One of my favorite albums of the year so far is Big Boi's Sir Lucious Left Foot... The Son Of Chico Dusty. For those who are unfamiliar with the story of the album, it was sort of due to come out two years ago. Big Boi, like his group OutKast, is signed to Jive Records. Jive, apparently, didn't know what to do with it. I read that Big Boi said that the last straw was basically when they asked him to cover a Lil' Wayne song! How insulting. So he ended up taking the album to Def Jam (a weird choice, as they don't seem to know how to handle "left-field" hip-hop records, The Roots' How I Got Over is exhibit A).
I don't know how the album has done, commercially. I wonder if Jive was right - it isn't the job of a major label to put out "art," it's their job to put out stuff that's going to sell, even if they know it's bad.
Still, this album has some catchy songs. "Shutterbugg" is a total hit! Actually, I may not be the right person to decide if a hip-hop track is a hit in 2010. But it is a great song. There are many others, including some with some pretty big name guests (which seems important these days, big guest lists): "Night Night" features B.o.B. (who I don't really "get"), "Shine Blockas" features Gucci Mane (a big current artist, apparently) and "Tangerine" features T.I. *I* don't care about the guests, but the songs are all really tight. Another song, "Follow Us," features what sounds like a rock band, Vonnegutt, who I don't think I'd like, but the singer serves this song well.
It's too bad Jive didn't let Boi use his collab with Andre 3000 and Raekwon, "Royal Flush." I guess I can't blame them - they are waiting for a new OutKast album, why should they give away the group's first new song in years. Anyway, it doesn't matter - it's been on iTunes for years (and it even lists Sir Lucious... as the album). As far as I'm concerned, it is on the album, it was just a single that came out two years early. Anyway, check out Boi's album, it's a great one, and it makes me look forward to OutKast's next one even more!
