In my head: ATLiens

I tend to catch onto certain songs that stay in my head all day. Today it's an oldie, but a goodie, Outkast 'ATLiens'.

'Now throw yo' hands in the ai-er, and wave 'em like you just don't ca-re'. The hook makes this song sound cheesey, but I can assure you that it isn't. If your only knowledge of Outkast is based on their 2003 hit 'Hey Ya!', I beg you to go and seek out their 90's material.

In my opinion, Andre 3000 is one of the best MC's; he'd wangle a spot on my top 10 list for sure. His flow is rhythmic and unpredicatble, he has moments where he sounds like he's tripping over his words and it still sounds amazing. Listen to his recent verse with HipHop titans Drake, Kanye West & T.I. (3:51m) - he KILLS it!  Lyrically, he creates extended metaphors which develop and transform throughout his verses; multiple listens are required to reach the depth of what he is saying. 

OutKast do thoughtful and funky rap so well, search their back catalogue - you'll find some treats including major hype tunes; Bombs Over Bhagdad is certified. 

ATLiens was the beat of the week for my Floetry students. They did well, I'm introducing them to the old school to teach the evolution of the genre. I still think that they would have preferred a Grime track though. 

A little bit of P-Money perhaps? This week they're writing lyrics to Tinchy's 'Game Over, maybe I'll do a Grime blog next time...