There’s probably never been a worse time for an Outkast-reunion than now. André is all about shaving, R’n’B and Hendrix these days and tries really hard to remix Big Boi’s new parts in one of his rare guest performances. Dré has used T.I.’s LP to give a touching apology for his retreat and his difficult behavior. On his third solo-record, Chico Dust’s son has taken to dreamy electro-poppy fields and has neglected the dripping future-funk-approach of »Speakerboxxx«, which he had continued successfully on »Sir Lucious Left Foot«. Antwoon Patton’s new and alleged more contemporary approach starts out greatly with an epic intro in the style of »Aquemini«. It carries on with a stable and reliable Sleepy-Brown-Feature and the Mr.-DJ-production »Apple Of My Eye«, but then gets lost in melodies of pathos-pop. The features are well-intended: Kid Cudi provides a college-rock-hook, A$AP and Phantogram satisfy the pitchfork-audience, Killer Mike the traditionalists, and T.I. and Ludacris spring for the major-trap-bomb. Allegedly, Little Dragon also belong to Big Boi’s family by now, have camped at the A for endless sessions, but have only managed to equip the record with very few of their usual enchanting moments. »Shazam me, and then google Dungeon Family« – if only one of the young listeners was to take this message seriously, »Vicious Lies And Dangerous Rumors« would have served its purpose.
Moor Mother
The Great Bailout
Anti-