Outkast - Aquemini
I chose Aquemini because that was when I first engaged with Outkast. When 'Rosa Parks' came out, that was the first song that got played on the radio. They started crossing over and I bought the record after I heard that song. The jam on that is 'Skew It On The Bar-B'. It's one of the hardest, funkiest songs. To me Outkast were this thing - they were hip-hop but they were also pulling in Sly & The Family Stone sounds, Prince, Parliament/Funkadelic down to the clothes and the lingo, creating their own language. Two very distinct voices going off in those songs. Just the instrumentation on 'SpottieOttieDopaliscious' with the trumpet line that goes in it and the "dang-dang-dang-dang" chant that they do. It's gorgeously sprawling, almost jazz. It's undefinable, I've never heard anything like it. And that's what they were about. One of my favourite groups ever and that record holds a special place in my musical history.