What carries more weight: bending a genre or breaking its existing boundaries?  Not too many people in Hip-Hop have to do either. Illmatic broke the mode, but It Was Written went very far within its contemporary landscape.  Do You Want More?, was the Roots’ departure from convention, but was it better than Illadelph Halflife? While the Low End Theory was the next step in evolution for its time, many people think Midnight Marauders is superior.

Outkast managed to create the most difficult argument in this comparison.  After dropping stellar debut Southerplayalisticadillacmuzic, Outkast’s next two albums were high quality, yet divergent in feel and rhythm. Before Southern dominance was the norm, there was a grudging respect given to groups like Outkast. When they won Best New Group at the 1995 Source Awards, they were greeted with a round of boos from the predominantly New York crowd.

Their credibility couldn’t be denied, but was often greeted with the back handed compliment of being a good “southern” album.  They returned to the lab and dropped the brilliant ATLiens, which pushed the confines of boom-bap to the edge. It was futuristic, yet down home, which is not an easy feat. Atliens was lauded from all corners and yet the respect came slowly. Two championship rings in the bag and still relegated to “southern” status.

Then came the 81. The album that made it impossible to doubt unless you’re a flat out hater.  Aquemini pushed through Hip-Hops creative walls  and yanked us all through the gaping hole. The raucous orgy of Hip-Hop, soul, & funk mutated into something we haven’t seen before or since. Not only was it stylistically brilliant, but commercially credible. But was it better than ATLiens?

ATLIENS

ATLiens abandoned the pimp/slick talk that had characterized their debut. In its place stood much deeper themes such as the overlooked “13^th Floor/Growing Old” with lyrics like:

Fat titties turn to tear drops as fat ass turns to flab/Sores that are open wounds eventually turn to scabs

Such depth particularly stood out against the back drop of the Shiney-Suit era of excess that reigned during that era. Songs like Elevators challenged the deification of entertainers, particularly rappers, where people get confused about the line between fantasy and reality.

I got more fans than the average man but not enough loot to last me/to the end of the week I move to the beat like you live check to check/if you don’t move your feet then I don’t eat so we like neck to neck

Powerful verses and crisp production was precision cutting edge Hip-Hop that took advantage of its era, using all available tools.

Outkast-Elevator Outkast – Elevator (Me You)

AQUEMINI

Aquemini was as far reaching as ATLiens was exquisite. While ATLiens seemingly conjured the future, Aquemini traversed parallel dimensions, with both cosmic reach and earthly roots.  There is an underlying bluesy feel, punctuated by the harmonicas and banjo playing on Rosa Parks.

Aquemini’s power was self evident. As much as ATLiens embraced the boom-bap, Aquemini was decidedly Southern, complete with heavier accents and interludes speaking of old southern myths like God talking through storms and the like. It was a message to Hip-Hop that Southern Hip-Hop had substance and validity, with capstone Chonkyfire returning to that fateful ’95 Source awards.

Andre’s lyricism found new heights with elegant simplicity and a homegrown, killer efficiency:

…Niggas on that Gil-Scott [Heron-heroin] dope hint, hint/at age 15 started smoking Billy Clint [Weed] now they 21 and wanna know where the time went

The incredibly soulful Cee-lo crooned, Erykah Badu-powered Liberation is one of the most powerful pieces of Hip-Hop music ever made.

Outkast-Rosa Parks Outkast-Rosa parks

With all the above in mind, Planet Ill asks you which album was better, ATLiens or Aquemini?