Sony Music Entertainment's This Is Certified Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Stankonia, OutKast's Hip Hop Masterpiece, with High-Res Digital Bundles of Newly Certified RIAA Platinum Singles "So Fresh, So Clean," "B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)" and "Ms. Jackson" (3x Platinum) on Friday, October 30
New to DSPs, Bundles Present Previously Unreleased Remixes of "B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)" by Cutmaster Swiff, Zack de la Rocha (Rage Against The Machine), and Beat Bullies.
Featuring tracks recorded 1999-2000 in Atlanta's Stankonia Recording and A&M Studios in Los Angeles, OutKast's Stankonia was originally released through LaFace/Arista Records on Halloween 2000. For the group's fourth studio album, their first in the 21st century/new millennium, American Hip Hop duo OutKast--André 3000 and Big Boi--expanded their musical and performance aesthetics to incorporate elements of funk, electronica, psychedelia, gospel, rock and rave culture into a new integrated sound rooted in the Deep South while reaching into the future. One of those rare records that defines its era while projecting a vision ahead of its time, Stankonia is nothing less than a sonic state-of-mind, a portal into another world, a new way of being. "Stankonia," said André 3000, "is this place I imagined where you can open yourself up and be free to express anything."
The boundless freedom André 3000 and Big Boi deployed on Stankonia manifested a wide range of lyrical content--songs addressed sexuality, politics, Black culture, parenthood and personal reflection--while the music was both grounded and out-of-this-world, a singular combination of the carnal, the ethereal and the spiritual, wrapped in wit, compassion and soul. Stankonia raised the bar and rewrote the rules for 21st popular music. Widely regarded as one of the greatest albums in Hip Hop history, Stankonia sold more than 530,000 copies the week of its release and debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200. The album generated three hit singles, with "Ms. Jackson" becoming the first OutKast single to peak at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Stankonia won Best Rap Album at the 2002 Grammy Awards while "Ms. Jackson" took home the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Most recently, Stankonia came in at #64 on Rolling Stone's new edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.