Outkast has the perfect chemistry for leading a dual life as both mainstream darling and an underground-head's dream. For the mainstream, Outkast isn't political; the songs don't give you a bunch of issues to tangle with. In the wake of Eminem, this is incredibly appealing to the likes of KUBE and Rolling Stone. With last year's Stankonia, mainstream media was pleased to have a couple of non-controversial rappers to jock. They seemed proud to simply declare MCs Big Boi and André 3000 great, with no further discussion. And, despite some crazy sounds, Outkast isn't at all aggressive once you acclimate yourself to the ambitious music. While the group has an affinity for jarring effects, like screechy guitars and rapid beats, "Ms. Jackson," "So Fresh, So Clean," "Humble Mumble," and "Red Velvet" all have the basic engine of the catchy, pretty pop song.

And for the KUBE-hater, the appeal of Big Boi and André 3000 is that they don't imitate anyone. The variety of the music on Stankonia--its tempos, its tones, its instrumentation--is wide, and entirely theirs. While they held onto the Southern smoothness established in previous albums, they also let themselves go totally wild, like in the hard-rock pep-rally hybrid of "Bombs Over Baghdad." MCs Big Boi and André 3000 are also inventive lyricists, both for their intricate, involved expositions (yes, like "Ms. Jackson"--I really did like that song once) and for brain-tickling moments like "Yeah, inslumnational underground...," which are the first words of "Bombs Over Baghdad."

The topics Outkast covers on Stankonia are varied. There are sober, evocative songs about desire and life on the brink ("Gasoline Dreams," "Toilet Tisha") and songs with the brassy bravado to which rap is so hospitable ("So Fresh, So Clean," "We Luv Deez Hoez"). But just when you're about to take them seriously, you'll hear a weird and almost stupid song like "I'll Call Before I Come," which is about just that--"I won't just pop over/Out the blue/I hope that you do too." This versatility points to the ambition of Big Boi and André 3000. It's an artistic ambition, of course, but also an intellectual one, to pack so much material into a single project. To give you an idea of Stankonia's intellectual potency: Killer Mike, a guest rapper on "Snappin' & Trappin'," rattles off 25 metaphors in his first 23 lines. His verse isn't terribly brilliant aside from this lyrical feat--which isn't to speak badly of it, but to notice that the linguistic innovation is top priority here.

That Outkast has carved out a dual existence shouldn't come as a surprise. The group's 1996 release was titled ATLiens, as in "alien" and "from Atlanta" (or as the liner notes claim, "from Atlantis") at the same time. As André 3000 said, Outkast resides in the "inslumnational underground," which is tricky to tease apart. The slum is a place from which there is little or no escape, but evidently there is an international network of these places. How can one be in a slum, "ghettoized" there, and international at the same time? And, of course, they call themselves "Outkast," but are loved by everyone.

It might be better to say Outkast doesn't belong in both categories, but rather is in denial of them. In "Humble Mumble," André 3000 says, "I met a critic, I made her shit her draws/She said she thought hiphop was only guns and alcohol/I said, 'Oh hell naw!'/but yet it's that too/you can't discrimihate because you done read a book or two." Outkast blew apart rap's limiting categories --"pop" and "underground," KUBE and "quality"--and did it by not denying any part of the rap landscape. This is the crucial step André 3000 takes in saying "but yet it's that too." Critics and rappers alike are quick to say that the "guns and alcohol" rap is not what hiphop is all about--as a means of avoiding the difficult questions altogether. Outkast blew apart rap's categories, the "critic's categories," by not thinking in these kinds of boxes. With the strength of artistic ambition, Outkast is changing the perceived parameters of rap music. And it works: If you haven't noticed, I've been shitting my draws throughout this entire article.