For the decade of the 2020’s, I plan on listening to approximately one album per week from Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. I will be posting my brief thoughts on each album here.
#500 – Aquemini by Outkast
I’ve potentially heard this album many, many years ago, since one of the mothers of a student I carpooled with back in elementary school was an OutKast fanatic. I don’t know why I never returned to this album as an adult, since I’ve clearly been missing out. The forward-thinking ingenuity of this album is clear — and it’s kind of fascinating to hear a group Kendrick-Lamar-ing decades before Kendrick himself first Kendrick-Lamar-ed. Aquemini is clearly a predecessor to and influence of To Pimp a Butterfly, which made it all the more fun, but what’s truly incredible about this record is how a sonic vision that was “new” or different” was matched by songs and lyrics that are simply fantastic.
Author’s Note: The reason I created this website and write these articles stems from my belief that artists should support other artists, in the same way that art inspires art. My debut album Unfall is out now, and I’d love for you to hear it.
Chase Tremaine 