While some classic hip-hop can feel tired, OutKast’s music still feels refreshing. Their sound has influenced hip-hop’s current direction as much as anyone, but they’ve been impossible to duplicate. While the quality still oozes out of an album like Illmatic, it’s immediately identifiable as ‘90s hip-hop. With OutKast, their albums sound futuristic to this day. It’s true of OutKast’s discography writ large, but Aquemini remains the group’s masterpiece.

From “Hold On Be Strong” all the way through to “Chonkyfire”, Aquemini strikes a perfect balance. The album is both introspective and forceful, often at the same time. It’s simultaneously as fit for driving as it is for lying awake at 3 a.m.  You can find trunk-rattling bangers like “Rosa Parks” on the same album as contemplative cuts like “Aquemini” and slow-burning songs like “Liberation” or “SpottieOttieDopalicious”.

It helps that both Andre 3000 and Big Boi are rapping at their highest level. On “Y’All Scared”, Andre offers one of his best and most reflective verses ever over the intense production.

“At age fifteen they start smokin’ Billy Clint’

Now he’s twenty-one and wants to know where the time went

Hey hey hey what’s the haps? Well see your time elapsed

Have you ever thought of the meaning of the word trap?”

– Andre 3000, “Y’All Scared”

Aquemini is a showcase for Andre 3000 and perhaps the best evidence to plead his case in the “Best of All Time” discussion. 3 Stacks shows off his unrivalled flow again and again on “Synthesizer”, the aforementioned “Y’All Scared”, “Rosa Parks” and on the titular track, “Aquemini”.

By looking at Rap Genius alone, Andre 3000’s verse on “Rosa Parks” wouldn’t appear to be that impressive by his high standards. What sets it apart is his flow. The way he’s able to change up mid-sentence multiple times in the same verse is legendary.

But for all the good things to say about Andre 3000, Big Boi more than holds his own throughout Aquemini and also provides some of his best ever verses. From “West Savannah” to “Da Art of Storytellin’ Pt. 2” to “Skew It on the Bar-B”, Big Boi demonstrates his superior lyricism and commanding presence on the mic.

I stay down with these streets ’cause these streets is where my folks at

Better know dat, some say we pro-black, but we professional

We missed a lot of church so the music is our confessional

– Big Boi, “Aquemini”

The pair of Atlanta emcees also flex their storytelling muscles throughout the album, painting a picture of the world they inhabit. It’s most evident on the aptly named “Da Art of Storytellin’, Pt. 1 & 2”, but “SpottieOttieDopalicious”, “Y’All Scared”, and “West Savannah” are all master classes in hip-hop lyricism.

As much as Big Boi and Andre 3000 rap their asses off song after song, the production plays as big a part in the album’s excellence as the rapping. OutKast produced half of the songs themselves, with supplementary production from Mr. DJ  and dirty south pioneers Organized Noize. The album fits within the larger Southern sound but also manages to be unique. 

While Andre 3000 and Big Boi drifted apart musically over the next three albums, Aquemini merged their skills to extraordinary effect. It was the culmination of what they were building to with Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik and ATLiens and it has been impossible to replicate since.

That the album could find a way to resonate with a middle-class white kid from Canada a dozen years after its release is a testament to the lasting power of OutKast. 

If the duo never releases another album (which seems likely), the unimpeachable creativity of their music will endure. New hip-hop fans will be able to listen to OutKast albums that still sound futuristic.

With Aquemini, the south had something to say and twenty years later we’re still listening.