Outkast, Aquemini (1998)
It was hearing the song Rosa Parks that made me hunt out this album. I already knew a bunch of Outkast stuff – but it seems I was saving the best for last, Stankonia and ATLiens were fine albums – still like ‘em, and I carried on after Aquemini too – there’s a lot – a whole lot to like on Speakerboxxx/The Love Below – but if I’m picking one favourite album it’s Aquemini. This is the first example of the band really getting its shit together, arriving in that old-school way, third album; the one that cements the reputation, shows the band exploring, building on what they’ve done. But the band is already a name – they’ve already proved something – but even so they’re still fighting to be heard. The third album is the one that gets them over the line. That was very much the way. It’s an old-model paradigm now, non-existent really. If your first single tanks you’re fucked. Even worse, in a lot of cases, if your first single’s a monster hit you’re even more fucked. But Outkast build their sound up the old-fashioned way. And Aquemini was really the proved themselves – the first great album from this great band. Finally, I’ve got it on vinyl, triple-LP. It still sounds fresh as the day I first heard it.

Sample Track: Return of the ‘G’

The Vinyl Countdown is a document of every LP I listen to, brand new discoveries and old-old favourites; extremely pre-loved, previously abandoned or with the shrink-wrap having just been removed it’s all here at The Vinyl Countdown