SOUTHERNPLAYALISTICADILLACMUZIK – Outkast

20th Anniversary Edition

From Wikipedia:

Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik is the debut studio album by the American hip hop duo Outkast, released on April 26, 1994, by Arista Records and LaFace Records. Having befriended each other two years prior, rappers André 3000 and Big Boi pursued recording music as a duo and worked with production team Organized Noize, leading to a record contract with LaFace. With the team producing, Outkast recorded the album at the Dungeon, D.A.R.P. Studios, Purple Dragon, Bosstown, and Doppler Studios, all in Atlanta.

A Southern hip hop record, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik features live instrumentation in its hip hop production and musical elements from funk and soul genres. Wanting to make a statement about urban life as an African American in the South, Outkast wrote and recorded the album as teenagers and addressed coming of age themes with the album’s songs. They also incorporated repetitive hooks and Southern slang in their lyrics.

Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik charted at number 20 on the Billboard 200 and was eventually certified Platinum in the United States, denoting one million copies sold. A critical and commercial success, the album helped distinguish Southern hip hop as a credible hip hop scene during East Coast and West Coast hip hop‘s market dominance at the time. It has since been viewed by music journalists as an important release in both hip hop and Atlanta’s music scene.