We Are The Celestial Travelers - OutKast's ATLiens, 20 Years Later - Chris "Preach" Smith

“In every part of the globe it is the same!! Hatred, fear and 
unreasoning have possessed men’s hearts! But the Silver
Surfer will have none of it!!”

- Silver Surfer

Listening to OutKast’s second album ATLiens, which celebrates
twenty years of existence today, carries a special meaning that
one might think is a bit far-fetched until you put the pieces
together. I tend to think that the second album by Andre 3000
and Big Boi was meant to be a lyrical starship. An album that
was meant to transcend boundaries, time frames and mind
states. And doing so in a way that fully enhanced what the
South had to offer the culture in a highly nuanced way than
what the culture had experienced previously.

OutKast had already proven themselves with their first album,
Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. Rich with potent lyrics delivered
in confident tones over classic bass-laden production that would
be the calling card of Organized Noise, that first album had
some bangers. I bet you that you still ride out to work with “Git
Up, Get Out” on your playlist. But they still got flack from a
base of listeners who were vehemently anti-Southern rap. For 
what I could tell then, a lot of heads dug what Andre & Big Boi
spit. It struck a chord as we were growing up, getting into those
young lion years roaming the streets of Southeast Queens and
the rest of New York City. And we were already feeling the rest
of the crew through the work of Goodie Mob, who had dropped
music that pierced the spirit thanks to the haunting “Cell Therapy”
the previous fall. So when the first single “Elevators” dropped -
MAN. The effect was an immediate rush that grabbed a hold of
you. I still remember tuning in to Rap City and seeing the music
video.

Starting out with a heavy overture and Andre 3000 and Big Boi
leading a motley group through a swatch of jungle on an seemingly
alien planet? Then cutting to a young Asian-American kid reading a
comic book which delivered the story? “Elevators” was a triumphant
announcement of the new ground OutKast was breaking into. It
set the tone for what you were going to get from ATLiens - a
vessel to connect all of these different instances and elements
that in many ways made you feel as if you truly were an alien
in these United States. And the world if we’re being honest.
The duo hit you with that in so many ways both overt and subtle.
3 Stacks being seen as the above-it-all scholarly slacker who rocked
a turban, Big Boi as the cavalier hustler complete with the fresh Cadillac.
Both seeming to be fundamental opposites yet having so many
similarities in their collaboration. What “Elevators” did was tie
together so many things that mattered to me at that time - good
rap music that made certain situations more crystalline, a love of
science fiction that centered people of color, and comics. At the 
time, I was getting into Jack Kirby’s Eternals more and more in
addition to reading Octavia Butler and re-reading Frank Herbert in
addition to ingesting whatever Samuel F. Delany work I could get
my hands on. This was made a bit easier thanks to being in the
library in college. It helped me gain a further appreciation for what
was said on ATLiens, to understand that it was a message and a bridge.
(Side note - remember when some record stores carried that same
comic book with the album when it dropped? I still wish I had one.) 
Another note related to comics - this was the time when Milestone
Comics, the imprint founded by Black artists and writers, was now in
its waning moments. To have this album in conjunction with that
wasn’t lost on me.  

Think about how the album opens. Think about how real “You May
Die” is, even now with the heightened racial friction in this country.
It was, and is, a lesson, a parable, a balm. Simple, direct. Then you
plunge into the jazzy bounce of “Two Dope Boyz In A Cadillac.” That
track doesn’t get the props I feel it deserves for the feel of the
old-school park jam style of rap thanks to the cadence of both MC’s.
Sit and listen to it again. You’ll hear it. Sonically ATLiens is like being
lowered into a baptismal pool and feeling refreshed and anew with
those first tracks. You feel detached from the world, and that is owed
to the strong influences of dub, funk a la Parliament and reggae as
well as R&B from Earth, Wind & Fire. That last group factors into it
heavily because they along with George Clinton were the torchbearers
of space-inspired music with Sun Ra as the father. If you can, as I do,
remember growing up in a household where every Earth, Wind and
Fire album was treated with care and placed in a prominent spot in
your parents’ vinyl collection you know where I’m going with this.
And themes of space weren’t solely brought forth in rap by OutKast -
Eightball & MJG, Kool Keith, and many others were advancing that
concept(including the Nuwabian movement led by the infamous Dr.
York.) 

As ATLiens continues on, that feeling of floating still takes hold
despite the tempo changes to create a truly mystical listening 
experience. “Wheelz Of Steel” was one of the few tracks not
produced by Organized Noise, but by Earthtone Ideas which
turned out to be a team of producers composed of Big Boi and
Andre 3000 along with Mr. DJ who contributed the scratches.
(Side note - I will forever remember my boy Govna from college
out of New Rochelle who made this his personal anthem anywhere
he went.) For me, “Babylon” still strikes hard and should be
regarded as one of Andre’s best verses ever just from how it begins:

I came into this world high as a bird
from secondhand cocaine powder
I know it sounds absurd
I never tooted but its in my veins

Let’s consider that for a second. These lines were delivered in a
time where we were not only just dealing with the after-effects
of the crack epidemic inflicted on us, but right as the rest of the
nation was beginning to plunge into crystal meth in the heartlands
and heroin was rising in the suburbs. “Babylon” itself is both a
sermon of keeping aware and keeping faith and a gripping
commentary from both rappers as to what really goes on beneath
the surface. To transition from that to “Wailin”? Pure dopeness.
“Wailin” is a Big Boi showcase, one that to me, proves that he
could be one of the most crackin’ battle rappers if he chose to have
been. And to close off that verse with a nod to the O.J. Simpson trial
which was still fresh on many minds? Superb. Then “Decatur Psalm”
punctuated with the sound of dropping into water?! Hearing all of
these cues 20 years later is for lack of a better term, mind-blowing.
And the emotional closing that “13th Floor/Growing Old” brings -
I have to admit that in a down period where I lost my Grandma
Smith, this was one of the tracks I leaned on to cope. The track
speaks directly to longevity and accepting the wisdom and maturity
that comes with age. Containing spoken word from Big Rube also
made an impact on me as I began to embrace poetry as a means to
amplify my own voice.  

ATLiens accomplished a great deal in that it helped to bridge a great
many things within the Black experience that at times seemed as
if they didn’t fit. It helped in further establishing Atlanta as that 
second great Black Mecca of the United States as it should rightfully
be seen not just on a musical level. You can see its influence today
in the vast nation of “blerds” online. It elevated Big Boi and Andre
3000 to veritable icons within rap and music as a whole. Both have
been on record as saying that they wanted to create an album that
would speak to their children and the next generation, one that
wouldn’t be solely concerned with the rising materialism being promoted
as the standard goals of rap music. From that point on, they didn’t just
look to the stars, they were firmly among them. And they showed us
that we could - and should be too. They told us we are the celestial 
travelers with ATLiens. And this is only part of the journey.