Rooster_Ties Posted January 13, 2004 Report Posted January 13, 2004 I saw this in the Kansas City Star early last week, and thought I'd post it here. The Star's version is gone (their on-line stuff only sticks around for 7 days), but I also found it HERE. Man, 'Hey Ya!' has to be one of the best "turn it up!!!" songs that I've heard on the radio, in a long time!! Is the rest of the full CD (a double CD, actually, if I'm hearing right), is the rest even half this good??? I know it's on everybody's top-10 list this year. Should I give in to the hype, and get it?? Can't say I buy much hip-hop, but I do have a smattering of Beastie Boys CD's, and one or two Public Enemy discs too. Here's that article... A hit song fo' shooooo There's no escaping OutKast's infectious 'Hey Ya!' BY JOSH SHAFFER Fort Worth Star-Telegram It starts with four simple guitar chords: G, C, D and E. The first few lines could be plucked from almost any R&B song of the past 40 years: "My baby don't mess around because she loves me so, and this I know fo' shoooooo... " So what makes OutKast's "Hey Ya!" the country's No. 1 song on multiple Billboard charts -- the Hot 100, Mainstream Top 40 -- and near the top of several others? Why would a tribute to commitment-free sex from a hip-hop duo be playing at a middle school dance, or on a mother's radio as she drops the kids off at Chuck-E-Cheese's? Maybe it's the hand claps. Maybe it's the line, "Shake it like a Polaroid picture," which could get William F. Buckley moving his rump -- or at least Gen. Wesley Clark. Clark has been quoting "Hey Ya!" on the Democratic primary stump in pitches to young voters. "I don't know much about hip-hop," he told one audience. "But I do know OutKast can make you shake it like a Polaroid picture." One thing, at least, is certain: The song is "catchy," further evidence that pop music's inspiration right now is flowing almost entirely from hip-hop and its musical spinoffs, and, perhaps, that the music is changing along with its audience. "I cannot get that song out of my head," says Natalie Cowen-Gonzalez, a corporate consultant in Houston. OutKast's variety of hip-hop -- inspired by life in Atlanta rather than New York or Los Angeles -- has mostly skirted the stereotypes that frighten off mainstream listeners. High school rap rivals turned bandmates, OutKast's Andre 3000 and Big Boi arrived on the music scene in the mid-1990s with a Southern twang and funk-influenced sound that borrowed more from Parliament-Funkadelic than from Run-D.M.C. Guns are rarely mentioned in their lyrics. There's very little bragging about rap prowess. Marijuana and sex are common themes, but they are described in a fun-loving fashion. More often, OutKast raps about the hazards of misuse and excess: failing a drug test and losing a job opportunity, late-night partying descending into a stupid knife fight, having kids when you're way too young. Then there's "Hey Ya!" which is one of Andre's songs on the group's double album, "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below." He says it grew out of his boredom with the hip-hop genre. While Big Boi sticks to rap, Andre can be found crooning, backed up by strings like Nat "King" Cole, or, more often, preening like Prince. "Hey Ya!" is bouncy, not heavy or oppressive. If it can be compared to anything, it sounds like really early Rolling Stones. Something along the lines of "Let's Spend the Night Together." There is darkness and pessimism lurking below "Hey Ya!' s" jubilant surface -- nothing like the teenybopper sentiments that were popular a couple of years ago from the likes of Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys. If he were still around, Ed Sullivan might be just as tempted to censor Andre's song as he was the Stones'. "Don't want to meet your daddy/Just want you in my Caddy/Don't want to meet your mama/Just want to... "well, anyway, the words are printed inside the sleeve. Of course, it's not the lyrics that have made the song so widely popular, which leads to the question: Does Gen. Clark really get down, or is he just latching on to OutKast's buzz? Would he reference "Hey Ya!" if he knew all the words? He might. It's not Ed Sullivan's world anymore. Quote
Dan Gould Posted January 13, 2004 Report Posted January 13, 2004 I'm so glad that with a little bit of luck I'm going to remain less up-to-date than Old Wes. All I need to do is cease stopping at MTV whilst channel surfing. Somehow I think my life will remain about as fulfilled as it was. Quote
John L Posted January 13, 2004 Report Posted January 13, 2004 I really liked Aquemini. Stankonia was good too. I listened through the new double CD package once, but didn't feel sufficiently impressed to pick it up. Hey Ya! is a good track. Quote
Alexander Posted January 13, 2004 Report Posted January 13, 2004 I got "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" off of iTunes. Of the two discs, I like Andre 3000's side better (more jazz and pop than straight hip-hop), but Big Boi's half has some nice stuff too (like the Funkadelic inspired "Bowtie" and the excellent single "The Way You Move"). Good stuff. I enjoy it. Quote
sal Posted January 13, 2004 Report Posted January 13, 2004 (edited) Back in the early and mid nineties, when it was all strictly hip hop, I was a huge OutKast fan. Their first two albums "Southerplayalisticcadillacmuzik" and "ATLiens" were great. "Aquemini" was good too, but I think that's the album they started to lose what made them great in my eyes. Now, I can't stand listening to them. But then again, I can't really stand much hip hop now. In fact, with all the sup par rap out now, its difficult to even call it hip hop any more, its just garbage. Back when it was all underground.....that's when it was good. Now its just pop music. Sorry, just my .02. Edited January 13, 2004 by sal Quote
GregK Posted January 14, 2004 Report Posted January 14, 2004 It's very easy to avoid this stuff. Stay away from mtv/vh1, and don't listen to commercial radio. I am proud to say that this method works just fine for me! Quote
Tjazz Posted January 18, 2004 Report Posted January 18, 2004 I've been getting alittle bored with Rock, jazz, country, blues - so the local hip-hop station is on my car radio. Nice beat - sure makes the car bounce. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted January 19, 2004 Report Posted January 19, 2004 It's very easy to avoid this stuff. Stay away from mtv/vh1, and don't listen to commercial radio. I am proud to say that this method works just fine for me! I knew we'd eventually find something to agree on! Quote
Joe M Posted January 19, 2004 Report Posted January 19, 2004 I got "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" off of iTunes. Of the two discs, I like Andre 3000's side better (more jazz and pop than straight hip-hop), but Big Boi's half has some nice stuff too (like the Funkadelic inspired "Bowtie" and the excellent single "The Way You Move"). Good stuff. I enjoy it. You all know that Norah makes a guest cameo on the album? Quote
GregK Posted January 21, 2004 Report Posted January 21, 2004 Isn't she someone's daughter? Ravi Shankar's, no? Quote
Guest ariceffron Posted January 21, 2004 Report Posted January 21, 2004 doesnt this song remind you of zappa- i cant be the only one who thinks that Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted January 23, 2004 Author Report Posted January 23, 2004 Link: HEY YA, CHARLIE BROWN!!! Quote
Soulstation1 Posted January 23, 2004 Report Posted January 23, 2004 (edited) i want to get this set, but now everyone has raised the price on this cd set. i've seen it priced for more than $22. lend me sum suga, i am your neighbor Edited January 23, 2004 by Soulstation1 Quote
jazzypaul Posted January 23, 2004 Report Posted January 23, 2004 Yeah SS1, that line MAKES that song... Quote
GregK Posted January 24, 2004 Report Posted January 24, 2004 doesnt this song remind you of zappa- i cant be the only one who thinks that actually, yes, you are the only one who must think this. Unless there's a different "flavor-of-the-month" type of Zappa out there, then no, this sounds nothing at all like the Frank Zappa we know and whose music we love! Quote
Big Wheel Posted January 24, 2004 Report Posted January 24, 2004 How do you know? I thought you said you had successfully avoided hearing it. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted January 24, 2004 Report Posted January 24, 2004 Yes, but he's successfully avoided Zappa as well, and had to do so in a completely different way! Hence, they sound different. Jeez, do I have to explain everything? Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted January 24, 2004 Author Report Posted January 24, 2004 Link: HEY YA, CHARLIE BROWN!!! In case anybody missed it the first time... B) B) B) Quote
Guest ariceffron Posted January 24, 2004 Report Posted January 24, 2004 i know my frank and let me tell you- the hey ya chours refrain is very sonically reminicent to many of zappas vocal harmonies in certain tunes of his. look it up Quote
GregK Posted January 24, 2004 Report Posted January 24, 2004 (edited) i know my frank and let me tell you- the hey ya chours refrain is very sonically reminicent to many of zappas vocal harmonies in certain tunes of his. look it up no need to look it up. Sounds nothing like Frank, let me tell you!! Howard Stern kept playing parts of this song a few days ago, so I was NOT able to avoid it Edited January 24, 2004 by GregK Quote
GregK Posted January 24, 2004 Report Posted January 24, 2004 Yes, but he's successfully avoided Zappa as well, and had to do so in a completely different way! Hence, they sound different. Jeez, do I have to explain everything? huh? where did I say I avoided Zappa? I listen to him frequently. I know my Zappa!! Quote
robviti Posted January 24, 2004 Report Posted January 24, 2004 (edited) i know my frank and let me tell you- the hey ya chours refrain is very sonically reminicent to many of zappas vocal harmonies in certain tunes of his. look it up okay, so the "hey ya" chorus features high-pitched background harmony a la mark volman & howard kaylan. big deal. so does "love my way" by the psychedelic furs. of course, the furs used the real thing. Edited January 24, 2004 by jazzshrink Quote
.:.impossible Posted January 24, 2004 Report Posted January 24, 2004 After a few listens, the majority of this Outkast album is novelty. I personally don't think they deserve all the praise they are getting, but I do think they deserve some positive encouragement to continue following their muse. Some of the ideas, especially on The Love Below, are really a stretch from previous output. I say keep going. Don't stop at Hey Ya. Hey Ya will still make me shake it like a polaroid pic-cha on oldies stations in 20 years. This track definitely deserves its praise. The video makes it even better. I know its not your thing, and video killed the radio star, and tv and pop culture is the devil and all, but you guys should try to catch it sometime. Its a hoot. Quote
Alexander Posted January 24, 2004 Report Posted January 24, 2004 After a few listens, the majority of this Outkast album is novelty. I personally don't think they deserve all the praise they are getting, but I do think they deserve some positive encouragement to continue following their muse. Some of the ideas, especially on The Love Below, are really a stretch from previous output. I say keep going. Don't stop at Hey Ya. Hey Ya will still make me shake it like a polaroid pic-cha on oldies stations in 20 years. This track definitely deserves its praise. The video makes it even better. I know its not your thing, and video killed the radio star, and tv and pop culture is the devil and all, but you guys should try to catch it sometime. Its a hoot. I agree. The rock/rap press is hyping "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" as the hip-hop "Sgt. Pepper." Not quite, but it is a step in the right direction (more experimentation). "Hey Ya" is a great single, the same way "Light My Fire" by the Doors or "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison is a great single. It's easy to get sick of these songs, but they endure because they're just so damn catchy! Quote
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