The Top Ten Albums of the Last Decade - #2

Outkast - Stankonia

In these days, the word masterpiece is throw around all the time (mostly by talking heads in the media who use it to refer to anything popular that happened more then 5 years ago--popular things less than five years old are called instant classics). Of all the great albums of this decade and on this list, I would say the top three on my list are the only ones that can be considered masterpieces (although Tryanny of Distance is close). However, few albums encompass the idea of a masterpiece better than Stankonia. This album is from a once in a generation artist creating their magnum opus. This album twists and bends so many other genres of music like mixing different colors of playdough together, except instead the ugly grey lump that was the outcome when I was a kid, Outkast created a playdough sunset of layered colors. This album is so many things at once: fun, thought-provoking, slick, sexy, innovative, accessible, danceable, intelligent, and socially aware. Many of the songs sound different with different styles and tones, but that is part of their brilliance: in the eccentricities they are held together by being smarter and more creative than anything else out there.