Monday, October 11, 2004
Game 3...and Tribe V Outkast
Well I saw the extra innings of game 3, but managed to miss Ortiz’ home run because I was making coffee. No matter, victory is ours! I don’t have many thoughts on the game because I didn’t see it, other than giving credit to Bronson and seething at our bullpen for making it tough. Anyways bring on the Yankees. I feel pretty confident going into the series, mostly because the roles in the traditional Yankees Red Sox series are reversed. This time, we have the better pitching staff and defense, along with a lineup that tests you from 1-9. Meanwhile they have the top heavy lineup with holes at that bottom, like Miguel Cairo and Bernie. Will this translate into victory? I just don’t know. Once again I think Game 2 will be the key to the series, as Pedro pitching in Yankee Stadium is the game that has the potential to put a psychological imprint on the rest of the series. My only worry is that this is the area where this teams flaws, a still unreliable bullpen and shaky manager, will come to bite them in the ass. But we are the better team. I know this to be true. One prediction: definite brawl at some point.
On my AIM profile I have had a question of the week. I thought it might be a good idea to start posing them to the blog readership, feeble though it may be. So I am starting by answering last week’s question. I will then post on my AIM profile a new question for you to ruminate, and post an answer every week/10 days or so. People can post responses in the comments section. Anyways this week’s question was: Who is the better rap group, A Tribe Called Quest or Outkast?
Outkast is no doubt the more popular group of the two, which of course means very little in determining who is better. Both groups contain two MCs and associate themselves with certain producers, Organized Noise in the case of Outkast, and Shaeed Muhammad in the case of Tribe.
Up until this point, both groups have released 5 albums, with Tribe breaking up after their 5th in 1998. The difference between the two groups, popularly and musically is that Tribe’s last two albums, Beats Rhymes Life and The Love Movement, were considered disappointments following their first three, while Outkast’s 4th and 5th albums, Stankonia and Speakerboxx/Love Below transformed them from rap superstars to pop superstars. Thus one would assume Outkast would take the battle, but it’s not that simple.
Why? Because Tribe’s first three albums are so freaking good. Not to say Outkast’s aren’t: ATLiens, Aquemini, and Southernplayalisticcadillacmusic are all incredible. But I would say that no group has released three successive albums as good as Tribe’s first three. So you have to give Tribe credit for a higher peak.
With regards to later albums, Stankonia is better than Beats Rhymes Life, although the difference isn’t as great as popular sentiment would dictate. That’s because I think Stankonia is slightly overrated, while Beats, Rhymes is underrated. I also am not sure Speakerboxxx/The Love Below should even enter into the conversation. Big Boi has one appearance on The Love Below, the same amount as Norah Jones. Andre sings two choruses on Speakerboxxx, giving him the same amount of appearances as Killer Mike, with less impact. Really these are two solo albums, and only one of them is consitently good (Speakerboxxx.)
If you are breaking down the impact both groups have had on rap music, I would say it’s probably about equal overall, although Outkast clearly has greater influence in the present day. I love both groups’ producers and MCs, but forced to choose I would rate Tribe’s production as slightly better, with Big Boi and Andre being better rappers than Q-Tip and Phife. Of course this is somewhat muted by the fact Andre has regressed into a crooning caricature. Whatever you do, don’t believe the crap about Andre being a musically genius. He is basically selling out, but in such a weird way no one can call him on it. Very savvy. If I was Big Boi it would drive me crazy, until the royalty checks started coming in. For this, I would give Tribe a bonus for being loyal to the spirit of hip hop. Andre has admitted that hip hop no longer interests him, while Tribe still represents hip hop in its purest form, as I hope we will see on their new album.
Outkast, on the other hand, has to be given credit for releasing some amazing singles over the years. Elevators, ATLiens, Rosa Parks, BOB, Ms. Jackson. Just amazing, amazing songs with mass appeal. Tribe has several songs that can match up with these, including Buggin Out, Oh My God, etc., but other than Scenario and maybe Check the Rhime, none of their songs hold the same long lasting popular appeal as Outkast’s best. For that, I give Outkast the slight edge overall. But with these two groups, you can’t find too much wrong with anything they’ve done.
On my AIM profile I have had a question of the week. I thought it might be a good idea to start posing them to the blog readership, feeble though it may be. So I am starting by answering last week’s question. I will then post on my AIM profile a new question for you to ruminate, and post an answer every week/10 days or so. People can post responses in the comments section. Anyways this week’s question was: Who is the better rap group, A Tribe Called Quest or Outkast?
Outkast is no doubt the more popular group of the two, which of course means very little in determining who is better. Both groups contain two MCs and associate themselves with certain producers, Organized Noise in the case of Outkast, and Shaeed Muhammad in the case of Tribe.
Up until this point, both groups have released 5 albums, with Tribe breaking up after their 5th in 1998. The difference between the two groups, popularly and musically is that Tribe’s last two albums, Beats Rhymes Life and The Love Movement, were considered disappointments following their first three, while Outkast’s 4th and 5th albums, Stankonia and Speakerboxx/Love Below transformed them from rap superstars to pop superstars. Thus one would assume Outkast would take the battle, but it’s not that simple.
Why? Because Tribe’s first three albums are so freaking good. Not to say Outkast’s aren’t: ATLiens, Aquemini, and Southernplayalisticcadillacmusic are all incredible. But I would say that no group has released three successive albums as good as Tribe’s first three. So you have to give Tribe credit for a higher peak.
With regards to later albums, Stankonia is better than Beats Rhymes Life, although the difference isn’t as great as popular sentiment would dictate. That’s because I think Stankonia is slightly overrated, while Beats, Rhymes is underrated. I also am not sure Speakerboxxx/The Love Below should even enter into the conversation. Big Boi has one appearance on The Love Below, the same amount as Norah Jones. Andre sings two choruses on Speakerboxxx, giving him the same amount of appearances as Killer Mike, with less impact. Really these are two solo albums, and only one of them is consitently good (Speakerboxxx.)
If you are breaking down the impact both groups have had on rap music, I would say it’s probably about equal overall, although Outkast clearly has greater influence in the present day. I love both groups’ producers and MCs, but forced to choose I would rate Tribe’s production as slightly better, with Big Boi and Andre being better rappers than Q-Tip and Phife. Of course this is somewhat muted by the fact Andre has regressed into a crooning caricature. Whatever you do, don’t believe the crap about Andre being a musically genius. He is basically selling out, but in such a weird way no one can call him on it. Very savvy. If I was Big Boi it would drive me crazy, until the royalty checks started coming in. For this, I would give Tribe a bonus for being loyal to the spirit of hip hop. Andre has admitted that hip hop no longer interests him, while Tribe still represents hip hop in its purest form, as I hope we will see on their new album.
Outkast, on the other hand, has to be given credit for releasing some amazing singles over the years. Elevators, ATLiens, Rosa Parks, BOB, Ms. Jackson. Just amazing, amazing songs with mass appeal. Tribe has several songs that can match up with these, including Buggin Out, Oh My God, etc., but other than Scenario and maybe Check the Rhime, none of their songs hold the same long lasting popular appeal as Outkast’s best. For that, I give Outkast the slight edge overall. But with these two groups, you can’t find too much wrong with anything they’ve done.
# posted by Marmaniac @ 8:37 PM 
