So I was looking back at some of my old CD's that have been lying around my house, and I stumbled upon one of my first hip-hop/rap CD's that I purchased.  I slipped the OutKast LP, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, into my fairly new MacBook computer, and loaded it into my iTunes player.  As I uploaded the CD, retagged all the songs, found some album artwork for the newly added LP, I began to realize that this is where my roots to hip-hop music come from.  I mean, I have been listening to music my whole life, and I was brought up on oldies, rock, pop, and the blues.  Then a friend of mine suggested I go out and give this band called OutKast a listen, and this is where my love for hip-hop really came from!  This is not to say that there are not other musicians who truly influenced me and caused me to fall deeper in love with the hip-hop/rap movement.  So from now on, I plan on doing a post every now and then called, "A Blast from the Past".  In these posts, I will either cover some of my favorite bands, or do a review of one of my favorite "classic" hip-hop/rap albums.  So for our first "Blast from the Past" we will be covering OutKasts' Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.

When you think of Big Boi and Andre 3000, you think of some of the big hit classics that they put out (both separate and together).  You got your OutKast favorites (you know, everyone has those songs that they hear at parties and what not), such as: "Hey Ya", "Roses", "The Way You Move", and many more.  What many OutKast fans don't realize is that their most prolific album was Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, and that this insane album had all three of those tracks featured on it!  To be completely honest with everyone out there, those three tracks are not the only reasons as to why this album is just crazy good.  There are so many other reasons, and one of the other main ones is that the lyrical flow and musical beats used on all the tracks is just unreal.  It is something hard to find now a day, and if a true music fan gives every song on the album a listen, he/she will be able to hear the smooth lyrics that flow over the melodies produced by the dynamic duo that is Big Boi and Andre 3000.

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below featured thirty nine amazing tracks, and a total of two hours and twenty minutes of playing time.  I let the full album play on my computer today while sitting outside and doing some yard work, and let me tell you, each and every second of the album is something special.  As the album came to an end, I realized how unique and special the sound that OutKast produced was.  I mean, if you were to hear some obscure song by them in some random club, I think you would be able to figure out who was singing it based off their lyrical flow and musical beats alone.  It is just something so incomparable and something so individualist, and because of that, it really separates them from the pack, and makes them a gem in the hip-hop industry and in hip-hop history!  In today's music industry, so many musicians sound similar.  You have comparisons of Asher Roth sounding like Eminem (even though the two don't really sound THAT similar... I mean come on!!! Just because he is a white rapper doesn't make him sound like Eminem, that is just your brain telling you that... but anyway, back on topic), other comparisons are Big Sean to Kanye West.  While these comparisons are made and people do enjoy listening to new musicians that sound a lot like the old ones, I can promise you that eventually that will get boring (not that Asher Roth/Big Sean will ever be boring... I am HUGE fans of theirs [respectively], and can't wait for their albums to drop), but OutKast is something so hard to copy that it makes listening to them so pleasurable!

Anyway, if you have been living under a rock and have never heard of OutKast, I highly suggest you go out and purchase this album, seeing as it is one of their best (next to Stankonia), and it will go down as one of the first albums that has truly changed my ideology about music.  Before I gave this album a listen, I would only listen to what my father brought me up on, you know... Those good ole' oldies, the stuff you listen to with your parents in the car.  I was brought up on musicians like The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, B.B. King, and so many other musicians.  Who knows, maybe when I have kids and we are in the car, I will be playing musicians like OutKast, Kanye West, and other new musicians.

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below Track Listing:
"The Love Below" (Intro)
"Love Hater"
"God" (Interlude) 
"Happy Valentine's Day" 
"Spread"
"Where Are My Panties?"
"Prototype"
"She Lives in My Lap" (Featuring Rosario Dawson)
"Hey Ya!"

"Roses" (Featuring Big Boi)
"Good Day Good Sir" (Interlude) (Featuring Fonzworth Bentley)
"Behold a Lady"
"Pink & Blue"
"Love in War"
"She's Alive"
"Dracula's Wedding" (Featuring Kelis)
"The Letter" (Interlude, Only Featured On Later Pressings)
"My Favorite Things" (Not Listed Anywhere In The Artwork of the Album)
"Take Off Your Cool" (Featuring Norah Jones)
"Vibrate"
"A Life in the Day of Benjamin André (Incomplete)"

So I am talking with my buddy ICECrush, and he hits me up with a message telling me to go to this site called, "Stars & Stripes Project". He doesn't really give me much insight as to what the heck I am viewing, but I know my man ICECrush always has something interesting to show me, whether it is shoes, music, or some other random crack up cartoon he has found on the internet. Anyway, I get on this site, and I start browsing around, and finally come upon the "Download" section of the site. I roll over to the download link (which is conveniently hosted on zShare), and wait my fifty seconds in anticipation for a mixtape that I truly don't know anything about. From the looks of the site, it looked like it was well done, with all the heavy duty artwork and what not, so I figured, "Heck, why not download it!?"

So I open Stars & Stripes: The White Stripes Reimagined in my iTunes, and my ears are graced by the beautiful mixing of an unknown musician that goes by the name of Adrian Champion. I asked ICECrush where the heck he had found this guys music, and he answered with one word... "Twitter". I guess it really is good for something, seeing as it has led me to Adrian Champion. Now I am someone who gets into grooves when he listens to music, so when I hear something I like, I play it a ton! Stars & Stripes: The White Stripes Reimagined has been playing on my iPod, iTunes, and car radio for the past day, and I have decided that since Adrian's mixtape has brought me so much pleasure (to my ears that is...), why not do a review on the album!? I don't know if Adrian Champion has done any other mixtapes, but he somehow was able to meld and mash some of today's hottest musicians (and some old musical acts that dropped it like it was hot back in the day), with the ever so beautiful rock tunes of The White Stripes.

The White Stripes (for all who really don't know much about Rock) have been around for a while. They have claimed tons of success from albums such as their self titled LP The White Stripes (1999), to their second release: De Stijl (2000). Then in 2001, the band hit it big with White Blood Cells, and followed up that album with an even better one: Elephant (2003). Elephant is their most popular and by far their best piece of work. Their 2003 release was followed by another fantastic album entitled, Get Behind Me Satan (2005), which got 4.5 Stars out of 5 Stars on Rolling Stone. Their 2007 release was nowhere compared to their 01', 03', and 05' LP's, but nonetheless, Icky Thump was still a solid production out of The White Stripes. The White Stripes have been in the music industry for a long while, as you can see, they have already released a whole bunch of albums, all of which have reached critical acclaim, and recieved fairly positive reviews on Rolling Stone. Their Garage-Rock musical style has attracted many musical listeners from around the world, and from all different age groups. In my opinion, The White Stripes will go down as one of the better Rock groups to ever grace the music industry with their presence.

Now, I hope that in the very near future, Adrian Champion and we hear at Tha Good Life Reviews will be given the opportunity to do an interview with him. I know he gives us some insight as to what and how he thought of making the mixtape, which is quoted below and can be found on the site "Stars & Stripes Project". The fact of the matter is that what Mr. Champion created was something that truly graces the ear, and at the same time, is able to amp you up and really get you into the music. You all know how I feel about mashups and remixes, and I think they are great! I have never, in my entire life, heard a solid twelve track mashup mixtape in which I have thoroughly enjoyed each and every track. The mixtape is definitely one of the best ones I have heard in a very long time, and I advise you to all click on the download link below and give this guy a listen! I promise you, you won't regret the fifty second wait time on zShare, it is totally worth it!!!

Adrian Champion's Thoughts On The Making Of Stars & Stripes: The White Stripes Reimagined:

"I was late jumping on The White Stripes bandwagon. But, when I heard "Doorbell" a few years back I became an instant fan. That raw, classic sound was so fresh to me. I went straight to iTunes and downloaded the whole album. It wasn't long before I owned everything they'd ever released.

What really got me was that I wanted to sample almost every song. But, I couldn't just shamelessly sample their whole catalog. Plus, I had just decided to move away from sampling and focus on writing original music. So, a remix project seemed like the thing to do, and the idea was born.

I started digging through my collection and fitting all the pieces together. My goal was to use only samples from The White Stripes and a cappellas from classic songs and my favorite emcees. And of course, I had to rap on one of the tracks myself, with my man Brian Jacobs on the hook.

So there it is, hip-hop fans, meet The White Stripes.
Fans of The White Stripes, meet hip-hop."

— Adrian Champion

Track Listing For Stars & Stripes: The White Stripes Reimagined:

1. Bombs Over Orchids / Outkast / Blue Orchid + B.O.B.
2. Icky Says / Pharahoe Monch / Icky Thump + Simon Says
3. Ante Up Every Way / M.O.P. / Offend in Every Way + Ante up
4. Turn it Up / Kanye West / I Want To Be The Boy... + This Way + Wouldn't Get Far + Selfish
5. Ms. Doorbell / Mos Def / Doorbell + Ms. Fast Booty
6. Cash Run / Notorious B.I.G. + 2Pac / Cash Grab + Runnin’
7. Got Yourself a Cannon / Jay-Z / Cannon + The Takeover
8. Jolene's Ether / Nas / Jolene (Live) + Ether
9. One More Corner / Common / One More Cup of Coffee + The Corner
10. Dangerous Love / Busta Rhymes / A Martyr for My Love For You + Dangerous
11. F*cking Apples / Eminem / Apple Blossom + Just Don't Give a Fuck
12. Tha Countdown Blues / Redman / St. James Infirmary Blues + The Saga Continues
13. Stars & Stripes / Adrian Champion + Brian Jacobs / Truth Doesn't Make A Noise

To All Those Rock Fans Out There, I Highly Suggest This Mixtape... AND For All You Hip-Hop Heads Out There, I Will Give You The Same Advise I Gave The Rock Fans... THIS MIXTAPE IS FOR YOU!!!

Adrian Champion Blog

Adrian Champion MySpace

Adrian Champion Twitter

Download Stars & Stripes: The White Stripes Reimagined Here

Download Stars & Stripes: The White Stripes Reimagined - The Instrumentals Here

Trailer For Stars & Stripes: The White Stripes Reimagined

Related articles by Zemanta

• The Ecstatic - Mos Def Album Preview (thagoodlifereviews.com)
• White Stripes' Final "Late Night" Gig: Conan O'Brien on Special Relationship With Jack and Meg (rollingstone.com)
• Kanye West Live @ Sxsw "Love Lockdown" Video (binside.typepad.com)
• Black Star reunited for 2 NYC dates, new Mos Def, a free Vampire Weekend show? & other Talib Kweli news (brooklynvegan.com)

THAT'S RIGHT!!! THEY'RE BACK!!!  The dynamic duo will be hooking up for an album in 2009!  Excited?  HELLZ YEA!!! Their will be three total albums coming out in 2009.  One by Big Boi, one by Andre 3000, and one by the two together!  So OutKast will be returning to the music scene in 09' so be sure to check back here for more information!

CHECK BACK HERE IN THE COMING MONTHS FOR MORE NEWS ON BOTH BIG BOI'S ALBUM, ANDRE 3000'S ALBUM, AND THEN THE OUTKAST ALBUM ALL DUE OUT IN 2009!!!